§ Mr. Michieasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the United Kingdom delegation to the United Nations committee on Disarmament will support article X of the proposed United States draft chemical weapons ban treaty.
§ Mr. RentonWe have made clear at the Conference on Disarmament that the verification provisions in the 187W United States draft chemical weapons treaty point to the path which the negotiations must follow if full compliance is to be assured. The United States has indicated its willingness to consider alternatives. We trust that other countries, including the Soviet Union, will demonstrate the same readiness to be flexible when the negotiations resume in January 1985.
§ Mr. Michieasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the United Kingdom delegation to the Geneva committee on disarmament plans to propose further measures which might ensure that during the chemical weapons destruction process, production facilities remain completely inoperative.
§ Mr. RentonAllied proposals for verification of nonoperation and destruction of chemical weapons production facilities are already on the Geneva negotiating table. We await a detailed Soviet response. The United Kingdom stands ready to contribute to agreement on this aspect of verification, particularly in the light of its experience in the dismantling of its own pilot plant at Nancekuke in the 1970s.
The United Kingdom is considering tabling a further working paper in early 1985 on the related verification issue of the non-diversion of industrial chemicals to illicit military stockpiles.