Segments

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• Consideration of the reports of the States Parties on their full and comprehensive implementation of all provisions of Article X;
• Review of the report by the ISU on the operation of the assistance and cooperation database established by the Seventh Review Conference and renewed by the Eighth Review Conference and consideration of its further operationalization, including measures to further strengthen the operation of the database, including in the light of BWC/MSP/2017/4;
• Identification of challenges and obstacles to developing international cooperation, assistance and exchange in the biological sciences and technology, including equipment and material, for peaceful purposes to their full potential, and possible ways and means of overcoming these;
• Development of guidelines and procedures for mobilizing resources, including financial resources on a voluntary basis to address gaps and needs;
• Facilitation of education, training, exchange and twinning programs and other means of developing human resources in biological sciences and technology related to implementation of the Convention, particularly in developing countries;
• Promotion of capacity building, through international cooperation, in biosafety and biosecurity and for detecting, reporting and responding to outbreaks of infectious disease or biological weapons attacks, including in the areas of preparedness, response, and crisis management and mitigation;
• Collaboration with international organizations and networks related to combating infectious diseases at all levels, as well as regional and sub-regional cooperation to promote implementation of all articles of the Convention.

MX1 7 August 2018 AM Session Recording

MX1 7 August 2018 PM Session Recording

MX1 8 August 2018 AM Session Recording

MX1 8 August 2018 PM Session Recording

Please find the link to documents as well as statements and presentations.

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• Review of science and technology developments relevant to the Convention, including for the enhanced implementation of all articles of the Convention as well as the identification of potential benefits and risks of new science and technology developments relevant to the Convention, with a particular attention to positive implications;
• Biological risk assessment and management;
• Development of a voluntary model code of conduct for biological scientists and all relevant personnel, and biosecurity education, by drawing on the work already done on this issue in the context of the Convention, adaptable to national requirements;
• In 2018, the MX2 will address the specific topic of genome editing, taking into consideration, as appropriate, the issues identified above;
• Any other science and technology developments of relevance to the Convention and also to the activities of relevant multilateral organizations such as the WHO, OIE, FAO, IPPC and OPCW.

MX2 9 August 2018 AM Session Recording

MX2 9 August 2018 PM Session Recording

MX2 10 August 2018 AM Session Recording

MX2 10 August 2018 PM Session Recording

Please find the link to documents as well as statements and presentations.

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MX3 was chaired by Ambassador Julio Herráiz España of Spain and considered the following topics:

• Measures related to Article IV of the Convention;
• CBM submissions in terms of quantity and quality;
• Various ways to promote transparency and confidence building under the Convention;
• Role of international cooperation and assistance under Article X, in support of strengthening the implementation of the Convention
• Issues related to Article III, including effective measures of export control, in full conformity with all Articles of the Convention, including Article X.

MX3 13 August 2018 AM Session Recording

MX3 13 August 2018 PM Session Recording

Please find the link to documents as well as statements and presentations.

MX4 was chaired by Mr. Daniel Nord of Sweden and considered the following topics:

• Practical challenges facing the implementation of Article VII, and possible solutions;
• A set of guidelines and formats to assist a State Party, if required, when submitting an application for assistance in the framework of Article VII;
• Procedures, including the establishment and use of the assistance database, to improve the prompt and efficient response without preconditions to a request of assistance by a State Party under Article VII, and coordination and cooperation among States Parties and with relevant international and regional organizations such as WHO, OIE and FAO, as appropriate;
• Examination of how the concept of mobile biomedical units might contribute to effective assistance, response and preparation with a view to enhancing implementation of the Convention;
• Exploration of approaches by which States Parties, individually or collectively, might contribute to the strengthening of international response capabilities for infectious disease outbreaks, whether natural or deliberate in origin;
• Exploration of means to prepare for, respond to and render assistance in case of the possible hostile use of biological agents and toxins against agriculture, livestock as well as the natural environment.

MX4 14 August 2018 AM Session Recording

MX4 14 August 2018 PM Session Recording

MX4 15 August 2018 AM Session Recording

MX4 15 August 2018 PM Session Recording

Please find the link to documents as well as statements and presentations.

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MX5 was chaired by Mr. Otakar Gorgol of the Czech Republic and considered the following topic:

• Consideration of the full range of approaches and options to further strengthen the Convention and its functioning through possible additional legal measures or other measures in the framework of the Convention.

MX5 16 August 2018 AM Session Recording

MX5 16 August 2018 PM Session Recording

Please find the link to documents as well as statements and presentations.

