Vol. 471 No. 4
250 Mr. E. Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the plans, if any, he has to raise at European level the issue of the ongoing destruction of the tropical rainforests; and if he intends to limit the amount of tropical hardwoods being imported into the EU. [20897/96]
The European Union already play a very active role in the protection of tropical forests. It funds a number of projects relating to tropical forests and is involved in a number of programmes including for example the pilot project for the conservation of Brazil's Amazonian Forests. It is a party to the International Tropical Timber Agreement and plays a part in a number of international activities relating to forests generally, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests. In relation to restricting imports of tropical timber, I would refer the Deputy to Parliamentary Question No. 19 on 23 October 1996.
