Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 23 January (HL Deb, col 425) concerning recent developments in Sudan, and in the light of the reported statement by the Sudanese Ambassador to London, Muhammad Abdallah al-Tom, to the Sudanese Media Centre of the impact of the lifting of US economic sanctions on Sudan on Sudanese–British economic and commercial relations, what assessment they have made of the impact of the lifting of US economic sanctions on Sudan on business relations between Sudan and the UK.

The UK welcomes the recent decisions made by the previous US Administration on Sudan related sanctions. The UK will consider opportunities to promote trade with Sudan; however, the business environment remains an obstacle to a sizeable increase in interest from British companies. We continue to urge the government of Sudan to make progress on these issues and on a cessation of hostilities in the Two Areas and Darfur and humanitarian access, which would enable the lifting of sanctions to become permanent.