§ Lord Jenkins of Putneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the United Kingdom delegation to the UN conference of the Committee on Disarmament in the past supported consideration of a European Chemical Weapons Free Zone in the absence of a global ban on chemical weapons; and will they do so in future meetings?
§ Baroness YoungWe remain firmly committed to reaching agreement at the Conference on Disarmament on a total and adequately verifiable world-wide ban on the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons, and a similar agreement on the destruction of current stocks and production facilities.
The Soviet proposal at the Conference on Disarmament in Stockholm for a European Chemical Weapon-Free Zone is no adequate substitute for a global ban. A European ban would require the same degree of extensive verification necessary in a global ban, an aspect not addressed in the Soviet proposal. Moreover, chemical weapons could be easily transported into any European zone in time of conflict.