This page contains older news items that have been removed from the "News" and "Communications" sections of the Information for States Parties page.

• NSABB hosts an international dialogue on Dual Use Concerns in Life Sciences Research - On October 22, 2009, the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored its first regional Webinar on dual use research, hosted by the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB). The goal of the event was to foster international engagement of life sciences researchers, biosafety and biosecurity experts, government policy officials, and ethicists on the issue of dual use life sciences research. Effective global dialogue on concerns and issues regarding dual use life sciences research is key to achieving an effective balance between public health priorities and national security concerns. Numerous national- and international-level activities are currently underway to raise awareness of the risks posed by dual use life sciences research as well as to address or manage these risks while, at the same time, promoting responsible life sciences research. This international Videocast focused on the Americas is the first in a series of internet-based meetings aimed at engaging the international community by region.

• EU Joint Action in Support of BWC launches CBM Guide - the Guide to Participation in the Confidence-Building Measures of the BWC is officially released on 8 December 2009 at the Meeting of States Parties. It contains an introduction to the CBMs, practicalities for submission, information on getting started and identifying resources and contacts, detailed guidance on completing the forms, examples of completed forms, suggestions for dealing with subsequent submissions, as well as sources of advice and assistance.

• Chairman hold consulations in advance of 2009 MSP - throughout the second half of November Ambassador Grinius has been meeting with interested parties to discuss his plans for the Meeting of States Parties. His remarks at these meetings covered his general approach, the Programme of Work, his desire to achieve and action based outcome, as well as the topics of universalization and Confidence-Building Measures.

• Chairman outlines plans for Meeting of States Parties - on 15 October, the Chairman of the Meeting of States Parties, Ambassador Marius Grinius of Canada, wrote to States Parties to outline his plans for the meeting which will be held in Geneva from 7-11 December 2009. Attached to the letter was the Chairman's synthesis of ideas and proposals made at the Meeting of Experts in August.

• Workshop on the BWC - The BWC Implementation Support Unit in association with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Verification Research, Training and Information Centre are pleased to announce a workshop in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 20 to 21 October 2009. The event will cover the current biological weapons threat, overlaps between the BWC and UN Security Council Resolution 1540, national implementation, assistance, cooperation, coordination, confidence-building measures, scientific and technological developments, as well as regional and national perspectives and activities. A press release for the event is now available.

• Regional BWC Workshop in the Caucuses and Central Asia - Held in Astana, Kazakhstan on 16-17 September, 2009, this workshop brought together over fifty representatives from seven countries in this region. Funded by Canada, participants ranged from technical health and agriculture specialists to national defence and trade representatives. Follwing opening remarks by the Chair, Ambassador Grinius of Canada, participants heard presentations from experts of the BWC's three depositary states (UK, US and Russia), as well as the BWC Implementation Support Unit (ISU) and the civil society organisation VERTIC. In addition to raising awareness about capacity-building opportunities, the seminar provided regional practitioners an opportunity to exchange information and views on common threats and best practices, with a view to advancing this year's intersessional topic of building capacity and collaboration.

• Workshop on the International Health Regulations - The BWC Implementation Support Unit in cooperation with the WHO held a one day workshop on the revised International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) on 21 August. Click here for more information.

• European Union to launch Joint Action in support of the BWC - All delegations are invited to the official launch of the EU Joint Action in support of the Biological Weapons Convention, which will be held at lunchtime on the opening day of the Meeting of Experts, Monday 24 August 2009, in Room XXIII. Further information on the Joint Action is available here.

• ISU releases advance copies of first three background papers - Advance copies of the first three background papers for the Meeting of Experts (24-28 August 2009) were released today. The first paper looks at Recent Developments in Intergovernmental Organizations Relevant To Disease Surveillance, Detection, Diagnosis and Containment . The second paper examines Recent International, Regional and Non-Governmental Developments relevant to Disease Surveillance, Detection, Diagnosis and Containment . The third paper covers Previous Agreements and Understandings under the Convention Relevant to Capacity Building in the Fields of Disease Surveillance, Detection, Diagnosis and Containment. All three papers have been submitted as official documents of the meeting and are in the process of being translated into the remaining official langauges of the UN and will be available soon.

