Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to prepare for formal negotiations on a new UN oceans treaty; and how many officials at his Department at each grade will attend the UN conference in September 2018 on the treaty.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have been actively involved in the preparations for formal negotiations to develop a new agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. We were actively involved in developing and shaping the EU and Member States' positions during the initial stages of discussions at the UN Ad Hoc Working Group on this issue and during the Preparatory Committee, which reported in July 2017. This Preparatory Committee led to the establishment of the intergovernmental conference which will start its work on the substance in September 2018. The FCO leads, with close cooperation from DEFRA, on these negotiations. We have also consulted with and will continue to consult with other government departments during these negotiations. We will also continue to discuss these issues with external stakeholders including the scientific community and civil society.

The UK delegation to the intergovernmental conference in September will include three officials, supported by policy and legal expertise from DEFRA. We will continue to review the composition and size of the delegation as the negotiations develop in order to ensure that we have the right people in place to promote the UK's interests and the interests of global conservation.