The Eig ighth Review Conference: Process overv rview EU Regional Workshop on Preparations for the Eighth BWC Review Conference New Delhi, India, 29-30 August 2016 Daniel Feakes Chief, BWC Implementation Support Unit United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (Geneva Branch)
Overview • BWC in a nutshell • Mandate of the Review Conference • History of past Review Conferences • Procedural and administrative issues • 2016 Preparatory Process • BWC Sponsorship Programme
Biological Weapons Convention prohibits development , production , stockpiling , acquisition , retention or transfer of BWs • opened for signature on 10 April 1972 • EiF on 26 March 1975 • First multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of WMD • Non-discriminatory in nature • Unlimited duration 175 States Parties • Open to any state 8 Signatories 13 States not party
Role of the RevCon “Five years after the entry into force of this Convention … a conference of States Parties to the Convention shall be held at Geneva, Switzerland, to review the operation of the Convention, with a view to assuring that the purposes of the preamble and the provisions of the Convention … are being realized. Such review shall take into account any new scientific and technological developments relevant to the Convention.” BWC Article XII
RevCon frequency • BWC – “Five years after the entry into force of this Convention … a conference of States Parties to the Convention shall be held …” • RC1 – “not earlier than 1985 … not later than 1990” • RC2, 3, 4 and 5 – “not later than xxxx ” • RC6 – “ recommends that Review Conferences should continue to be held at least every five years .” • RC7 – “ decides that Review Conferences be held at least every five years .”
Previous RevCons 200 180 175 165 160 155 146 140 132 120 118 114 SPs 103 103 102 100 94 93 Participating SPs PrepCom 87 80 78 78 77 Participating SPs RevCon 69 68 65 63 60 58 53 40 40 20 0 RC1 RC2 RC3 RC4 RC5 RC6 RC7 RC8 1980 1986 1991 1996 2001/02 2006 2011 2016
RevCon presidents RC President State Party Reg. Group 1 Oscar Vaerno Norway Western 2 Winfried Lang Austria NAM 3 Roberto Moritan Argentina NAM* 4 Michael Weston UK Western 5 Tibor Toth Hungary Eastern 6 Masood Khan Pakistan NAM 7 Paul van den IJssel Netherlands Western 8 György Molnár Hungary Eastern * In 1991, the Eastern European Group ceded the Presidency of the Third RevCon to the NAM
Procedural and admin issues • Duration – generally of three weeks duration • Timing – usually at the end of the year • Budget – until 2011, funded by States participating, now funded by all States Parties • Preparatory Committee – usually a few days on procedural matters in the Spring (until 2016) • Bureau – Chairman and two Vice-Chairs elected by PrepCom, authorized to handle “technical and other matters in the period before the Review Conference” • Venue – All meetings take place in the United Nations Office at Geneva • Rules of procedure – unchanged for many years
Financing the RevCon • MSP 2015 approved cost estimates for the BWC meetings this year contained in BWC/MSP/2015/5* • Costs are shared by all States Parties: • April PrepCom – $170,000 • August PrepCom - $218,700 • RevCon – $816,700 • ISU – $760,700 • Total cost in 2016 of $1,966,700 • Over 100 States Parties pay less than $1,000 per year and 52 pay less than $100
Financing the RevCon SCALE OF ASSESSMENTS FOR BWC IN 2016 250000 200000 150000 US$ 100000 50000 0 Banglade Cambodi Philippin Republic Bhutan China India Iran Japan Lao PDR Malaysia Sri Lanka Thailand Viet Nam sh a es of Korea Assessed 198 19 80 156,836 14,593 9,326 191,664 60 6,376 3,267 40,372 614 5,762 1,149 Contributions (US$)
Outcome of the RevCon • Every Review Conference except 2001 has resulted in a final document reviewing the operation of the BWC • Since 2006, final documents have also included a “decisions and recommendations” section • Three-part final document: • Part I – organization of the Review Conference • Part II – final declaration • Part III – decisions and recommendations • Part II is retrospective article-by-article review, Part III is future-oriented roadmap for next five years
