§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his Department's policy concerning a nuclear fissile material cut-off convention; and what assessment he has made of the impact of such a convention on international security. [33189]
§ Mr. David DavisWe supported the mandate agreed at the conference on disarmament in Geneva in March 1995 for an ad hoc committee to begin work on a treaty banning the future production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices—fissile material cut-off treaty, FMCT.
Such a ban could be a significant contribution to non-proliferation and international security, provided that it enjoyed wide support including from those countries which have not yet signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. We therefore continue to urge all members of the conference on disarmament to support an early start to negotiations to conclude a satisfactory and universally applicable FMCT.