Written question asked by Bob Blizzard (Labour) on Monday, 16 April 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 18 April 2007. It was answered by Kim Howells (Labour) on Thursday, 19 April 2007 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what matters she plans to raise at the meeting of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee starting on 30 April; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: The United Kingdom will work with the EU, with its allies in the Western European and Others’ Group and with the other nuclear weapon states towards strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and the wider nuclear non-proliferation regime. There are a number of issues on which useful work could be undertaken, many of which were set out in the EU Common Position agreed for the 2005 review conference and remain outstanding. It will be important to build consensus on these areas, and any new workstreams, in this and future Preparatory Committees. We hope that this process will culminate in a substantive final document being agreed at the 2010 NPT review conference.

Secondary information