§ Mr. LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the role of revenue from the Liberian timber industry in supporting the Government of Mr. Charles Taylor. [104140]
§ Mr. RammellThe Government shares the concern of the UN Panel of Experts that the revenues from timber sales in Liberia are being used to fund arms purchases in breach of UN sanctions. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1408(2002) called on the Government of Liberia to undertake a credible audit of shipping and timber revenues and to use the revenues from the timber trade for social, development and humanitarian purposes.
We support the Africa Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (AFLEG) process, which calls on all African governments and trading partners to take actions to control illegal activities in the forestry sector and associated trade. A conference to push this process forward is planned in April 2003.