§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 6 June 2003 (WA 198), whether the proceeds from all export sales of oil products from Iraq are spent exclusively to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people; the economic reconstruction and repair of Iraq's infrastructure; the continued disarmament of Iraq; and the cost of Iraqi civilian administration; and, if not, for what other purposes the proceeds are spent. [HL4311]
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1483 of 22 May 2003 provided that all export sales of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas from Iraq shall be deposited into the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI). The DFI was set up as an account into which all revenues from the sale of Iraq's oil would be paid and to which all assets of the Iraqi Government would be transferred. UNSCR 1483 decided that all DFI funds were to be used in a transparent manner to meet the needs of the Iraqi people.
UNSCR 1546 of 8 June 2004 transferred control of the DFI, on dissolution of the Coalition Provisional Authority, to the Iraqi Interim Government (IIG). It provides that the IIG shall use the DFI in a transparent and equitable manner and through the Iraqi budget, including to satisfy outstanding obligations against the DFI. Iraq thus has full authority and control over its financial and natural resources, including the disbursement of funds in the DFI. UNSCR 1546 also affirmed that monitoring of the DFI by the International Advisory and Monitoring Board would continue.