§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she will make to President Chirac on finding a solution to the problems in the coffee industry at the G8 summit in Evian on 1 June. [113507]
§ Mr. MorleyCoffee growers have been hit by low prices and deteriorating quality, the result of global over-supply and structural imbalances in the industry. The Government will support efforts to find solutions at the G8 summit and in follow-up work after the summit, notably for poor countries in Africa.
There are a number of possibilities. The UK is already contributing to a sustainable coffee market by helping growers to diversify through its development programme; trying to expand the trade opportunities of commodity-dependent countries, cut tariffs and reduce the negative impact of the CAP. We are promoting foreign investment and good regulatory frameworks, increasing the aid budget to 0.40 per cent. of national income by 2005–06 and advocating more debt relief to highly indebted poor countries. A government-industry working group is currently looking at what more can be done to improve the livelihoods of poorer commodity producers in developing countries. The UK is also actively participating in the work of the International Coffee Organisation to improve the sustainability of the world coffee market.
§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if she will provide financial support for the monitoring of the International Coffee Organisation quality scheme; [113504]
(2) what representations she has made to the US Administration on (a) membership of the International Coffee Organisation and (b) support for the quality scheme; [113505]
(3) if she will make a statement on the Government"s policy on (a) the reduction in supply of and (b) increasing the quality of coffee on the world market through international adherence to basic quality standards set by the International Coffee Organisation. [113503]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Government shares the concern for the way that coffee growers have been hit by low prices and deteriorating quality, largely as a result of global over supply and structural imbalances in the industry.108W The Government"s policy on the reduction of supply of and increasing the quality of coffee on the world market is via our membership of the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) and our support for the ICO"s coffee quality scheme.
The ICO Coffee Quality Improvement programme was approved by ICO Council Resolution 407 on 1 February 2002. The programme commenced on 1 October 2002 and requires that exports of coffee, accompanied by Certificates of Origin, shall comply with minimum standards specified in the Resolution. Exporting members are also required to develop and implement national measures to ensure that no exports of green coffee shall fail to meet the exportable standards. Discussions are currently on going about how the exports of processed coffee should be dealt with.
Exporting members are currently in the process of implementing these measures within their countries. Members will then report to the ICO Council on the measures they have taken to implement the Resolution and inform the Council of any difficulties in this connection. The programme will be reviewed in September 2003.
The European Union is responsible for paying the membership subscriptions of all EU member states at the ICO. The ICO Secretariat administers the Quality Coffee Scheme and part of the subscriptions of member countries is used to monitor the Scheme, primarily by gathering information from exporting members.
In order to strengthen the Quality Initiative the ICO has invited the US, the world"s largest coffee consumer, to rejoin the Organisation. The US were Members under the 1983 Agreement, but left in 1993 mainly because at the time it did not wish to support mechanisms which could have a price-regulatory effect. The UK supports ICO"s invitation for the USA to accede to the International Coffee Agreement 2001.
The Executive Director has met with the US Administration on behalf of the ICO to encourage them to join and inform the Administration of the ICO"s activities, including the one on the Coffee Quality Initiative.