World Trade (Hansard, 20 March 2003)

§ 14. Norman Lamb
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on current negotiations regarding TRIPS. [103894]

§ Ms Hewitt
The Government are disappointed that the WTO did not reach agreement on TRIPS and Public Health by the deadline of December last year.
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The US was the only member of the WTO who could not accept the proposal on the table.
We will continue to work with all WTO members to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

§ 18. David Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action she is taking to achieve a world trade agreement in the interests of developing countries. [103898]

§ Ms Hewitt
We are committed to ensuring that the Doha Development Agenda delivers substantial benefits to all WTO members, especially developing countries.
In particular this means making substantial progress on agricultural liberalisation, TRIPS and Public Health and Special and Differential Treatment.
Halving protectionism, according to EU figures, would increase developing countries income by an estimated $150 billion per year—more than three times the world's current aid budgets.