§ Mr. Frank CookTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence from what sources mines retained for training purposes as permitted under the Ottawa Treaty have been procured; and to what purposes they have been put. [101297]
§ Mr. IngramMines retained for permitted purposes under the Ottawa Convention were kept from previous operational stocks and small numbers of different types have been procured from various sources. These have been declared in the United Kingdom's annual return to the Secretary-General of the United Nations in accordance with Article 7 of the Ottawa Convention.
Retained mines have been used for training in mine detection, mine clearance and mine destruction techniques as permitted in Article 3 of the Ottawa Convention. Specific purposes include: training 783W explosive and mine detection dogs; training military and civilian mine clearance personnel; making relevant training films, videos, and posters; testing and trials of mine clearance devices; and testing and trials of protective clothing and equipment.