§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the current state of negotiations at Geneva to try to obtain a comprehensive chemical weapons ban.
§ Mr. LuceProgress during the spring session of the conference on disarmament has been slow. On 12 March, I tabled further proposals on monitoring arrangements for non-diversion of certain civil chemicals. Subsequently the United Kingdom delegation submitted proposals for an organisation to implement a chemical weapons convention. But key problems of verification remain unresolved. The conference on disarmament reconvenes on 11 June.