Yes / The Ad Hoc Group (AHG) of the States Parties to the Biological and Toxin Weapons
Convention (BTWC) has the consideration of measures to implement Article X of the
Convention as an element of its mandate agreed by the Special Conference in September
1994. The AHG has considered how to address this at each of its substantive meetings with
a Friend of the Chair, initially Ambassador Jorge Berguno of Chile and subsequently, Carlos Duarte of Brazil carrying out this responsibility. As progress is being made on the development of the rolling text for the Protocol to strengthen the Convention, it is timely to consider how the implementation of Article X might contribute to the strengthening of the effectiveness of the Convention.
Briefing Paper No 6 considered some of the developments that have occurred nationally,
regionally and internationally in respect of the use of bacteriological (biological) agents and toxins for peaceful purposes. It noted that there is increasing awareness world-wide because of public health and environmental concerns of the need to control the handling, use, storage
and transfer of such biological agents. That paper examined some of the current controls and regulations for biosafety and the international initiatives that are ongoing to strengthen biosafety around the world. These were seen as building blocks which might be considered from a point of view of strengthening the BTWC as well as contributing to the implementation of Article X although care will need to be taken in the Protocol for the AHG
to avoid unnecessary duplication with other international activities.
This Briefing Paper is complementary to Briefing Paper No 6 as it considers the national regulations in the UK, the EEC and in the United States as well as some other countries in respect of micro-organisms with the aim of providing some further building blocks to be considered in the strengthening of the BTWC and the implementation of Article X of the Convention. The challenging goal continues to be to identify how these other national, regional and international activities can be utilised to contribute to the strengthening of the BTWC.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/731 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Pearson, Graham S. |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Report |
| Rights | © 1998 University of Bradford. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk). |
| Relation | http://hdl.handle.net/10454/730 |
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