BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION EXPERTS TO MEET IN GENEVA FROM 13 TO 24 JUNE

BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION EXPERTS TO MEET IN GENEVA FROM 13 TO 24 JUNE

Experts Discuss Content, Promulgation,

Adoption of Codes of Conduct for Scientists

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 10 June (UN Information Service) -- The third Meeting of Experts from States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction will be held in Geneva from 13 to 24 June 2005.  The Convention, generally known as the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), prohibits the development, production and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons.

The Meeting of Experts is part of a three-year programme mandated by the Fifth Review Conference of the BWC.  The Review Conference, which concluded in 2002, decided that States Parties would meet twice yearly until the next Review Conference in 2006 “to discuss, and promote common understanding and effective action on” specific topics related to better implementation of the BWC.

The 2005 Meeting of Experts will convene to discuss, and promote common understanding and effective action on “the content, promulgation, and adoption of codes of conduct for scientists.”  Experts are expected to discuss ways in which the development and implementation of codes of conduct for scientists can help prevent the use of science, particularly the life sciences and biotechnology, in ways that might lead to contravention of the BWC.  The Meeting will likely address how raising awareness and educating scientists on the BWC’s prohibitions can strengthen barriers against the development and proliferation of pathogenic micro-organisms and toxins, and related materials and technology, for hostile use.

This Meeting follows the successful conclusion of similar sessions held in 2003 and 2004, which saw a wide range of technical experts assemble to discuss:

-- Practical ways of strengthening national measures against biological weapons through national legislation and biosecurity measures;

-- Measures to strengthen and broaden national and international institutional efforts and existing mechanisms for the surveillance, detection, diagnosis and combating of infectious diseases affecting humans, animals, and plants; and

-- Measures to enhance international capabilities for responding to, investigating and mitigating the effects of cases of alleged use of biological or toxin weapons or suspicious outbreaks of disease.

The participants this year will include government scientists, experts from international organizations, representatives of international and regional academies of science, professional associations, academic institutions, individual scientific researchers, scientific publishers, research funders, and biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry associations.

The 2005 Meeting of Experts will be chaired by Ambassador John Freeman of the United Kingdom.

The Biological Weapons Convention, which opened for signature in 1972 and entered into force in 1975, is the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons.  It currently has 154 States Parties, with a further 16 having signed but not yet ratified.

For further information, please contact: Richard Lennane, Secretariat of the BWC Meeting of Experts, tel.:  +41 (0)22 917 2230 or +41 (0)22 917 7144, fax:  +41 (0)22 917 0034, e-mail:  rlennane@unog.ch.

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