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Side events

Tuesday 7 August

13.00 - 15.00

Russian Federation

Peptide vaccines: effective means to rapidly counter emerging biological hazards. Russia's synthetic peptide Ebola vaccine

Room XXII

Moderator: Vladimir Ladanov, Senior Counsellor, Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Speakers:

• Dr Yulia Demina, Deputy Head, Epidemiological Surveillance Department, Rospotrebnadzor/Health Protection Agency
• Dr Rinat Maksyutov, Director-General, State Scientific Centre for Virology and Biotechnology "Vector", Rospotrebnadzor/Health Protection Agency
  

Wednesday 8 August

13.00 - 15.00

Johns Hopkins Center for Health and Security

Laboratory Biosafety & Biocontainment: Global Norms and Implementation

Room XXII

Speakers:

• Gigi Gronvall, Senior Scholar, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
• Nancy Connell, Senior Scholar, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
• David Harper, Senior Consulting Fellow, Centre on Global Health Security, Chatham House

13.00 - 15.00

India

Emerging Infectious Diseases: Detection, response, assistance and challenges

Room XXIII

Speakers:

• Dr. Atanu Basu, Scientist F & Head - Electron Microscopy and Pathology, Virus Collection and BioBanking Program, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Virology, Pune
• Dr. S.R. Rao, Senior Adviser / Scientist-H, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India
• Dr. D.T. Selvam, Scientist F, Microbiology Division, Head Technical Coordination, Human Resources & Business Management Project Manager (BTM projects), Defence Research & Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior

Thursday 9 August

13.00 - 15.00

InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) and US National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine

Academies of science: Assessing security and governance issues of modern biotechnology

Room XXII

Introductions and Background:

• Peter McGrath, Coordinator, InterAcademy Partnership (IAP)
• Poster presented by IAP

Panel presentations:

• Assessing the Security Implications of Genome Editing: Insights from an International Workshop: Bert Rima, Honorary Professor and Emeritus Professor, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queens University Belfast
• Biodefense in the Age of Synthetic Biology: Michael Imperiale, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Associate Chair of Microbiology and Immunology and Associate Vice President for Research, Research Policy and Compliance, University of Michigan
• Governance of Dual Use Research in the Life Sciences: Katherine Bowman, Senior Program Officer, Board on Life Sciences, U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

13.00 - 15.00

Russian Federation

Synthetic biology: opportunities for peaceful application and risks of misuse

Room XXIII

Moderator: Vladimir Ladanov, Senior Counsellor, Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Speaker:

• Dr Yulia Demina, Deputy Head, Epidemiological Surveillance Department, Rospotrebnadzor/Health Protection Agency

Friday 10 August

9.00 - 10.00

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

Disarmament and Technological Change

Room XXII

Speakers:

• Mr Cheng Tang (Vice-Chair, OPCW Scientific Advisory Board)
• Dr Zrinka Kovarik (OPCW Scientific Advisory Board)
• Dr Jonathan Forman (OPCW Science Policy Adviser and Secretary to the Scientific Advisory Board)

13.00 - 15.00

China

Development of a Model Code of Conduct for Biological Scientists

Room XXIII

Speakers:

• Professor Weiwen Zhang, Tianjin University
• Dr. Yang Xue, Tianjin University
• Professor Malcom Dando, University of Bradford
• Jacobus van der Bruggen, Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences

Monday 13 August

8.45 – 10.00

Centre for Biosecurity and Biopreparedness (CBB), Denmark and Kenya

Overcoming BTWC implementation challenges

8.30 -8.45 Coffee & Croissants

Room XXIII

Speakers:

• Jayne Toroitich, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kenya
• Dr. Roy Mugiira, National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) and National BWC Authority, Kenya
• Johan Mau, Programme Manager, Centre for Biosecurity and Biopreparedness, Denmark
• Andrea Rasmussen, Programme Associate, Centre for Biosecurity and Biopreparedness, Denmark

13.00-15.00

United States

Different Perspectives on Strengthening National Implementation

Room XXII

Moderator: Ms. Siddha Hover Page, U.S. Department of State

Speakers:

• Dr. Mahdi al Jewari, Head of Biological Department at the Iraqi National Monitoring Authority for Non-Proliferation (INMA)
• Mr. Cédric Apercé, Legal Officer, Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC)
• Dr. Rhizlane Selka, Bureau des Laboratoires, Biosécurité/biosureté, Institut National d'Hygiène, Morocco

13.00-15.00

European Union

EU Legislative Assistance in BTWC implementation

Room XXIII

A light lunch will be served before the event from 13:00 to 13:15.

13:15-13:20 Opening Remarks
Anne KEMPPAINEN, Minister Counsellor, Head of the Political Section for Disarmament and Non-proliferation, EU Delegation to the UN in Geneva

13:20-13:40 EU Legislative Assistance Instruments
EU Council Decision 2016/51/CFSP
Jean Pascal ZANDERS, Adviser to the EU Delegation to the BTWC Meetings of Experts
EU CBRN Centres of Excellence Initiative (EU CBRN CoE)
Jirina VALENTOVA, Policy Officer, European External Action Service (EEAS)

13:40- 14:45 Examples of EU legislative assistance in BTWC implementation
Legislative Assessment and Drafting Methodology in support of EU Legislative Assistance Instruments
Sonia DROBYSZ, Acting Programme Director for National Implementation, Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC)
Project 53 of the EU CBRN Centres of Excellence Initiative
EU CBRN CoE Project 53: Scope and Activities
Hendrik VISSER, Partner Project Manager, International Science and Technology Center (ISTC)
 

