Semtex (Hansard, 12 July 1989)

§ 18. Mr. Holt
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what statements have been issued by the Czechoslovakian Government regarding Semtex and the addition of a smelling agent.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
The most recent public statement by the Czechoslovak Government on this subject was the joint United Kingdom-Czech letter addressed to the United Nations Secretary-General on 15 June which urged support for work on a Convention to mark all plastic and sheet explosives for detection. This followed our successful sponsorship of a Security Council resolution (No. 635) on 14 June. I am arranging for a copy of this letter and of SCR 635 to be placed in the Library of the House.

§ 29. Miss Widdecombe
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what international negotiations he has had about the marking of Semtex and other high explosives; and if he will make a statement.

§ 41. Mr. Mates
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what international negotiations he has had in respect of the marking of Semtex and other high explosives; and if he will make a statement.

§ 55. Mrs. Gillian Shephard
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what international discussions he has had about the marking of Semtex and other high explosives; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Waldegrave
We held preliminary talks with Czechoslovakia earlier this year on the marking of plastic explosives for the purposes of detection. Further negotiations in the United Nations Security Council in New York (initiated during the British presidency of the council in May) led to the unanimous adoption on 14 June of Security Council resolution No. 635, calling for the drafting of an international convention on the marking of plastic and sheet explosives. Work on this is already under way in the International Civil Aviation Organisation.