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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the status of the negotiations with the ad hoc group in Geneva for a protocol to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention. [157114] Mr. Wilson: On 30 March the Chairman of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) ad hoc group, Ambassador Tibor Toth of Hungary, tabled the text of a draft Protocol to the BWC. This has been sent to all States Parties and will come under discussion at the next negotiating session which begins in Geneva on 23 April. The UK has played a leading role throughout these negotiations as we have had responsibility for the section of the text on compliance measures--the core of the future Protocol. We welcome the appearance of the text and are currently assessing this overall content. A successful outcome by the time of the BWC Review Conference remains a possibility but will depend upon the reaction to the text from all countries involved over the coming months. An effective BWC Protocol remains an important arms control objective for the United Kingdom as it will help fill the last remaining gap in Treaty provisions designed to stem the proliferation of WMD.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

157114; 366 c530-1W

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Chemical and biological warfare Biological weapons Arms control Treaties Verification Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention Geneva

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk