17 November 2003
U.S. Welcomes Progress Made at Biological Weapons Treaty Meeting
Boucher says outcome reflects "focused effort"
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher November 17 welcomed progress made during the annual meeting of the parties to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in Geneva.
The successful outcome of the November 10 to 14 meeting "clearly demonstrates that a focused effort to examine specific topics in depth can assist member states in fulfilling their obligations under the Convention," he said.
The parties to the 1972 Treaty are scheduled to meet annually in 2003, 2004 and 2005, in preparation for the next BWC Review Conference in 2006. Each meeting will focus on different ways to strengthen the Treaty.
The BWC Treaty prohibits the development, production and stockpiling of germ and toxin weapons. The most recent list of parties and signatories to the Treaty, issued by the State Department's Bureau of Arms Control on November 17, may be viewed on the Web at http://www.state.gov/t/ac/rls/fs/2003/26276.htm. There are 151 parties to the Treaty with another 16 countries who have signed but not ratified it.
Boucher said this first meeting was designed to reinforce Treaty obligations "by focusing attention on adoption of national measures to implement the Convention's prohibitions, including penal legislation, and national mechanisms to ensure the security of dangerous pathogens and toxins." Future meetings will focus on how to strengthen efforts to fight infectious disease as well as codes of conduct for scientists who work in this area.
Following is the text of Boucher's statement:
(begin text)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
November 17, 2003
STATEMENT BY RICHARD BOUCHER, SPOKESMAN
Biological Weapons Convention Annual Meeting of States Parties
The United States welcomes the successful conclusion of the Annual Meeting of States Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention. This treaty, which has been in force since 1975, establishes a worldwide ban on germ and toxin weapons. The meeting, held in Geneva from November 10 to 14, was intended to reinforce the obligations contained in the Convention by focusing attention on adoption of national measures to implement the Convention's prohibitions, including penal legislation, and national mechanisms to ensure the security of dangerous pathogens and toxins.
We are very pleased that at a political level the member states were able to build on the progress achieved by experts in August in carrying out the work program agreed at the November 2002 Review Conference. The successful outcome of the meeting clearly demonstrates that a focused effort to examine specific topics in depth can assist member states in fulfilling their obligations under the Convention.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=November&x=20031117181338htrop0.9677545&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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