Tajikistan: experience in legislative harmonization under Project 53
Alimahmad SUFIEV, Head of Section Licensing and Control - Agency for Nuclear and Radiation Safety, Tajikistan (Presentation in English | Russian)
Mongolia: experience in legislative harmonization under Project 53
Naranchimeg BAGDAI, P53 Manager Mongolia, P53 Project Implementation Unit Mongolia
Project 3 of the Council Decision 2016/51/CFSP "Capacity building for BTWC implementation"
Extended national BTWC implementation assistance programmes under EU Council Decision 2016/51/CFSP
Ana IZAR, Political Affairs Officer/Project Officer for EU Council Decision, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)
Cameroon: experience in legislative assistance under Project 3
Manfred Claude Cyrille MOUNYELLE NKAKE, Foreign Affairs Officer, Ministry of External Relations, Cameroon
Côte d’Ivoire: experience in legislative assistance under Project 3
Armand Mahdi GUEZOA, CBRN Expert, Ministry of Defense, Côte d’Ivoire

14:45 Closing Remarks by European Union

The ppt presentation is available here

Tuesday 14 August

8.45-9.45

Canada

Article VII project

Room XXII

PROGRAMME

09:00-09:05: Opening remarks: H.E. Amb. Rosemary McCarney, Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations and to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva

09:05-09:10 Valeria Santori, BWC-ISU: Update on the UNODA Article VII project

09:10-09:15 Joseph Ballard, OPCW: Update on the UNOCT/UNCTIF project on inter-agency interoperability

09:15-09:20 Maurizio Barbeschi: WHO’s relevant work, particularly within the Health and Security Interface programme

09:20-09:25 Christine Uhlenhaut: OIE’s relevant work, particularly within the bio-threat reduction strategy

09:25-09:30: Adrien Sivignon: INTERPOL’s relevant work

09:30-09:45: Discussion and closing remarks

13.00-15.00

France

Triggering Article VII

Room XXIII

Speakers:

• Ambassador Alice Guitton, Permanent Representative of France to the Conference on Disarmament
• Dr. Jean Pascal Zanders, The Trench

13.00-15.00

Russian Federation

Mechanisms for delivering protection from biological weapons under the BWC: mobile biomedical units, Article VII database and other options and their combinations

Room XXII

Speakers:

• Vladimir Ladanov, Senior Counsellor, Ministry for Foreign Affairs
• Dr Vyacheslav Smolensky, Head, Science and International Co-operation Department, Rospotrebnadzor/Health Protection Agency
• Lieutenant Colonel Evgeny Vakhnov, CBRN Defence Troops, Ministry of Defence

Wednesday 15 August

9.00-10.00

Georgetown University and NTI

Civil Society tools and events to advance preparedness and response to deliberate biological events

Room XXIII

Speakers:

• Dr. Ellie Graeden, Talus Analytics & Center for Global Health Science and Security, Georgetown University
• Ms. Aurelia Attal-Juncqua, Center for Global Health Science and Security, Georgetown University
• Ms. Michelle Nalabandian, NTI
• Ms. Hayley Severance, NTI
• Dr. Beth Cameron, NTI

13.00-15.00

Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security

Clade X: A Pandemic Exercise

Room XXIII

Speakers:

• Eric Toner, Senior Scholar, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
• Matthew P. Shearer, Senior Analyst, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security

Thursday 16 August

9.00-10.00

United States

BWC Compliance: Is Verification Feasible?

Room XXIII

Speakers:

• Dr. Yleem D.S. Poblete, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, United States Department of State
• Dr. Seth Carus, Distinguished Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction, National Defense University, United States Department of Defense
• Dr. George W. Korch, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, United States Department of Health and Human Services
• Dr. Douglas Brown, Director, Treaty Compliance Division, Bureau of Industry and Security, United States Department of Commerce

Additional document: Statement by Amb. Donald A. Mahley, United States Special Negociator for Chemical and Biological Arms Control Issues

13.00-15.00

Geneva Disarmament Platform and British American Security Information Council

Establishing a WMD-free-zone in the Middle East: Biological compliance aspects

Room XXIII

Moderator: Richard Lennane, Geneva Disarmament Platform

Speakers:

• Ms. Mona Ahmed Saleh, Researcher, Geneva Centre for Security Policy
• Dr. Lela Bakanidze, National Center for Public Health and Disease Control, Georgia
• Dr. Zalini Yunus, Senior Director, Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention Nucleus, Science and Technology Research Institute for Defence, Malaysia

13.00-15.00

King's College London and Norway

Bringing the BWC Verification Protocol Discussion into the 21st Century

Room XXII

Moderator: Hana Cervenka, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Norway in Geneva

Speakers:

• Dr Filippa Lentzos, King’s College London
• Dr James Revill, University of Sussex
• Dr Jez Littlewood, independent expert

The invitation to the side-event and the 7 policy papers related to the side-event are available here