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which the Foreign Secretary is aware, negotiations with the Chinese were to take longer than anticipated, the legislation could nonetheless be enacted in advance, and brought into operation subsequently by Order.
European Communities (Amendment) Bill
5.
This Bill remains a very high priority, on a contingency
basis. We must retain its place.
6. The Secretary of State may care for an update on the two remaining "First Session" Bills:
Antarctic Environment Protection Bill
(a) In putting forward a bid last year for an Antarctic
Environment Protection Bill to be included in the Legislative Programme 1991/92, we considered how much progress would be made by Antarctic Treaty Parties towards a new international agreement relating to the protection of
the Antarctic environment. Since then two meetings of the
Antarctic Treaty Parties have been held, the second of which
ended in Madrid on 30 April. At this second meeting a draft text of a new instrument was accepted as the basis for
conclusion of the negotiations in June. It represents a considerable achievement in bringing together the divergent views, and is likely to provide the basis for a final agreement. Primary UK legislation will be needed to bring an Environmental Protocol into force and, for political reasons, we may well wish to ratify the agreement and enact the necessary legislation without delay.
Mauritius Republic Bill
(b) The Mauritian Government is likely, possibly during the 1991/2 Session, to obtain sufficient support for the passage of legislation to make Mauritius a Republic. (An earlier
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No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.