Written question asked by David Drew (Labour) on Tuesday, 7 February 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 9 February 2006. It was answered by Kim Howells (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 February 2006 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Trade Boycotts

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to try to end boycotts of Western goods in Islamic countries.

Answer: Where there is evidence of an official boycott of goods and discrimination against an EU member state, we support action by the European Commission to resolve the issue. For example, at the 7 November 2005 General Affairs and External Relations Council, the European Union called on Iran to lift all discriminatory restrictions against individual member states, which could impact negatively on Iran's stated desire to pursue greater co-operation with the EU.

Secondary information