Democratic Republic of the Congo (Hansard, 18 November 2002)

§ Norman Lamb
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further information he has received from the UN in relation to the allegations set out in the UN Panel of Experts report on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the DRC. [80934]

§ Mr. Rammell
We have requested more information from the UN, but have not yet received a response.

§ Norman Lamb
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to introduce targeted sanctions against businesses or individuals profiting from the trade in conflict goods as referred to in paragraph 143 of the final report of the Panel of Experts on the alleged exploitation of natural resources and other kinds of wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [81323]

§ Mr. Rammell
The proposal to introduce targeted sanctions is one of a wide range of recommendations made by the UN expert panel report being considered by Whitehall departments. In consultations at the UN on 13 November, a number of states asked for more information to be made available to substantiate the report's allegations. The UK has also asked the UN directly for more information, but has not yet received a response.
At the 13 November consultations, the UN panel's chairman—Ambassador Kassem—restated that the panel would recommend a grace period of 5–6 months before imposing any sanctions, to allow the accused individuals and companies a chance to change their working practices.

§ Norman Lamb
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to follow the recommendations set out in paragraph 176 of the report of the UN Panel of Experts in request of companies and individuals listed in Annex 1 and 11 of the report whose operations are carried out in whole or in part of the UK. [81324]

§ Mr. Rammell
The recommendations made by the UN Expert Panel report are being considered by Whitehall Departments. At Security Council consultations on 13 November, a number of states asked that more information be made available to substantiate the 9W report's allegations. The UK has also asked the UN for more information directly, but has not yet received a response.