3. Welcomes the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement between a number of trade unions, NGOs and multinational textile retailers, aimed at improving safety standards at production sites and agreeing to pay for such measures, in particular by establishing an independent inspection system and actively supporting the creation of ‘health and safety committees’ involving workers’ representations in each factory, which are obligatory by law but rarely operational; calls on all relevant textile brands to support this effort;

3. Deplores the fact that in a number of cases the prevention and fire-fighting measures taken by national governments clearly failed to reduce the devastating impact of the fires, and commends the heroic individual efforts of private citizens and volunteers in helping to extinguish fires and save lives;

35. Stresses that the severe exposure of the forest ecosystems of the Mediterranean regions to climate change should be taken fully into account; calls on the Commission to introduce, among the agri-environmental measures provided for under the common agricultural policy, specific interventions designed to prevent and avoid the spread of forest fires, and to undertake in-depth consideration of the introduction of a common forest policy to deal more effectively with climate change and natural disasters; urges the Commission, in its proposal for an EU action plan for adapting to climate change, to prioritise the prevention and combating ...[+++]of droughts and forest fires in southern Europe;

7. Welcomes the contribution of the European tactical reserve of fire-fighting aircraft (EUFFTR), which was established this summer to assist Member States facing major fires; notes that this pilot project was established with the support of the European Parliament in order to step up cooperation between Member States on combating forest fires, and proved to be an excellent example of enhanced capacity at European level providing immediate help in emergency situations; emphasises, in this context, the need to continue the development and reinforcement of this pilot project as we continue to experience circumstances where great devastat ...[+++]ion occurs because the capacity of Member States and the EUFFTR prove inadequate;

(Return tabled) Question No. 24 Hon. Hedy Fry: With regard to the forestry industry in British Columbia (BC): (a) what specific steps has the government taken to reduce the dependency of the BC industry on the United States construction business and to facilitate and expand the sale of BC lumber to Asia; (b) for the years 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 what is the specific breakdown of the $400 million promised in the 2006 budget to deal with the mountain pine beetle and to stimulate new economic opportunities for lumbering-dependent communities and job retraining for forest industry workers in (i) terms of exact funds to communities for economic re-adjustsments together with the names of the communities, (ii) what are the projects and funds spen ...[+++]t on pine beetle research and alleviation, (iii) what are the specific projects and funds spent on job retraining initiatives; (c) what money was transferred to the BC government for fire prevention initiatives for the years 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, and to pine beetle ravaged communities which are at prime risk for summer forest fires; and (d) what specific initiatives and funds has the government allocated over 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 to the at “risk for fire” aboriginal communities in BC's interior?

The Chairman: On the bottom of page 3, the last paragraph, you say that the DTA provides that, following the effective date for devolution, Yukon government will provide fire suppression services to the national settlement land within policies and financial resources available for that purpose.