asked the Lord Privy Seal what proposals will be made by the British Government to the United Nations conference that will be convened in 1981 to

TABLE 1: INDEX OF PRODUCTION OF THE CHEMICALS INDUSTRY (1970=100)
					Year
First half
Country					1952	1960	1967	1972	1978	1979
United Kingdom		…	…	…	31	60	83	108	134	139
Germany (Federal Republic)				…	..	38	73	113	139	151
France	…	…	…	…	..	42	75	118	150	164
Italy	…	…	…	…	..	39	84	113	153	170
United States of America			…	…	..	49	84	119	159	··
Japan	…	…	…	…	..	24	61	114	..	..
Source: United Kingdom—National statistics; Other countries—United Nations and Eurostat.

There is no readily available information on the value of sales—or production

TABLE 2: VALUE OF SALES IN THE CHEMICALS INDUSTRY
				Year					£ million
First half
Country				1952	1960	1967	1972	1978	1979
United Kingdom	…	…	…	910	1,730	2,800	4,490	14,690	8,400
Source: 1972—Census of Production; Other years—Estimates based on Censuses of Production.

Information on the volume of exports readily available is only for the United

TABLE 3: EXPORT VOLUME INDEX OF CHEMICALS (1975=100)
				Year
First half
Country				1952	1960	1967	1972	1978	1979
United Kingdom	…	…	…	15	35	56	85	155	155
Source: Based on Overseas trade Statistics, SITC (R2) section 5.

The form of this conference has still to be decided. Any proposals we might make will depend upon the preparatory work, which we shall follow closely. We hope that a consensus will emerge among the States concerned on the terms of the proposed peace zone. This is a pre-requisite for a successful conference.