SIXTH REVIEW CONFERENCE ON BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION CONCLUDES GENERAL DEBATE

The Sixth Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction continued with its general debate this afternoon, hearing statements from Mexico, Egypt and the World Health Organization.

Mexico lamented the fact that once again there was not the necessary political will to advance towards the adoption of a verification mechanism, adding that it would continue to emphasize the need to adopt such a mechanism. There were other areas in which States parties could advance in their work, however, including by adopting confidence-building measures, and setting up a support unit with greater capacity, capable of assisting those States who requested help to implement their obligations under the Convention. Mexico also suggested establishing a national focal point responsible for coordinating all the activities related to the universal adherence to the Convention.

Egypt recalled that in 1990 it had launched an initiative to render the Middle East free of all weapons of mass destruction. The Middle East was a volatile region burdened by a series of devastating conflicts, and weapons of mass destruction could only fuel additional instability in the region. Egypt also expressed its deep concern over certain deficiencies regarding the effectiveness of the implementation of the treaty, as well as the continuation of conditions in the Middle East that had served as a fundamental obstacle towards Egypt's becoming a full State party. Israel not only sat on an arsenal of nuclear weapons, but had consistently refused to sign the Biological Weapons Convention, thereby once again obstructing international efforts towards the elimination of the threat of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The international community should address that issue in an effective and practical manner so as to achieve that objective universally and in a non-discriminatory manner.


The World Health Organization (WHO) said that it had developed a strategic response to deal with emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, including through establishing close collaboration with WHO Member States within the framework of the revised International Health Regulations, and had instituted a decentralized structure to strengthen its ability to act at a regional and global level, with regional offices and 142 country offices.

To complete yesterday’s election of the Bureau, Mali, Mexico and South Africa were elected by acclamation as the remaining Vice-Presidents of the Review Conference, which now has its full complement of 20 Vice-Presidents.

The next plenary meeting of the Conference will be held at 3 p.m. on Friday, 24 November when it will continue the general debate.

Statements

PABLO MACEDO (Mexico) said that Mexico had expected the previous Review Conference, five years ago, to adopt a verification mechanism to guarantee the strict observance of the Convention. Unfortunately, that had not been possible. Instead, States parties to the Biological Weapons Convention had had to be satisfied with a decision to deal with a series of issues during the intersessional period. While acknowledging some merits to that decision, it had had limited results. In consequence, Mexico considered that this Review Conference could not miss the opportunity to try, based on the results already achieved, to agree on a follow-up mechanism that should be much more ambitious and able to address the challenges that States parties were facing in the context of the application of the Convention.

Mexico lamented the fact that once again there was not the necessary political will to advance towards the adoption of a verification mechanism. Mexico would continue to emphasize the need to adopt such a mechanism. There were also other areas in which States parties could advance in their work, including by adopting confidence-building measures, which were indispensable to increase transparency. Some other areas the Review Conference could work on included strengthening the institutional mechanisms of the Convention by setting up a support unit with greater capacity, capable of assisting those States who requested help to implement their obligations under the Convention. Mexico also underlined the importance of universal adherence to the Convention. In that sense, it was necessary to adopt a plan of action that, among other things, gave the support unit a specific mandate to achieve that goal, and complemented the efforts of States in that same area. Mexico suggested establishing a national focal point responsible for coordinating all the activities related to the universal adherence to the Convention to better organize these actions. Mexico also recommended carrying out a thorough examination of the application of all the articles of the Convention in order to strengthen it as a whole.

SAMEH SHOUKRY (Egypt) said the Convention remained the primary international multilateral treaty that served as the foundation for biological weapons disarmament. The prohibition of the development, production and stockpiling of bacteriological and toxin weapons was necessary to avoid unacceptable consequences from both a humanitarian and moral perspective. In 1990, Egypt had launched an initiative to render the Middle East free of all weapons of mass destruction, and had stressed in various international disarmament forums the necessity of prohibiting such weapons in the Middle East without exception – whether they were nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. The Middle East was a volatile region burdened by a series of devastating conflicts, and weapons of mass destruction could only fuel additional instability in the region.

There was also deep concern over certain deficiencies regarding the effectiveness of the implementation of the treaty, as well as the continuation of conditions in the region of the Middle East which had served as a fundamental obstacle towards Egypt becoming a full State party. Israel not only sat on an arsenal of nuclear weapons, but had consistently refused to sign the Biological Weapons Convention, thereby once again obstructing international efforts towards the elimination of the threat of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The international community should address that issue in an effective and practical manner so as to achieve that objective universally and in a non-discriminatory manner.

MIKE RYAN, of the World Health Organization (WHO), updated the States parties to the Biological Weapons Convention on WHO activities related to global health security. WHO had developed a strategic response to deal with emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, including through establishing close collaboration with WHO Member States within the framework of the revised International Health Regulations, and had instituted a decentralized structure to strengthen its ability to act at a regional and global level, with regional offices and 142 country offices.

The International Health Regulations, which were revised in 2005, represented a major step forward in international cooperation and collective action in the fight against the spread of epidemics and pandemics. They also embodied a unique strategic approach for collective reference against those threats. In addition, WHO said that compliance with those modernized Regulations would help ensure that the world was not taken by surprise when outbreaks occurred, and that disruptions to trade, commerce, and business continuity were minimized. The International Health Regulations would increase the speed of outbreak detection, allowing more rapid application of life-saving interventions and more rapid alerts to the international community about the evolving situation.

For use of the information media; not an official record

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