§ Norman LambTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the trade in heroin emanating from Afghanistan since the defeat of the Taliban; and if he will make a statement on the trends in volumes of heroin arriving in the United Kingdom from Afghanistan. [135856]
§ Mr. RammellI have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to my written ministerial statement on 30 October 2003 regarding the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) survey results for the 2003 opium poppy crop in Afghanistan, Official Report, column 20WS.
The UNODC conducts an annual survey into the level of opium poppy cultivation and production in Afghanistan. It has reported levels over the past five years as follows:
749W
Hectares Tonnes 1999 91,000 4,600 2000 82,000 3,300 2001 8,000 185 2002 74,000 3,400 2003 80,000 3,600 The UNODC figures for 2001 reflects the Taliban ban on opium cultivation. The ban did not however address the underlying causes of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and was enforced with a mix of serious violence and bribery.
Afghanistan is the world's leading producer of opium and the UNODC has estimated that, taking into account seizures in the region, the likely amounts available for shipment out of Afghanistan in 2002 were 685 tons of opium and 212 tons of heroin and morphine. Approximately 25-35 metric tons of heroins are targeted on the UK every year and we estimate that around 95 per cent. of this originates from Afghanistan. Trends have remained fairly static.
The UNODC poppy cultivation survey in 2003 has shown reductions in the traditional areas, which demonstrates that drug control policy has been effective where the Afghan Government have been able to exert control. Increasing security and stability in Afghanistan remains key to progress in reducing opium production. This in turn will also bring more stability to Afghanistan.
§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is being done to combat the international drugs trade, particularly that emanating from countries of concern; and if he will make a statement on its impact upon the United Kingdom. [136478]
§ Mr. RammellI have been asked to reply.
The FCO's commitment to tackle international drug trafficking is set out in its Public Service Agreements. In line with the Government's 10-year drugs strategy, '1998–2008: Tackling Drugs Together to Build a Better Britain', the FCO's priority is to reduce the availability of Class A drugs in the UK. Through the Drugs and Crime Fund (£9.9 million in the financial year 2003–04), the FCO assists law enforcement and other agencies in key production and transit countries to improve their capability to disrupt the flow of Class A drugs to the UK.
About 95 per cent. of the UK's heroin comes from Afghanistan. Afghanistan's National Drug Control Strategy, agreed earlier this year, has set the target of eliminating opium poppy by 2013. The UK is investing £70 million on sustainable measures over the next three years to support implementation of that strategy. Additional staff are being deployed to Kabul to assist in the implementation. I will be co-hosting, with President Karzai and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), an international conference in Kabul in February next year to boost further the international counter-narcotics effort in Afghanistan.
In the financial year 2002–03 the FCO provided over £5 million in counter-narcotics related assistance to priority countries in South America and the Caribbean where illegal drugs are produced or trafficked. This assistance included funding for HMCE drug law enforcement training, provision of drug detection equipment, assessment of local law enforcement communications equipment and contributions to UNODC projects.