That this House notes the pressure exerted by the United States and biotech companies, especially through the GM dispute at the World Trade Organisation, to open European markets to GM products; is concerned this may lead to rushed decisions that deny consumer choice for GM-free food and leave farmers without compensation for GM contamination; further notes that EU law makes the drawing up of rules to avoid GM contamination the responsibility of national parliaments; and believes that before any further planting of genetically modified organisms, science-based rules for their release should be debated and approved by Parliament and the relevant national assemblies and that such rules should seek to prevent contamination of conventional and organic crops, preserve consumer choice and make GM consent holders liable for damage caused by their products.

That this House notes the pressure exerted by the United States and biotech companies, especially through the GM dispute at the World Trade Organisation, to open European markets to GM products; is concerned this may lead to rushed decisions that deny consumer choice for GM-free food and leave farmers without...

That this House deplores the continuing trade within the EU in dog and cat fur; welcomes the recent statement by European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy that 'a non-discriminatory ban on dog and cat fur to both internal trade and imports would not be inconsistent with WTO rules per se'; is concerned that the ban on imports of dog and cat fur into the USA will mean that more such products will enter the EU and be used in fraudulent trade as a substitute for more expensive types of fur; and urges Her Majesty's Government to support a European ban on the import, export and domestic trade in dog and cat fur and of products made with dog and cat fur as soon as possible.

That this House deplores the continuing trade within the EU in dog and cat fur; welcomes the recent statement by European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy that 'a non-discriminatory ban on dog and cat fur to both internal trade and imports would not be inconsistent with WTO rules per se'; is...

That this House notes that the United Kingdom imported 237,000 cubic metres of Indonesian rainforest plywood in 2002, that the United Kingdom is the largest importer of Indonesian rainforest timber in Europe and that it is estimated that 88 per cent. of logging in Indonesia will be illegal this year; expresses grave concern that illegal logging is threatening with extinction thousands of species, including the orang-utan, in one of the world's most biologically-diverse regions; further notes that there is no existing legislation to stop the import of illegally-acquired timber into the United Kingdom and that the EU Commission's action plan to tackle illegal logging fails to include new legislative measures to stop the import of illegal timber into EU countries; and calls on the Government urgently to pursue a leading role in the EU to end the import of all illegal timber and to demand that the EU action plan is amended to include new legislation to ban the import of illegal timber into the EU.

That this House notes that the United Kingdom imported 237,000 cubic metres of Indonesian rainforest plywood in 2002, that the United Kingdom is the largest importer of Indonesian rainforest timber in Europe and that it is estimated that 88 per cent. of logging in Indonesia will be illegal this year;...

That this House expresses its alarm at the importation of Dutch chicken adulterated with water, beef and pork proteins; notes that the Dutch have developed multi-million pound technologies in inserting proteins and water into chicken they import; recognises that this technology is being used to help export their chickens; and calls on the British Government to ensure that all foodstuffs imported meet UK health and safety and labelling regulations and that all meat imports have met UK animal welfare standards before the animals are taken to slaughter.

That this House expresses its alarm at the importation of Dutch chicken adulterated with water, beef and pork proteins; notes that the Dutch have developed multi-million pound technologies in inserting proteins and water into chicken they import; recognises that this technology is being used to help export their chickens; and...

That this House agrees with the Annual Conference of the National Council of Women in Great Britain held in Birmingham who expressed their concern about the effect upon the environment of the scale of the international transportation of foodstuffs whilst local supermarkets held little locally grown or produced stock; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government urgently to fund the promotion of local farmers markets and other outlets which sell local produce.

That this House agrees with the Annual Conference of the National Council of Women in Great Britain held in Birmingham who expressed their concern about the effect upon the environment of the scale of the international transportation of foodstuffs whilst local supermarkets held little locally grown or produced stock; and...

That this House notes that, following the first anniversary of the end of the world's largest outbreak of foot and mouth disease, surveys have revealed little public awareness of restrictions placed upon personal illegal imports of meat into the United Kingdom; and calls upon the Government to commit sufficient resources to educate both United Kingdom citizens and travellers into Britain about the dangers connected with such practices, and to police any new laws or regulations aimed at protecting the public and the United Kingdom's food producers.

That this House notes that, following the first anniversary of the end of the world's largest outbreak of foot and mouth disease, surveys have revealed little public awareness of restrictions placed upon personal illegal imports of meat into the United Kingdom; and calls upon the Government to commit sufficient resources...

