BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION EXPERTS TO MEET IN GENEVA FROM 18 TO 22 AUGUST

The 2008 Meeting of Experts from States parties to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) will be held in Geneva from 18 to 22 August 2008. The Meeting of Experts is part of a four-year programme mandated by the 2006 Sixth Review Conference of the BWC aimed at strengthening the implementation of the Convention and improving its effectiveness as a practical barrier against the development or use of biological weapons. The BWC prohibits the development, production and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons.

This year the Meeting of Experts will convene to discuss, and promote common understanding and effective action on:

1. National, regional and international measures to improve biosafety and biosecurity, including laboratory safety and security of pathogens and toxins; and

2. Oversight, education, awareness raising, and adoption and/or development of codes of conduct with the aim of preventing misuse in the context of advances in bio-science and bio-technology research with the potential of use for purposes prohibited by the Convention.

The Meeting of Experts will be chaired by Ambassador Georgi Avramchev of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Referring to the importance of the topics for the meeting, the Chairman said that "dealing with the safety and security of biological resources, as well as ensuring that all those involved in relevant activities are aware of the international, regional and national measures which regulate their activities and the principles that underpin them, will go a long way towards ensuring that we continue to enjoy the benefits of biotechnology while being shielded from its dangers".

The Chairman welcomed the broad participation expected at the meeting, which will include government scientists, experts from international and regional organizations, representatives of international and regional academies of science, professional associations, academic institutions, individual scientific researchers, and individual experts from the private sector. "Addressing these issues will require continued engagement with the scientific, medical, commercial and educational communities," the Chairman said. "We need to develop a coordinated approach to the prevention of the misuse of biological science and technology, and I am determined to ensure that all these actors are actively involved in the BWC work programme."

In addition to government experts from States parties to the BWC, participants will include experts from international organizations such as the WHO, FAO, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the OECD; scientific organizations such as the International Council for Science, the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; and professional associations such as the American Biological Safety Association, the Asia-Pacific Biosafety Association, the European Biosafety Association, and the International Veterinary Biosafety Workgroup; and private sector corporations such as the J.Craig Venter Institute, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca PLC.

In order to give this wide range of experts more opportunities to meet their counterparts and maximize the chance offered for networking, the 2008 Meeting of Experts will for the first time feature poster sessions, to be held on Tuesday 19 August (topic 1) and Thursday 21 August (topic 2). The poster sessions will enhance the technical information available to delegations by allowing experts to present a poster on the details of their work. The Chairman said he hoped that the introduction of the poster sessions would "provide a focus for interaction among technical experts" and that "this informal context will encourage dynamic and direct exchange among the participants".

The results of the Meeting of Experts will be considered by the Meeting of States parties, to be held in Geneva from 1 to 5 December 2008. The Meeting of States parties will review the ideas and proposals presented at the Meeting of Experts, and produce a report aimed at promoting effective action to strengthen the operation of the Convention in the areas covered by the two topics.

The Biological Weapons Convention, more formally referred to as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction, opened for signature in 1972 and entered into force in 1975. It currently has 162 States parties, with a further 13 States having signed but not yet ratified.


For further information, please contact:

Mr. Richard Lennane
Head, BWC Implementation Support Unit
Tel: +41 (0)22 917 22 30
Fax: +41 (0)22 917 04 83
E-mail: rlennane@unog.ch
URL : www.unog.ch/bwc


For use of the information media; not an official record


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