§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on the visit to the conference on disarmament in Geneva by the Minister of State, the hon. Member for Shoreham, (Mr. Luce) on 12 March.
§ Mr. LuceDuring my visit to Geneva, I had talks with the heads of a number of delegations to the conference on disarmament, including the representatives of the United States and the Soviet Union. I also delivered a speech to the conference in which I called for an urgent and concerted effort now to conclude a total ban on chemical weapons. I drew attention to the issues of verification yet to be resolved.
362WTo add impetus to this work, I presented a new British working paper containing proposals for the routine inspection of civil chemical plants to ensure that under such a ban certain toxic chemicals are not diverted for secret military use. This paper, which builds upon earlier British proposals tabled in 1983 and 1984, was well received. I emphasised that the United Kingdom would continue to play a full part in efforts to advance progress in the negotiations.