On July 29 – August 8, 2019 the annual Meeting of Experts of States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (BTWC) is taking place in Geneva.
Representatives of States Parties to the Convention, relevant international institutions and NGOs attend the event. In accordance with the Decree of the President of Ukraine dated July 16, 2019, No. 525/2019, the official delegation of our State to the forum consists of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Permanent Mission of Ukraine in Geneva, State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine.
Participants of the Meeting are discussing ways to further strengthen the BTWC, ensure national implementation of the mentioned Convention, deepen international cooperation, including in the context of providing technical assistance to States Parties to the Convention to identify and combat threats of pandemic nature and use the results of biological research for peaceful purposes, as well as considering the issues related to the developments of sciences and technologies, which are relevant to the BTWC.
The delegation of Ukraine takes an active part in the discussions: it has emphasized the urgency for countries to fulfil their commitments to implement the Global Eradication and Elimination Initiatives of vaccine-based infectious diseases, the need to further realize and introduce educational programs on biosecurity and bioethics; has drawn attention of the international community to the accomplishments of Ukraine in the development of technological solutions to minimize bio-risks while working with dangerous biological agents. The Ukrainian side has stressed that the global geo-political, geo-ecological, climate, epidemiological and epizootic changes, the potential threat of using bioactive agents for terrorist purposes, as well as the rapid development of biotechnology make it necessary to further consolidate endeavours aimed at solving biosecurity issues not only at the national, but also international level. The participants of the meeting have been informed about Ukraine’s significant experience gained in this sphere, which could be used as a model to be followed by other interested countries.