§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government's policy on the holding of a special conference of states party to the chemical weapons convention at the end of the eighth year after the convention's entry into force.
§ Mr. WaldegraveWe support the holding of review conferences after a chemical weapons convention has entered into force. Such review meetings of states parties are provided for in the current draft of the convention. We should have no objection to such a meeting taking place at the end of the eighth year. The procedural details for review conferences have yet to be elaborated.
§ Mr. MacdonaldTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what effect the amendments to the chemical weapons convention draft treaty, proposed in the bilateral chemical weapons agreement by the USSR and United States of America, would have on the existing unreserved commitment of any signatory not to retain any chemical weapons.
§ Mr. WaldegraveAs currently drafted, the chemical weapons convention provides for a transition period of 10 years during which all chemical weapon stocks possessed by states parties will be destroyed. The proposals contained in the US-Soviet joint statement also envisage destruction of all chemical weapon stockpiles in this time frame, provided final destruction is agreed at a review conference at the end of the eighth year after the treaty's entry into force.