Implementing BTWC Article VII: Some thoughts for the Meeting of Experts and the Review Conference
[Text of a pre-recorded video ahead of an international webinar on 12 November providing an opportunity for informal discussions on topics to be considered by the Meeting of Experts on Assistance, Response and Preparedness (MX4).] Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Colleagues, I am Dr Jean Pascal Zanders from Belgium and an independent disarmament researcher and consultant at The Trench. My focus is on the elimination and prevention of re-emergence of chemical and biological weapons. I have been regularly following meetings of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) since the Fourth Review Conference in 1996. I am honoured to introduce the …
Have you already registered for the CW threat webinar? (10 days to go)
The Resurgent Chemical Weapons Threat: Current Challenges to the Chemical Weapon Convention Assassination attempts with novichok The race for new incapacitating chemical agents CW disarmament in Syria and investigations of alleged CW use More than 190 people have already registered. They come from many countries, including Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and the USA. They work for government agencies, international organisations, private companies and contractors, think tanks, and universities. If you still wish to join the webinar: register at https://bit.ly/34vDJRQ —– The chemical weapons nonproliferation regime is at a crossroads. Chemical weapons have …
Increasing assurance under the BTWC through biorisk management standards
The final report of the 7th Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) held in December 2011 contained a one-line subparagraph whose ambition came to fruition in December 2019. Under Article IV (on national implementation measures), paragraph 13 opened as follows: The Conference notes the value of national implementation measures, as appropriate, in accordance with the constitutional process of each State Party, to: (a) implement voluntary management standards on biosafety and biosecurity; That single line of new language in the final report was the outcome of a preparatory process that had begun in September 2009 and …
Resurgent Chemical Weapons Threat (Webinar)
The Resurgent Chemical Weapons Threat: Current Challenges to the Chemical Weapon Convention The chemical weapons nonproliferation regime is at a crossroads. Chemical weapons have made a comeback with deadly nerve agents being used by Russia, Syria, and North Korea against perceived “enemies of the state.” A new generation of chemical weapons that incapacitate, instead of kill, their victims are also under development. At their next annual meeting, members of the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which bans the development, production, and use of chemical weapons, will confront this resurgence in the chemical weapons threat. Please join a distinguished panel …