§ Lord Juddasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress has been made in the international technical-level negotiations on the control of the deployment of landmines.
§ Baroness Chalker of Wallasey:Technical experts met in Geneva from 15–19 January in order to re-examine the questions on which agreement was not possible at the UN Weaponry Convention Review Conference in September/October 1995. Good progress was made on the core technical issues of specifications for self-destruction/self-deactivation mechanisms and detectability.
The third session of the Review Conference will take place in Geneva from 22 April-3 May. We shall work to conclude an agreement there which should deliver a real reduction in the dangers to civilians from the indiscriminate use of landmines.