§ 62. Mr. E. Fletcherasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what representations have been made by Her Majesty's Government to Peru in connection with that Government's purported claim to seize ships within a 200-mile limit of its territory.
§ Lord John HopeThe hon. Member presumably refers to the Peruvian claim to territorial waters of 200 miles and to a consequential claim to seize foreign vessels found fishing within that limit. Her Majesty's Government do not admit the claim of the Peruvian Government to 200 miles of territorial waters or indeed to anything outside the normal 3-mile limit. The Peruvian Government were so informed in Notes delivered on 6th February, 1948; 15th October, 1952; 21st August, 1953, and 31st August, 1954. In these Notes it was stated that H.M. Government cannot recognise that British nationals and British vessels are subject to any form of control or restriction imposed by the Peruvian Government outside a 3-mile limit.
§ 65. Mr. Dudley Williamsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many cases have been brought to his notice of countries making abnormal claims over the waters around their coasts.
§ Mr. TurtonChile, Peru, Ecuador and El Salvador have claimed territorial waters of 200 miles in breadth. Argentina, Costa Rica, Honduras, South Korea, Nicaragua and Panama have made unspecified claims to waters lying above the Continental Shelf.
Twenty-two other countries in Latin America, the Middle East and Europe have made claims to territorial waters of a breadth between three and twelve miles.