HC Deb 04 December 1992 vol 215 cc434-5W
Mr. Hutton

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which signatories of the non-proliferation treaty are seeking an indefinite extension of the treaty without amendment; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

We do not know the positions of all signatories of the non-proliferation treaty but in addition to the United Kingdom and its co-depositaries, the United States and the Russian Federation, all G7, European Community and NATO partners have indicated a commitment to seek indefinite extension of the non-proliferation treaty.

Mr. Hutton

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which states in the Commonwealth of Independent States have signed the non-proliferation treaty; which of these have reached safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency; and on what dates these events occurred.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

Uzbekistan acceded to the non-proliferation treaty on 7 May 1992. Azerbaijan acceded on 22 September 1992. We understand that neither has yet concluded safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Mr. Hutton

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which international treaties and arrangements other than the non-proliferation treaty, contribute towards the Government's non-proliferation policies.

Mr. Douglas Hogg

Apart from the non-proliferation treaty, the main international treaties which contribute to the Government's non-proliferation policies are: the 1925 Geneva protocol, dealing with chemical weapons, and the 1972 convention on the prohibition of the development, production and stockpiling of bacteriological and toxin weapons and on their destruction (the BTWC). The United Kingdom has also pledged to be an early signatory of the chemical weapons convention, which is likely to enter into force in 1995. There are in addition a number of international arrangements, notably the safeguards administered by the International Atomic Energy Agency and Euratom, and the export controls agreed by COCOM, by the Zangger committee, by the Nuclear Suppliers Group and by the Australia Group. We have also signed and ratified the two additional protocols to the treaty of Tlatelolco which is aimed at creating a nuclear weapons free zone in Latin America. The United Kingdom is also a founder member of the missile technology control regime which controls the transfer of missile systems capable of delivering nuclear, biological and chemical warheads.