Eighth RevCon – mandate “The Conference decides that the Eighth Review Conference shall be held in Geneva not later than 2016 and should review the operation of the Convention , taking into account, inter alia : a) new scientific and technological developments relevant to the Convention, taking into account the relevant decision of this Conference regarding the review of developments in the field of science and technology related to the Convention; b) the progress made by States Parties on the implementation of the Convention; c) progress of the implementation of decisions and recommendations agreed upon at the Seventh Review Conference , taking into account, as appropriate, decisions and recommendations reached at previous review conferences.” BWC/CONF.VII/7, para 66
Eighth RevCon - preparatory process General Assembly resolution 70/74 Report of the 2015 MSP
2016 PrepCom Process August PrepCom April PrepCom • Remaining procedural matters • Organizational aspects • Continuation of the General • General exchange of views exchange of views • 1.5 days • Comprehensive consideration of all Convention provisions • Cross cutting issues (S&T, possible future ISP, ISU etc) • 4.5 days Preparatory Committee agenda BWC/CONF.VIII/PC/1
April 2016 PrepCom • Election of office-holders : – Chairman - György Molnár (Hungary) EEG – Vice-Chairman - Michael Biontino (Germany) WG – Vice-Chairman - Boudjemâa Delmi (Algeria) NAM • General exchange of views : – 27 States Parties – 8 States Parties presented specific proposals • Decision on background papers from ISU • Endorsed dates (7-25 Nov) , duration and financial arrangements already agreed by 2015 MSP • Interim report : BWC/CONF.VIII/PC/2
Background documents (by ISU) • The ISU prepared five background documents on: 1. BWC/CONF.VIII/PC/3: History and operation of the confidence building measures 2. BWC/CONF.VIII/PC/4: Additional understandings and agreements reached by previous Review Conferences relating to each article of the Convention 3. BWC/CONF.VIII/PC/5: Common understandings reached by the MSPs during the intersessional programme 2012-15 4. BWC/CONF.VIII/PC/6: Financial implications of proposals for follow-on action after the Eighth Review Conference 5. BWC/CONF.VIII/PC/8: Status of universalization of the Convention BWC/CONF.VIII/PC7 Report of the ISU on its activities to implement its mandate, 2012-2016
Background documents (by SPs) • The PrepCom decided that the ISU would compile, from national inputs, three background documents on: 1. Compliance by States Parties with all their obligations under the Convention 2. Implementation of Article VII 3. Implementation of Article X • The ISU wrote to States Parties on 23 May requesting inputs to be submitted by 19 August 2016
August 2016 PrepCom • Organization of RevCon - Agreement to recommend to the RevCon: – Provisional agenda for RevCon – Draft Rules of Procedure – Composition of the General Committee • General Exchange of views: – 41 States Parties, Iran on behalf of NAM, statements by EU, ICRC • Comprehensive consideration of the BWC: – 30 States Parties took the floor • Final report of the PrepCom – BWC/CONF.VIII/PC/9 – Includes Chairman’s “summary report” under his own responsibility
BWC Review Conference 2016 – György Molnár (EEG) 2011 – Paul van den IJssel (WG) 2006 – Masood Khan (NAM) PRESIDENT 2016 – Boudjemâa Delmi 2016 – Michael Biontino (WG) 2016 – Tudor Ulianovschi (EEG ) (NAM) 2011 – Desra Percaya (NAM) 2011 – Mário Duarte (WG) 2011 – Judit Körömi (EEG) 2006 – Doru Costea (EEG) 2006 – Philip R Owade (NAM) 2006 – Knut Langeland (WG) DRAFTING COMMITTEE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE
General Committee EEG (X4) Vice-presidents NAM (X10) WG (X6) Committee of the PRESIDENT CHAIR & 2 VICE-CHAIRS Whole Drafting Committee CHAIR & 2 VICE-CHAIRS CHAIR & 1 VICE-CHAIR Credential Committee EEG Regional Coordinators NAM WG RUSSIA Depositaries UK USA
BWC Sponsorship programme • To enable participation in BWC meetings in Geneva • Supported by voluntary contributions • Aimed at developing States Parties, who have not previously/regularly attended BWC meetings • Also available for States not party to the BWC • Covers cost of flights to and from Geneva and DSA for attendance at BWC meetings • Deadline for applications for 2016 PrepCom and Review Conference was 30 May 2016 • Application form and selection criteria on BWC website • www.unog.ch/bwc/sponsorship
BWC Sponsorship programme • 34 participants from 25 SPs (incl. Iraq, Jordan, Thailand & Yemen) • 5 States Parties and EU sponsored programme • Participation in 1 week PrepCom, 1 week RevCon • Eligibility • Nomination
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