, Clare): I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the terms of the Sixth International Tin Agreement, 1981.
Dáil approval of the terms of this agreement is necessary in accordance with Article 29.5.2º of the Constitution which stipulates that "the State shall not be bound by an international agreement involving a charge upon public funds unless the terms of the agreement shall have been approved by Dáil Éireann".
An explanatory memorandum has been prepared and circulated to Deputies. It outlines the provisions of the agreement and covers the question of the costs of Irish participation. I shall therefore mention only the essential points. The International Tin Agreement, 1981 was concluded under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) at the United Nations Conference on Tin held in Geneva in June 1981. Some 54 countries, including Ireland, representing nine exporting countries and 45 importing countries participated in the conference.
By 30 April 1982 the agreement had been signed by six exporting and 18 importing countries. By virtue of a Council decision of 22 March 1982, the latter included the ten member states of the European Economic Community and the Community itself.
The main objectives of the agreement are to alleviate serious difficulties arising from surplus or shortages of tin and to prevent excessive fluctuations in the price of tin and in the export earnings from tin of developing producer member states. To this end, an international buffer stock consisting of 50,000 tonnes of primary tin metal will be established. A buffer stock manager will offer to buy and sell tin in a manner designed to keep its price within an agreed price range.
The financing of the buffer stock will be met by direct Government contributions, (shared equally between the exporting and importing members) borrowing and/or by Government guarantees. Each consumer member will meet an apportionment of the cost based on its consumption of primary tin metal as a percentage of total consumption. At this stage it is not possible to assess accurately Ireland's apportionment of these costs because of variables, such as the number of countries likely to adhere to the agreement. However, it is estimated that, based on our reassessed percentage share (.004 per cent) of consumption within the consumer members group, our financial commitment should not exceed £7,500, over the lifetime of the agreement.
Should the buffer stock operations prove unsuccessful in stabilising market prices provision has been made within the agreement for the introduction of export controls to be observed by the producers.
In addition, members, will be required to make an annual contribution to the administrative budget of the International Tin Organisation. Ireland's contribution will be in proportion to its number of votes in the Council. The experience of administrative payments to the present Tin Organisation suggests that our annual contribution under this heading will be of the order of £7,000.
Ireland's direct economic interest in the agreement is modest. Among consumer countries, we account for only .004 per cent of total consumption. Our imports of tin and tin alloys were approximately 67 tonnes in 1981. They consisted largely of semi-processed tin-bearing products for use in soldering activities in the electronics and electroplating areas of industry. Although the levels of these imports are not high, our dependence on them for certain industrial activities means that we have an interest in preventing excessive price fluctuations and ensuring adequate supplies at reasonable prices.
The International Tin Agreement is, moreover, the oldest agreement between producers and consumers of commodities and has generally been held to be the most successful. Buffer stocks under previous agreements had been financed mainly by producers, with voluntary contributions only from consumers. Ireland had not made any voluntary contribution. Only in the recent past have market prices dropped to the point where support buying by the buffer stock has been necessary.
The present agreement has been renegotiated in the framework of UNCTAD's Integrated Programme for Commodities. The twin pillars of this ambitious programme, which was adopted at Nairobi in 1976, are international jointly-financed agreements between producers and consumers of named commodities and the Common Fund. I am happy to say that the Common Fund for Commodities Bill, 1981, was signed by the President on 22 May 1982. Ireland will therefore be in a position to ratify the Common Fund Agreement in the near future. Three commodity agreements eligible for association with the Common Fund have been negotiated to date. The International Natural Rubber Agreement, 1979, entered into force definitively on 17 April 1982. The International Cocoa Agreement, 1980, has been provisionally in force since 1 August 1981. Provided the required number of countries participate, the present agreement will enter into force provisionally on 1 July 1982. Despite these achievements, progress in implementing the Integrated Programme for Commodities has been somewhat slow. For our part, we attach considerable importance to the co-operative venture between producers and consumers which the IPC represents. As a comprehensive attempt to bring about desired changes in the prevailing economic order through a process of negotiations between developed and developing countries, the programme deserves our continued support. It is in this spirit that I commend the International Tin Agreement, 1981, to the House.
