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Dept of the Environment Transport and the Regions

Answer

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the matters discussed and the outcome of the OSPAR Convention meeting in Hull on 21 to 25 June; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the submissions made by (a) the United Kingdom and (b) other OSPAR contracting parties and recognised observer organisations relevant to the United Kingdom. [89732] Mr. Meale: The annual meeting of the OSPAR Commission, held in Hull at the invitation of the UK Government from 21 to 24 June, was opened by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister. The main outcomes were the adoption of a strategy on environmental goals and management mechanisms for offshore activities (which, with the four strategies adopted at the Ministerial meeting in Portugal last year, means that all the main activities of the OSPAR Commission are now covered by long-term strategies), of a recommendation on the best available techniques for the manufacture of emulsion-PVC, and (with a reservation from Norway) of guidelines on artificial reefs in relation to marine living resources. Other matters discussed mainly concerned the implementation of the long-term strategies adopted last year. On the strategy for radioactive substances, the Contracting Parties agreed to intensify their efforts to implement it by focusing on the principal sources of discharges, emissions and losses, including the reprocessing of nuclear fuel and some other nuclear and non-nuclear activities; where action by the operators of nuclear installations is required, the Contracting Parties agreed to ensure that this is taken without delay. Another major theme was the improvement of the structure of the OSPAR Commission and of its working practices, in order to help the implementation of the strategies. The UK delegation presented no formal papers to the meeting. The papers which the OSPAR Commission has agreed to make public can be found on its web-site: www.ospar.org.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

89732; 334 c376-7W

Session

1998-99

Subjects

Environment protection Radioactive waste Nuclear fuel reprocessing Marine animals Offshore industry Seas and oceans OSPAR Convention Polyvinyl chloride