• Chairman releases more details of plans for Meeting of Experts - In his third letter to States Parties, dated 20 July 2009, Ambassador Marius Grinius outlined his thinking in the final approach to the Meeting of Experts due to take place from 24 to 28 August 2009. The letter provides details of the planned schedule, arrangements for the poster session, the practicalities of making statements and presentations, information on registration, an update on sponsorship efforts and his continued efforts to get feedback from delegations.

• Registration opens for the Meeting of Experts: Registration for the 2009 Meeting of Experts, to be held in Gemeva from 24 to 28 August 2009, is now open. Delegations are encouraged to register their participation as early as possible. See the registration section of the Meeting of Experts page for registration procedures.

• Chair sends message to international workshop on building capacity for health security - the International Workshop on the Biological Weapons Convention Supporting Global Health: Reducing Biological Risk by Building Capacity in Health Security, took place in Oslo, Norway from 18 to 19 June 2009. The event was organised by Norway, Indonesia and the Implementation Support Unit. The 2009 BWC Chair sent a message to the meeting, which was delivered by Mr Donald Sinclair, Director General, International Security Bureau, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.

• Chairman's second meeting with regional groups: the Chairman will meet the Group of NAM and Other States, the Western Group and the Eastern European Group on 28 May to discuss preparations for the Meeting of Experts. In advance of the meetings, the Chairman released his talking points.

• Second letter from 2009 Chair to BWC States Parties - On 24 April 2009 Ambassador Marius Grinius wrote again to States Parties to brief them on his progress in preparing for the 24-28 August Meeting of Experts (MX). In his letter, the Chair included a 'to do' list for States Parties, including: reviewing proposed arrangements for the MX (attached to the letter); identifying experts for national delegations; starting work on substantive contributions; identify need for, or ability to provide, assistance on this year's topic; look into sponsoring participation at the MX; pursue universalization commitments; and take part in the annual CBMs.

• Chairman to meet regional groups: the Chairman, Ambassador Marius Grinius of Canada, will meet the Eastern European Group on 26 February and the Western Group and the Group of NAM and Other States on 27 February. In advance of the meetings, the Chairman released his talking points.

• BWC 2009 Chairman reveals plans for the year - In a letter to States Parties, dated 6 February, Ambassador Marius Grinius of Canada highlighted his three priority areas for 2009. His first goal was to ensure that BWC meetings continue the successes of previous years and make best use of existing precedents and working practices. The Chair's second aim is to focus sustained effort on the universalization of the Convention, including bilateral and regional activities. The third area of focus is on Confidence-Building Measures, where the Chair is keen to ensure that the most is made of exisiting assistance to encourage States Parties to participate in the information exchange regime. In an attachment to his letter, Ambassador Grinius outlined, in more detail, some of his plans for the Meeting of Experts (24-28 August 2009), including: requests for feedback from States Parties on how to proceed; thoughts on structured engagement; an action based outcome for 2009; suggested background papers and tools; information States Parties might wish to provide; opportunities to help others participate; as well as thoughts on next steps.

• BWC Chairman briefs international scientific community on progress made in 2008: From 7 to 9 December 2008, the Chairman of the 2008 meetings of the Biological Weapons Convention, Ambassador Georgi Avramchev of The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, participated in a workshop on biosecurity at the Institute of Microbiology in Beijing. The event was co-organised by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the InterAcademy Panel and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The Chairman took the opportunity to review progress throughout the year on the aims and objectives he set out at a similar meeting in Budapest, Hungary in February. In his remarks, the Ambassador Avramchev covered information on the Convention, its activities this year, the outputs produced during his chairmanship and concluded by highlighting the important role played by the Convention in both minimising the threats of biology being used to our collective harm whilst maximising its potential for benefit.

• Cook Islands accedes to Biological Weapons Convention: The Depositories confirmed that the Cook Islands deposited its instrument of accession on 4 December 2008 to become the 163rd States Party.

• Report of 2nd International Forum on Biosecurity released: The 2nd International Forum on Biosecurity, held in Budapest, Hungary from 30 March to 2 April 2008, saw individuals and organizations gather to once again look at how to reduce the risk that the results of the work done by the international scientific community could be used for hostile purposes by terrorists and states. The focus of the meeting was on what had been accomplished and what challenges remained. There was a serious effort to identify a range of potential next steps, and also an effort to identify opportunities where international scientific organizations could make substantive contributions and offer their advice and expertise to policy discussions. The report of the meeting is now available on the website of the US National Academies. The meeting was addressed by the 2008 Chair of the BWC.

