§ 4. Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYasked the President of the Board of Trade who will be the British delegates to the forthcoming international conference on the question of oil in navigable waters; whether any definite steps for the prevention of damage from such oil are being proposed by His Majesty's Government; and, if so, what is their nature?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERThe hon. and gallant Member no doubt has in mind the preliminary Conference of Technical 226 Experts at Washington which terminated on 16th June. The delegates of His Majesty's Government were Mr. Hipwood and Mr. Laslett of the Board of Trade, Captain the Hon. A. Stopford, Naval Attaché to His Majesty's Embassy at Washington, and Engineer-Commander A. Knothe, Assistant Naval Attaché. The Canadian Government also sent representatives to the Conference. The object of this preliminary Conference was to facilitate an exchange of views on technical matters and to consider formulating proposals for dealing, through international agreement, with the problem of oil pollution of navigable waters. The preliminary Conference have made unanimous proposals as to zones within which the discharge of oil should be prohibited.
§ Lieut. - Commander KENWORTHYWhen will the main Conference take place.
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERIt is just possible that the proposals which are being brought forward may be agreed upon internationally, without the need for a further conference. Until the delegates return and I get a full report I cannot say that definitely, but if an international agreement could be reached without a further conference that would save a great deal of time.
§ Lieut. - Commander KENWORTHYWill the right hon. Gentleman answer the last part of my question, namely, whether any definite steps are being proposed by the Government which would lead to a solution of this difficulty? Have we any measures in mind?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERYes, Sir, we certainly have. We agree with the proposals which were unanimously agreed to at the preliminary conference.
§ Colonel GRETTONDoes the term "navigable waters" include territorial waters?
§ Sir P. CUNLIFFE-LISTERWe have already legislated about territorial waters. The present proposals go far beyond that and recommend that there should be prohibition extending over very wide zones—from 50 to 150 miles—and that is why international agreement is necessary.