§ 61. Mr. Greenwayasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress in multilateral negotiations relating to chemical weapons.
§ Mr. LuceAt the 1985 session of the Geneva negotiations we and our allies are concentrating on the key issues of verification where we hope to see faster progress than in 1984. As part of this concerted effort, I presented at Geneva on 12 March a new British working paper containing proposals for the routine inspection of civil chemical plants to ensure that under a total chemical weapons ban certain toxic chemicals are not diverted for secret military use. We urge the Soviet Union to join us in building upon this and other Western verification proposals so that a complete ban, which is urgently required, can be achieved quickly.