• Regional Group Meetings with the Chairman: On 19 and 20 November 2008, Ambassador Avramchev addressed all three regional groups. In this remarks, the Chairman discussed his plans for the forthcoming Meeting of States Parties, looked at some of the likely outcomes and introduced reports to be presented to the meeting on both efforts to increase the membership of the BWC and the activities of the Implementation Support Unit (ISU) over the last year. Distributed at the meeting were an Indicative Schedule for the Meeting of States Parties and an informal Preliminary Report on Universalization Activities. In addition the Chairman also made mention of the informal Advance Report of the ISU.

• BWC Chairman participates in NSABB meeting: For the first time, a representative of the Convention participated in an international meeting organised by the US National Scientific Advisory Board on Biosecurity. In preparation for the meeting, the Chairman requested the ISU to put together a short background information paper on The Biological Weapons Convention and Scientific Oversight. On 5 to 6 November 2008, the Chairman, Ambassador Avramchev attended the workshop on Sustaining Progress in the Life Sciences, held in Bathesda, Maryland. During the course of the meeting, the Chairman made a series of opening remarks and contributed to the break-out session on Codes of Conduct.

• International Biosecurity Forum hears pre-recorded address from BWC Chair: Although unable to be present in person, Ambassador Avramchev contributed to this meeting held in Amman Jordan from 27 to 29 October 2008. In his statement, the Chairman addressed the importance of biosecurity, efforts to improve the non-proliferation of biological weapons, as well as the strengths of regional cooperation. The video footage of the statement can also be found online.

• Chairman's remarks to meeting on scientific education: On 27 October 2008 Bradford University and Landau Network - Centro Volta held the meeting "Fostering the Biosecurity Norm: An Educational Module for Life Sciences Students" in Como, Italy. Ambassador Avramchev briefed the meeting on relevant progress under the BWC. Basing his remarks on the recent Meeting of Experts, the Chairman outlined the scope, content and tools he felt would be most useful for education and raising awareness. The Chairman also provided some insights of his plans for the forthcoming Meeting of States Parties.

• Chairman addresses UN General Assembly First Committee: On 17 October 2008, the Chairman addressed a session of the First Committee dedicated to other weapons of mass destruction. In his remarks, the Chair reviewed progress made since the Sixth Review Conference in 2006. He also briefed the First Committee on this year's efforts, in particular on the outcome of the Meeting of Experts in August. Ambassador Avramchev took the opportunity to highlight some of the major threads that he recalled from that meeting. The press release from the meeting stressed that the Biological Weapons Convention had now passed a major 'turning point' in its efforts to tackle biological weapons.

• Biological Weapons Convention briefing for UN Security Council Resolution 1540 Committee: On 16 October 2008, the Chairman of the 2008 meetings of the Biological Weapons Convention briefed members of the UN Security Council Resolution 1540 Committee. In his statement the Chairman examined the overlap in the aims and objectives of the two intruments. The Head of the Implementation Support Unit, Mr Richard Lennane, then briefed members of the Committee on the ISU.

• Chairman writes to States Parties - releases synthesis paper & plans for Meeting of States Parties: In his letter, dated 10 October 2008, the Chairman provided States Parties with a synthesis paper which distilled part of the outcome of the Meeting of experts into a form which he hopes will facilitate preparations for the Meeting of States Parties. As preparations for the December meeting get underway, the Chair also circulated an advance version of the provisional agenda. He also took the opportunity to remind States Parties that he will also be reporting to the Meeting of States Parties on the promotion of universality.

• Chairman updates States Parties on Meeting of Experts: The Chairman wrote to States Parties on 29 July 2008 to update them on preparations for the Meeting of Experts. Included with the letter were an indicative schedule for the meeting, and an annotated list of organisations which have accepted the Chairman's invitation to participate.

