Archived press release

Mps call for end to unethical subsidies

17 July 2000

A cross-party group of MPs and leading campaigning groups has today published aMemorandum [1] calling on Ministers to urgently reform the Export Credits GuaranteeDepartment (ECGD).

The ECGD is an arm of the Department of Trade and Industry that assists British exportersby granting insurance cover for high risk business ventures overseas. Cover is routinelygranted for projects including large dams, arms deals and polluting power stations.

The need for ECGD reform was highlighted last week when MPs published their views onthe British Government's announcement that it was 'minded' to grant insurance cover toBalfour Beatty for its leading role in the construction of the Ilisu Dam in Turkey. The MPs'report demonstrated how Ministers presently have no procedures or standards to assessthe environmental, human rights, development or regional security issues linked to projectslike the dam [2].

Commenting, Tony Juniper the Policy and Campaigns Director at Friends of the Earth, said:
"The present system of export credits assists British companies to damage theenvironment, support corrupt and undemocratic regimes, abuse human rights andundermine peace and security. It is amazing that a Government which says it has anethical dimension to its foreign policy has not done more to sort out this problem. Thecase of the Ilisu Dam in Turkey shows that the issues are urgent and demand priorityattention. The Prime Minister can play a role this week by making sure that standardsfor Export Credit Agencies is high on the agenda of the G8 meeting".

MPs Joan Ruddock, Peter Bottomley and Andrew Stunell have written to Mr Blair, theEnvironment Minister and six Cabinet members urging that action be taken to ensure thatECGD properly considers concerns ranging from human rights to the environment. TheMPs are backed by many campaign groups including WWF, Oxfam, the WorldDevelopment Movement, the Campaign Against the Arms Trade and Friends of the Earth.

Copies of the Memorandum are available from FOE's press office.
[1] UK Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) Minimum Conditions for Reform: A Memorandumfrom Concerned Non-Governmental Organisations and Parliamentarians.
[2] House of Commons International Development Committee: ECGD, Development Issues and the IlisuDam. 12th July 2000.

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