§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the United Kingdom delegation to the Committee on Disarmament accepted the invitation of the United States delegation to attend a meeting at the chemical weapons destruction plant in Utah last November; and if he has any information as to which Warsaw pact delegations also attended.
§ Mr. LuceThe leader of the United Kingdom delegation to the Committee on Disarmament accompanied by a technical expert from the United Kingdom, attended this valuable meeting, together with representatives of the majority of the other members of the CD. Of the Warsaw pact delegations, only Romania was represented officially.
§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made by the Committee on Disarmament in its consideration of United Kingdom working paper CD/353, tabled in March 1983, regarding the verification of the non-production of chemical weapons; what response was made by the Soviet delegation; and whether the United Kingdom delegation raised the issue again at the reopening of the working group in Geneva on 16 January.
§ Mr. LuceThe United Kingdom working paper CD 353 was discussed during the 1983 summer session of the Committee on Disarmament. Some Western and neutral delegations responded to the request for information on the civil production of the key components listed in the annex. Comment by the Soviet delegation was not extensive. However, it indicated that it envisaged some form of reporting requirement, as yet undefined, on the production of certain key precursors. Although it was not possible to do so at the working group meeting on 16 January, the United Kingdom intends to pursue verification of non-production at an early opportunity.