• UAE ratifies BWC - On 19 June 2008, the United Arab Emirates ratified the Biological Weapons Convention to become its 162nd State Party. The UAE, which signed the treaty on 28 September 1982, is the first non-African state to join the treaty this year. The UAE has received attention from both States Parties and successive BWC Chairs as part of the universalization activities agreed to at the treaty's Sixth Review Conference in 2006. Ambassador Avramchev, the Chair of the 2008 meetings of the BWC welcomed the ratification and said "this is an important step towards universality. It goes to show that the BWC remains relevant in today's security environment and that states in all regions of the world continue to see the value in joining the treaty."

• Implementation Support Unit holds French language seminar - On 12 June the ISU held an awareness raising and universalization seminar in the Palais des Nations. The entire event was conducted in French and prompted new levels of interactivity from delegations that function primarily in that language. The event included presentations by the United Nations Institute for Disarmamament Research (as an introduction, to provide background and on national implementation), the ISU (on its creation, role and activities) and States Parties (on building confidence and transparency in the regime, as well as the two topics for 2008 meetings of the BWC).

• Chairman meets regional groups: The Chairman met the three regional groups on 12 and 16 June for a second briefing on preparations for the Meeting of Experts. In his briefing, the Chairman covered participation, the schedule, the poster sessions and sponsorship for attendance, as well as reminding States Parties of the importance of continuing efforts on universalization.

• Chairman releases updated information on Meeting of Experts. In his second letter to States Parties (dated 24 April 2008), the Chairman of this year's meetings, Ambassador Avramchev of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, released additional information on his plans for the summer meeting (18-22 August 2008). Ambassador Avramchev provided additional information on participation of relevant organisations and experts (including an Annex to the letter listing which organisations he has invited), the organisation of the Meeting of Experts, presenting national information, poster sessions, sponsorship for participation, and further consultations.

• Positive early signs of 2008 CBM participation. As the deadline for the submission of this year's CBM submissions (to cover 2007) passes, things are looking good for record levels of participation. 27 States had made returns by the close of business on 15 April 2008 as compared to 17 the year before. In the end, a record 65 States participated in the 2007 CBMs (to cover 2006). It is hoped that these possitive early numbers will see an even larger number of States Parties making returns during the remainder of 2008.

• Chairman addresses 2nd International Forum on Biosecurity. In early April, this forum was held in Budapest, Hungary by a variety of international scientific organisations, including both scientific academies and professional societies. The 2008 BWC Chairman, Ambassador Avramchev of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, made a key note address to this meeting. Much of the content of this meeting was pertinent for the forthcoming Meeting of Experts. In his remarks, the Chairman hoped that as many participants as possible from the Hungary event would also be able to contribute to this year's work of the BWC.

• 2008 BWC Chairman briefs regional groups on plans for the year. Following up from his letter to States Parties (dated 14 February), the Chairman Ambassador Avramchev of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has met with all three regional groups - the Non-Aligned Movement and Other States on 27 February, the Western Group on 29 February and the Eastern Group on 14 March 2008. In his remarks to these meetings, the Chairman developed the themes laid out in his letter and received feedback from States Parties. Based upon his consultations, over the coming weeks the Chairman will further develop his ideas and write a second letter to States Parties.

• Zambia and Madagascar join the Biological Weapons Convention. BWC Depositories have confirmed that Zambia and Madagascar acceded to the BWC, respectively in 15 January and 7 March 2008 . This brings the total number of States Parties up to 161 (there remain 14 Signatories and are now 20 States not currently a member).

• 2008 BWC Chairman announces 'first-thoughts' on plans for the year. In a letter to States Parties, Ambassador Avramchev the Chairman of the 2008 meetings of the Biological Weapons Convention, described preparations for the Meeting of Experts due to take place in Geneva, Switzerland from 18 - 22 August. The meeting will address both 'biosafety and biosecurity' as well as 'oversight, education, awareness raising and... codes of conduct'. The Chair requested states to provide and update information on national arrangements relevant to the topics under discussion. Amb. Avramchev also requested input on identifying relevant organisations and experts to participate in the meeting. The Chair also provided the first details of likely background documents to be prepared by the Implementation Support Unit. Amb. Avramchev also discussed improving interaction amongst experts and sponsorship for participation. In the wider BWC context, the letter also touches on both universalization activities and the submission of 2008 Confidence-Building Measures.

