Asked by: Ian Davidson (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's report, The Impact of EU Sugar Policy Reform on Developing Countries, published in February 2012, what steps her Department is taking to mitigate the effect of those reforms on those countries.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The sugar regime is one of the most heavily regulated and distorting elements of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the agreement to end sugar beet quotas in 2017 is an important step towards removing these distortions.
Naturally, the Government is concerned by the effect that these reforms may have on sugar producers in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries highlighted in the report. This is why we encouraged the European Commission to establish a Fund of Euro 1.24 billion in 2006 to assist sugar producing countries to adapt. My Department will continue to engage with the European Commission, the Private Sector, and ACP countries to maximise the impact of these funds. We will also ensure that ACP countries continue to benefit from preferential access to the EU sugar market.
Asked by: Ian Davidson (Labour (Co-op) - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional funding her Department is providing to mitigate the refugee situation in northern Nigeria and surrounding areas.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The UK has provided £1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Nigeria to deliver food, safe water, clothes, shelter material and other basic necessities to those people displaced following attacks by Boko Haram. A further £1 million of UK funding is committed to the Nigerian Government’s “Safe Schools Initiative” to help protect children at school in North East Nigeria and provide schooling to children displaced by the violence. The UK has also contributed £1.7 million to the UN’s and EU’s relief efforts in Nigeria.
In addition, the UK is providing humanitarian support across the Sahel region – including £8m in Niger and £5.5m in Chad - to in part help those countries address the refugee caseload from Nigeria.