Session 2002-03, 13 February 2003
Press Notice No. 11
ORAL EVIDENCE SESSIONS
ARMS CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT (INSPECTIONS) BILL
The Committee has arranged the following evidence session:
Wednesday 26 February 2003
Wilson Room, Portcullis House
3pm:
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Dr Bryan Wells, Director of Proliferation and Arms Control Secretariat, MoD
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Col Philip Rouse, Assistant Director of Proliferation and Arms Control Secretariat, MoD
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Kate Smith, Deputy Head of Security Policy Department, FCO
The 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty was designed to limit the holdings and deployment by its 30 signatory states of various conventional forces including tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery and aircraft. It included an inspection regime which was provided for in the Arms Control Act 1991. In 1999 an adaptation to the terms of that Treaty was agreed, which also extended the inspection regime. The UK cannot ratify the Adaptation of the original CFE Treaty without first amending the 1991 Act. The Committee will examine the rationale for and implications of the Arms Control and Disarmament (Inspections) Bill, which makes those necessary amendments.
It will also follow up the work of the previous Defence Committee which examined the 1999 Adaptation Agreement in a report in 2000 (The Adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe, HC 295, published on 2 August 2000), and recommended, amongst other things, that ratification not take place until Russia complied with its obligations.
STRATEGIC DEFENCE REVIEW: NEW CHAPTER
The Committee has arranged the following evidence session with the Secretary of State for Defence.
Wednesday 5 March 2003
3pm:
The terms of reference for this inquiry were published in news release No.34 of session 2001-02.
Meetings normally take place in a committee room in the Palace of Westminster or Portcullis House. It is advisable to ring the office on 020 7219 5745 to check the precise venue a few days in advance of the session