HC Deb 15 July 1996 vol 281 cc360-1W
Mr. Llew Smith

To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 25 June,Official Report, column 62, if he will (a) place in the Library a copy of the International Maritime Organisation guidelines to which he refers and (b) set out the considerations as a result of which the United Kingdom has not yet ratified the UN law of the sea convention of 1982; and when United Kingdom ratification is expected to take place. [35928]

Mr. Page

I have placed in the Library of the House copies of the International Maritime Organisation guidelines and standards for the removal of offshore installations and structures on the continental shelf.

Ratification of the UN law of the sea convention of 1982 is a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.