• From Adjacency to Synergy - outcome of the 2007 BWC MSP. The Report of the 2007 Meeting of States Parties of the Biological Weapons Convention detailed a number of common understandings by States Parties on what is needed to move from adjacency to synergy (as the Chairman had subtitled the meeting), including: improved interactions with international organisations; new mechanisms for engaging with academics, scientists and civil society; enhanced outreach to industry; a renewed interest and participation in side events; an historical endorsement of the Implementation Support Unit; significant progress in expanding the membership of the treaty; and practical tools for improving implementation.

• BWC 2007 Meeting of States Parties reaches successful conclusion. The meeting adopted its Report by consensus on the morning of Friday 14 December 2007. In his closing remarks, the Chairman, Ambassador Masood Khan of Pakistan, concluded "we have had a very productive meeting, and have at least made a good start on our goal of moving from adjacency to synergy in our efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of the Convention, in the areas we have been looking at of enhancing national implementation and regional and sub-regional cooperation".

• List of speakers for Meeting of States Parties now open: Delegations wishing to inscribe fo the General Debate are requested to do so by e-mail to rlennane@unog.ch. The Chairman would like to request delegations to keep their statements to a maximum of 5-7 minutes in length (10-12 minutes for statements on behalf of groups).

• Preparing for the Second Intersessional Process: On Thursday, 22 November the Chairman made the opening remarks at the inaugural seminar of a training course for diplomats dedicated to enhancing the BWC. The course is being organised by the Diplomatic Studies Programme of the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva and the BioWeapons Prevention Project. At the same event, the ISU made presentations on the "ISU and 2007 - 2010 Intersessional Programme" and "Online Tools provided by the ISU".

• Regional Group Meetings: The Chairman of the Meeting of States Parties, Ambassador Masood Khan, addressed the three BWC regional groups on Wednesday, 14 November 2007. His remarks developed the approach he plans to take, and the expected outcome for the meeting, due to be held in Geneva from 10-14 December. Distributed at this meeting was a document detailing the current universality status of the BWC. This document can be found in the Restricted Area of the website.

• Biosafety and Biosecurity Regional Conference in Middle East: Ambassador Khan addressed the Biosafety and Biosecurity International Conference 2007, held in Abu Dhabi, 12-14 November 2007. The event was organised by the International Council for Life Sciences and supported by the Government of the United Arab Emirates. In his remarks, Ambassador Khan outlined the important role played by the BWC in evolving biosecurity discussions.

• Chairman's Universalization Lunch: On 6 November 2007 the Chairman of the Meeting of States Parties, Ambassador Masood Khan, hosted a lunch for members of the Geneva missions of States not party to, and Signatory States of, the Convention. During the lunch, Ambassador Khan made spoke about the importance of joining the BWC.

• Biosafety, Biosecurity and Coping with the Revolution in Biotechnology: Ambassador Khan made the keynote address at a meeting on these issues, held in Como, Italy on 25 October 2007.

• BWC issues discussed at First Committee: the Chairman of the Meeting of States Parties addressed the First Committee of the UN General Assembly on 22 October 2007. In his remarks, Ambassador Khan detailed progress made in obtaining universality for the BWC, the importance of reinforcing cooperation and coordination amongst international organisations, as well as reporting on progress made in the 2007 - 2010 intersessional process.

• Transparency and Biosecurity: The Chairman of the 2007 Meeting of States Parties, Ambassador Khan addressed the Conference on Transparency in Current and Emerging Approaches to Biosecurity, held on 19 October 2007, at George Mason University, Arlington VA Campus.

• Chairman outlines plans for Meeting of States Parties: the Chairman of the Meeting of States Parties, Ambassador Masood Khan, wrote to all States Parties on 18 October outlining his plans for the meeting. A provisional agenda and a synthesis paper were attached to the letter. The Meeting of States Parties will be held in Geneva from 10-14 December, and registration will open on 5 November.

• Wilton Park meeting on "The BWC: Looking Ahead": Ambassador Khan addressed this meeting in his capacity as Chairman of the 2007 Meeting of States Parties. His remarks focused on the importance of collective action across the various sectors and interests.

• National Implementation Database (NID) updated: 71 additional national measures have been added to the NID as a result of the presentations, statements and interventions made at the 2007 Meeting of Experts in August. This brings the total number of measures in the database up to 2009 from 130 States and 1 regional organization. Additional information can be found on the National Implementation page.

