Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 June 2004
107 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his response to the request of the Secretary General of the UN, Mr. Kofi Annan, to provide relevant information to enable him to prepare a report on the implementation of the UN Resolution 58/7 on the ending of the economic embargo imposed by the US against Cuba; when such request or requests were received in recent years; and when they were replied to. [18849/04]
View answerI refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 104 of 17 June 2004, which also deals with this matter.
The Government's position on the US embargo has been made very clear over the years by our voting pattern — and that of our EU partners — in the UN General Assembly, most recently on 4 November 2003. On that date, the General Assembly approved Resolution 58/7 entitled Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.
The main effect of Resolution 58/7 is to reiterate the General Assembly's call upon all states to refrain from promulgating and applying laws and measures such as the Helms-Burton Act of 1996. The resolution further urges states that have and continue to apply such laws and measures to take the necessary steps to repeal or invalidate them as soon as possible.
Each year, in accordance with the terms of the resolution, it is customary for the UN Secretary General to prepare a report on the implementation of the resolution. In line with this, on 19 April 2004, Secretary General Annan invited all UN member states to "provide any relevant information" by 16 June 2004.
Since the Government has never promulgated or applied laws or measures such as the Helms- Burton Act, it has not been customary to make a submission to the UN Secretary General on this matter. The Irish Presidency has, however, conveyed an EU submission to the UN Secretary General, which includes the following: the European Union believes that United States trade policy towards Cuba is fundamentally a bilateral issue. Nevertheless, the European Union and its member states have clearly expressed their opposition to the extraterritorial extension of the United States embargo, such as that contained in the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 and the Helms-Burton Act of 1996.
