Test Ban Treaty (Hansard, 28 October 1993)

§ Mr. Flynn
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek the successful negotiation of a comprehensive test ban treaty by September 1996.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
The United Kingdom will be seeking a successful outcome to negotiations for a comprehensive test ban treaty within a reasonable time scale. We do not believe that setting a deadline for the treaty's conclusion will necessarily help the conduct of negotiations.
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§ Mr. Flynn
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when direct negotiations towards a comprehensive test ban treaty are expected to resume; and which states are expected to participate.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
Negotiations for a comprehensive test ban treaty are likely to begin in early 1994, when the conference on disarmament reconvenes in Geneva. We expect that all states who are members of the conference on disarmament will participate.

§ Mr. Flynn
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the conditions that will have to be met before Her Majesty's Government agree to sign a comprehensive test ban treaty.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
The United Kingdom will be seeking a comprehensive test ban treaty which makes a real contribution to non-proliferation. Wide adherence and effective verification measures will be important in this regard, but we do not believe it sensible to set rigid conditions that a CTB treaty must satisfy before treaty negotiations begin.