§ Mr. HainTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he proposes to re-ratify the Oslo-Paris—OSPAR—treaty; if he will make a statement indicating when the United Kingdom first signed this treaty; what time has elapsed between signature and implementation; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Environment concerning the future implementation of OSPAR in connection with Shell and the Brent Spar platform. [30694]
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe United Kingdom signed the convention for the protection of the marine environment of the north-east Atlantic—the OSPAR convention—on 3 November 1992.
The Department of the Environment has been checking since then whether all relevant UK legislation is consistent with the convention before ratification can take place. This also needs to be done for the Isle of Man and the bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. Our decisions in connection with the Brent Spar installation have been entirely consistent with the new convention.