§ Mr. Simon Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, in the context of the Conference on Co-operation and Security in Europe, he will propose an agreement between the participating countries to reduce the sulphur content of fuel in ships.
§ Mr. RifkindThe Helsinki final act commits signatories to co-operate in the field of the environment. It mentions the problem of pollution of the marine environment, especially in the Mediterranean. We have, however, no plans to propose an agreement to reduce the sulphur content of fuel in ships. Such an agreement would not in our view be practicable at present.