§ Mr. Bestasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what benefits will be lost to the United Kingdom if the United Kingdom fails to register under the preparatory investment protection resolution of the United Nations convention on the law of the sea.
§ Mr. RifkindI am not aware of any United Kingdom entity with deep seabed mining interests which wishes to take advantage of the deep seabed regime presently proposed under the United Nations law of the sea convention.
§ Mr. Bestasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which (i) Commonwealth countries, (ii) European Economic Community countries, and (iii) other European countries apart from the United Kingdom do not support the United Nations convention on the law of the sea.
§ Mr. RifkindSeven other Commonwealth countries have not signed the United Nations law of the sea convention: Botswana, Brunei, Kiribati, Malawi, St. Kitts and Nevis, Tonga and Western Samoa. In the European Community, the Federal Republic of Germany has announced that it will not sign. Italy has not signed. Both Belgium and Luxembourg have announced that they intend signature. Elsewhere in Europe, Albania, the Holy See, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Spain and Turkey have not signed the convention.
§ Mr. Bestasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will recommend that Her Majesty's Government should accede to the United Nations convention on the law of the sea before the deadline of 9 December;
(2) which aspects of the United Nations convention on the law of the sea are still unacceptable to Her Majesty's Government; what progress has been made in the last 12 months to resolve such difficulties; and what progress he expects to make in the future;
(3) if he will make a statement on the United Nations convention on the law of the sea.
§ Mr. RifkindI refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 9 November, at column41, to my hon. Friend the Member for Bedfordshire, North (Mr. Skeet).