§ Mr. Colin ShepherdTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to conduct and receive inspections under the provisions of the conventional forces in Europe treaty.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe parties to the conventional forces in Europe—CFE—treaty decided at the Helsinki CSCE summit that the treaty should be provisionally applied from 17 July, for 120 days or until the final state party deposits its instrument of ratification.
Under the treaty, each of the 29 participating states has the right to conduct a number of inspections on the territory of other parties, with the purpose of verifying the number of items of treaty-limited equipment they hold, monitoring the destruction of equipment to match permitted levels of holdings and clarifying any doubts 821W about compliance with the treaty. During the initial 120-day baseline validation period we are obliged to receive around 30 inspections, and expect to make about the same number ourselves. Inspectors from the joint arms control implementation group—JACIG—will conduct CFE inspections on behalf of the United Kingdom, starting soon after the treaty enters into force. JACIG personnel will also escort inspections of facilities in the United Kingdom. We will co-operate fully with such inspections and welcome the opportunity to demonstrate our compliance with the CFE treaty.