§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 18 April 2002,Official Report, column 1064W, which countries other than Indonesia she has (a) made approaches to and (b) intends to approach for negotiations on illegal logging and associated trade. [53756]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Government have informally discussed the memorandum with representatives of the United States, Japan, Canada, New Zealand and Malaysia. The Government have also raised the memorandum with EU member states and the Commission at a recent European Union workshop on Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade. The European Commission has recently committed to produce an Action Plan on illegal logging and associated trade by the end of this year.
The Government also plans to raise the memorandum with both timber producing and timber consuming countries at the next Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Bali, 27 May to 7 June) and with African countries at the next African Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (Brazzaville in June) as a possible model for taking forward actions on combating illegal logging on a bilateral basis in support of existing international commitments, for example under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Forum on Forests.