That this House is gravely concerned about the detrimental financial and environmental impact of the Aggregate Tax in Northern Ireland; notes the concerns about the measures expressed by the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee and the Northern Ireland Assembly that based on daily imports, 2,000,000 tonnes of stone will be imported into Northern Ireland from the Irish Republic in the next 12 months on which no VAT payment of ??1.60 per tonne will be collected; and calls on Her Majesty's Treasury to instigate an immediate review of the implementation of the Aggregate Tax in Northern Ireland to avert further job losses.

That this House is gravely concerned about the detrimental financial and environmental impact of the Aggregate Tax in Northern Ireland; notes the concerns about the measures expressed by the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee and the Northern Ireland Assembly that based on daily imports, 2,000,000 tonnes of stone will be...

That this House welcomes the publication by the RSPCA of their report, Counting the Cost, on the import of and laboratory experimentation on primates; and believes that urgent action should be taken to end long journey times for transported primates and introduce tighter regulations to ensure better welfare during transport, to ban the use of primates from overseas breeding centres that capture primates from the wild, to carry out a critical review of the necessity of and justification for all primate use at a national and international level, and to secure major improvements in housing and husbandry conditions for all laboratory primates consistent with their behavioural, social and physical needs.

That this House welcomes the publication by the RSPCA of their report, Counting the Cost, on the import of and laboratory experimentation on primates; and believes that urgent action should be taken to end long journey times for transported primates and introduce tighter regulations to ensure better welfare during transport,...

That this House welcomes the fact that the United States has banned the importation of products made with dog and cat fur; is concerned that this ban means that more of these products may now be imported into the EU and the United Kingdom; is further concerned that consumers may not be aware that products they are buying may be made from dog and cat fur; and urges Her Majesty's Government to bring in a ban on the import, export and domestic trade in dog and cat fur or of products made with dog and cat fur as soon as possible.

That this House welcomes the fact that the United States has banned the importation of products made with dog and cat fur; is concerned that this ban means that more of these products may now be imported into the EU and the United Kingdom; is further concerned that consumers may...

That this House welcomes the fact that the United States has banned the importation of products made with dog and cat fur; is concerned that this ban means that more of these products may now be imported into the EU and the United Kingdom; is further concerned that consumers may not be aware that products they are buying may be made from dog and cat fur; and urges Her Majesty's Government to bring in a ban on the import, export and domestic trade in dog and cat fur or of products made with dog and cat fur as soon as possible.

That this House welcomes the fact that the United States has banned the importation of products made with dog and cat fur; is concerned that this ban means that more of these products may now be imported into the EU and the United Kingdom; is further concerned that consumers may...

That this House notes with concern that every year thousands of parrots are caught in their natural habitat and shipped over to the United Kingdom for sale to the general public and that many of these are very old and leave their long-term monogamous mate behind; and calls upon the Secretary of State for the Department of Trade and Industry to stop the import of these birds and to encourage the sale of only those parrots which need help in repopulating their indigenous environment.

That this House notes with concern that every year thousands of parrots are caught in their natural habitat and shipped over to the United Kingdom for sale to the general public and that many of these are very old and leave their long-term monogamous mate behind; and calls upon the...

That this House notes the forthcoming Biosafety Protocol negotiations in Montreal from 20th to 28th January; hopes that these negotiations will be more successful than the talks in Colombia which collapsed in February 1999; observes, however, that the 'Miami Group' of countries, including the United States of America, is still attempting to weaken the agreement; supports the concerns of the 'Like-Minded Group' of developing countries that unregulated trade in genetically modified organisms could pose serious environmental, health and socio-economic threats; notes that the Biosafety Protocol will be a multilateral environmental agreement under the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity and not a trade liberalisation agreement; believes therefore that the Biosafety Protocol negotiations, not the World Trade Organisation, are the most appropriate forum in which to develop a regulatory system for international movements of all genetically modified organisms; welcomes the UK Government's commitments after the collapse of trade talks in Seattle to ensuring meaningful participation by the poorest countries in international negotiations; and therefore calls on the UK Government to support developing countries in Montreal and ensure that the Biosafety Protocol guarantees all countries the right to know what genetically modified organisms are being imported, and the right to refuse such imports on the grounds of environmental, health and/or social protection and precaution.

That this House notes the forthcoming Biosafety Protocol negotiations in Montreal from 20th to 28th January; hopes that these negotiations will be more successful than the talks in Colombia which collapsed in February 1999; observes, however, that the 'Miami Group' of countries, including the United States of America, is still...

