§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government propose to take to follow up the report on chemical and biological warfare recently issued by the Secretary-General of the United Nations; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MulleyI have today tabled in the Eighteen-Nation Disarmament Committee in Geneva a draft Convention, prepared under my direction, prohibiting biological methods of warfare, with an associated draft Security Council Resolution. The draft Convention, the purpose of which is to strengthen the 1925 Geneva Protocol, would ban not only the use, but also the production and possession of agents of biological warfare. I believe that this is a significant step towards the complete elimination of all biological and chemical methods of warfare, which the United Nations Secretary-General has urged in his recent report on the effects of the use of chemical and biological weapons. Her Majesty's Government hope that serious and early consideration will now be given by the Committee to our draft Convention.
Copies of the draft Convention and draft Security Council Resolution are available in the Library of the House. A White Paper containing the texts will be laid before Parliament tomorrow.