§ Mr. AlexanderTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the necessary procedures in respect of ratifying the agreement of, and acceding to, the United Nations law of the sea convention described in his answer of 20 July 1994,Official Report, column 236, will be completed; and when it is Her Majesty's Government's intention to ratify and accede. [13572]
§ Sir Nicholas BonsorThe legislation we intend to have in place before accession will be complete when the orders on privileges and immunities for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the International Sea-Bed Authority, and the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution) Order 1995, have been made. These were approved by Parliament on 24 and 25 January. A number of other necessary procedures are outstanding. Once these are complete, we will be in position to accede to the UN convention on the law of the sea and to ratify the part XI implementation agreement.