Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will hold discussions to ensure that British companies working in Colombia are not involved in land-grab from peasant land-owners.

The former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) visited Colombia in February this year and discussed business and human rights in his meetings with President Santos, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Trade and with civil society. We have a strong partnership with the government of Colombia on implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, in the context of the November 2011 Joint Declaration on Human Rights. I had a substantive discussion with the Deputy Foreign Minister regarding these matters during my visit to Bogota in June.

The Ambassador and Embassy team regularly meet representatives of Civil Society to hear their concerns about human rights in Colombia, including business behaviour. If British firms are involved we raise issues with them as appropriate. The team in Bogota also meets with British companies and encourages adherence to best practice and global standards in their operations.