Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal (a) is intact and (b) has been destroyed to date; and if he will make a statement.

As of 29 August, all of Syria’s declared chemical stockpile of 1,309.8 metric tonnes had been removed from Syria and thus put beyond use of the regime. 95.8%, or 1,254.8 metric tonnes had been destroyed either by incineration or neutralisation, including all of the Category 1 chemicals (those deemed most proliferation sensitive by the OPCW, plus isopropanol).

The destruction of some of the category 1 chemicals in the UK was completed on 5 August, three weeks after the arrival of the chemicals in the UK. A smaller quantity of Hydrogen Fluoride (a category 2 chemical) will be destroyed in the UK at the turn of the year. Other chemicals are being destroyed in Germany, Finland and the United States.

Syria was required to declare and destroy all stocks of chemical weapons and their precursors, and the facilities and equipment with which they were manufactured. The international community cannot have confidence that Syria’s declarations were complete while credible reports of the use of chemical weapons, such as chlorine, continue, and until all outstanding questions surrounding the declarations have been resolved. The OPCW continues to seek answers to a number of questions.