§ Mr. GapesTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy towards nuclear-free zones in(a) the Pacific and (b) central and eastern Europe. [39998]
§ Mr. David DavisOn 20 October we announced jointly with the US and France that we would sign the protocols to the south Pacific nuclear-free zone treaty in the first half of 1996. We believe that internationally recognised nuclear weapon free zones, based on arrangements freely arrived at by all the states in a given region, can help prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. However, proposals for such zones have to take into account prevailing circumstances in the area concerned.