That this House is deeply concerned about the import of cheap pigmeat from countries which use sow stalls and tethers, systems which have been illegal in the United Kingdom on cruelty grounds since 1st January, following the agreement of the House in 1991; believes that these imports are undermining the United Kingdom pig industry; condemns those supermarkets, caterers and public procurement agencies which are continuing to sell or use imported pigmeat derived from foreign herds which use sow stalls and tethers; believes that United Kingdom stall and tether-free pigmeat should have a marketing premium over imported pigmeat produced using sow stalls and tethers; believes that the marketing premium is dissipated in the absence of mandatory labelling as to production method; believes that consumers are being misled by the absence of mandatory labelling of production method on pigmeat products; calls on United Kingdom supermarkets, caterers and public procurement agencies to support the United Kingdom's newly-raised sow welfare standards by selling or using only stall and tether-free pigmeat; and calls on Her Majesty's Government to introduce legislation similar to that recently enacted in Switzerland requiring meat produced by methods which would be illegal in the United Kingdom to be labelled as such.

That this House is deeply concerned about the import of cheap pigmeat from countries which use sow stalls and tethers, systems which have been illegal in the United Kingdom on cruelty grounds since 1st January, following the agreement of the House in 1991; believes that these imports are undermining the...

That this House expresses its concern about the danger the importation and manufacture of cheap and faulty lighters poses to the lives and safety of individuals in the UK, particularly children; notes that 35 million lighters were imported into the UK last year from the Far East; further notes that this is an issue which concerns the Institute of Trading Standards, the British Standards Institution and many local fire brigades and trading standards authorities; recognises that currently trading standards officers encounter various difficulties with the enforcement of safety standards; welcomes the Government's attempts to have included in the European standards a requirement that all lighters manufactured within the European Union should bear the name and address of the manufacturer, and all lighters imported into the EU should bear the name and address of the registered importer; congratulates the Government on the fact that such traceability will be included in the revised European and international standard for lighters (BS EN ISO 9994); and presses for the earliest possible introduction of this standard.

That this House expresses its concern about the danger the importation and manufacture of cheap and faulty lighters poses to the lives and safety of individuals in the UK, particularly children; notes that 35 million lighters were imported into the UK last year from the Far East; further notes that...

That this House is gravely concerned to learn that the death rate in Western Europe from asbestos exposure will probably double in the next 20 years and that 250,000 people will die from asbestos-related diseases over the next 35 years, which means that 1 in 150 of men born between 1945 and 1950 are likely to die of mesothelioma according to Professor Peto's latest survey which is based on known rates of plural cancer in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Holland; is further concerned that the risk may not decline in the United Kingdom as swiftly as would otherwise be the case because of asbestos in public buildings and the fact that white asbestos is still being imported; and therefore urges the Government to introduce an audit of all public buildings and to introduce a unilateral ban on white asbestos and all products which contain it.

That this House is gravely concerned to learn that the death rate in Western Europe from asbestos exposure will probably double in the next 20 years and that 250,000 people will die from asbestos-related diseases over the next 35 years, which means that 1 in 150 of men born between...

That this House calls upon the Government to recognise the scientific, human and animal health, environmental, economic and social uncertainties relating to the use of genetic modification in food and farming and the deep public concern about the rapid expansion of this industry; and further calls upon the Government to introduce a five-year freeze on the growing of genetically-modified crops for any commercial purpose, the import of genetically-modified foods and farm crops, the patenting of genetic resources for food and farming and the placing of genetically-modified seed varieties on the National Seed List.

That this House calls upon the Government to recognise the scientific, human and animal health, environmental, economic and social uncertainties relating to the use of genetic modification in food and farming and the deep public concern about the rapid expansion of this industry; and further calls upon the Government to...

That this House notes the findings of the recent Final Draft Report on the Risk Posed by Asbestos and Substitute Fibres prepared for the European Commission DG 111, which concludes that exposure to white asbestos poses increased risks of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma and that there is no threshold level of exposure which does not pose carcinogenic risks and which takes the view that a ban on asbestos imports is necessary if future generations are to be protected; and therefore welcomes the Government's current discussion with the Health and Safety Commission about the mechanism for introducing a domestic ban on the import, supply and use of all asbestos.

That this House notes the findings of the recent Final Draft Report on the Risk Posed by Asbestos and Substitute Fibres prepared for the European Commission DG 111, which concludes that exposure to white asbestos poses increased risks of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma and that there is no threshold...