MANILA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines and Britain are negotiating over an extradition treaty, which will facilitate the exchange of criminal suspects, sex offenders in particular, between the two countries, a visiting British official said Friday.

    British Member of Parliament and Undersecretary of the Foreign Commonwealth Office Meg Munn said the treaty was in the early stage of discussion and specifically targets British sex offenders or pedophiles in the country in her meeting with Philippine Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral.

    Meg Munn, British Foreign Office Minister for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said "Putting in place an extradition treaty would make the process of (sending) sex offenders (back) to the Uk simpler."

    Munn told a Manila press conference that Britain is one of the worst sex tourism offenders.

    Reports said men from Britain and Australia are allegedly perpetrators of child prostitution in the Philippines. The British embassy in the country has run after its citizens who have committed similar crimes here like trafficking of children across provinces.

    Munn said the idea for treaty is new as it developed only two weeks ago during a visit to the country of some British officials from its child protection unit. The Philippines has signed a similar agreement with the United States, Canada, Australia and China, among others.