§ Mr. Strangasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response the 352W Government have made to the latest Union of Soviet Socialist Republic's proposals with regard to on site inspection of the destruction of chemical weapons plants in the event of a chemical weapons ban.
§ Mr. RentonWe hope that recent Soviet comments on verification may represent a small though useful step. But the Soviet Union remains silent on the details of other crucial verification issues, such as the non-production of chemical weapons in the civil chemical industry and inspection on challenge. We will be addressing these and other issues with the Soviet Union when the negotiations for a verifiable global ban on chemical weapons at the conference on disarmament resume on 10 June.
§ Mr. Strangasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government's policy on the production of chemical weapons, or chemical weapon components, by British firms.
§ Mr. RentonWe attach a high priority to the agreement of a global and verifiable ban on all chemical weapons, which we believe will need to include controls on the manufacture of certain chemicals in civil industry. The United Kingdom abandoned its chemical warfare capability in the 1950s. Following the use of chemical weapons in the Gulf conflict, controls have been imposed on the export of certain civil chemicals which could be used in the manufacture of lethal chemical agents.