Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the 12 UN Special Rapporteurs on the operations of the Carbones de Cerrejón company at its Tajo Patilla mining site in Colombia.

We have noted with concern the recent statement by David Boyd, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, concerning the Cerrejón mine and are seeking further information.

As set out in the FCDO Annual Human Rights Report, we expect British businesses to respect local and international law wherever they operate, and look to extractive companies to comply with the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. BHP, Anglo American and Glencore, which own Cerrejón, are all signatories to these Principles.