• Successful outcome to 2007 Meeting of Experts: the meeting concluded on 24 August by adopting its report by consensus. It was made up of a Procedural Report (as adopted) and two annexes. One annex listed the official documents of the meeting. The other Draft Annex listed lessons, proposals, recommendations, etc. made during the meeting (as adopted). During the same session, the Chairman made Closing Remarks and presented an Interim Universalization Report. More information can be found on the 2007 Meeting of Experts page.

• Gabon ratifes the BWC: the Depositaries have announced that Gabon (a signatory) has ratified the BWC, bringing the number of States Parties to 159. Gabon is the fourth state to join this year, following Kazakhstan, Montenegro, and Trinidad and Tobago.

• Launch of the Implementation Support Unit: all States Parties are invited to a reception to launch the ISU, to be held from 17:30 on Monday 20 August 2007 at the Bar Escargot (3rd floor, E Building, two floors directly above Room XVIII where the Meeting of Experts is being held). The reception is jointly hosted by the Chairman of the Meeting of Experts, the Director-General of UNOG, and the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

• Highest ever level of participation in CBMs: The recent submission of a CBM by Nigeria makes a total of 57 so far this year. That is more than has ever been submitted before. The ISU is aware of several more still in the pipeline, so numbers are likely to increase further. For more information on who has submitted so far this year, see the BWC CBM Returns page, or alternatively for copies of the submissions, see the restricted access area.

• Chairman addresses Conference on Disarmament. In a session of the CD devoted to chemical and biological weapons, Amb. Khan made a Statement to the Conference on Disarmament in his capacity as Chairman of the 2007 meetings of the Convention. Kazakhstan also made a Statement on its accession to the Convention.

• CBMs published on secure website: 2007 CBM submissions received to date are now available for download in the restricted area of the website, with the exception of those from States Parties who have requested their CBMs not be published online.

• Agenda for Meeting of Experts: the provisional agenda for the 2007 Meeting of Experts (BWC/MSP/2007/MX/1) is now available in all languages and can be downloaded from the Meeting of Experts 2007 page. Further information is provided in this letter from the Chairman (10 July 2007).

• Secure website operational: The Head of the ISU, Richard Lennane, wrote to each State Party on 27 June to announce the opening of the restricted area of the BWC website, as mandated by the Sixth Review Conference, and to issue each State Party with its username and password for accessing the restricted area. If you have not received this letter, which contains important information, please contact the ISU. A generic form of the letter (with passwords and other State Party-specific details removed) can be viewed here.

• Implementation Support Unit operational: on 26 June the Director of the Geneva Branch of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs wrote to BWC States Parties to inform them that the three staff members of the ISU have been appointed and the Unit is operational. An event to formally lauch the ISU will be held shortly.

• OECD launches Best Practice Guidelines on Biosecurity for BRCs - designed to secure all types of biological materials (e.g. plant-, animal-, micro-organism- and human-derived) in proportion to the risk they present, the Guidelines on Biosecurity direct facilities within their purview to perform a risk assessment of the various biological materials they hold, assign a biosecurity risk level to each type of material and implement risk management practices to reduce the chance of their loss or theft.

• CBM Reminder: the annual Confidence-building Measures (CBM) submissions are due on 15 April 2007. Please see the CBM page for details, or contact us for assistance.

• BWC edition of Disarmament Forum now available: "Toward a Stronger BTWC", an edition of the UNIDIR publication Disarmament Forum devoted to the Sixth Review Conference is now available online.

• Montenegro is State Party to BWC: the Depositaries have announced that Montenegro is a State Party to the BWC in succession to the former state of Serbia and Montenegro, with effect from 3 June 2006. This brings the number of States Parties to 156.

• List of speakers open: the list of speakers for the General Debate (20-21 Nov) at the Sixth Review Conference is open for inscription. Delegations wishing to inscribe on the list are invited to contact the Secretariat.

• Programme of work for the Sixth Review Conference: the President-designate of the Sixth Review Conference has written to all States Parties and signatories enclosing a draft indicative programme of work. The draft indicative programme will be prepared as an official document for the opening session of the Review Conference on 20 November.

• Advance versions of working papers available: papers from the European Union, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Norway and a group of Latin American countries are available on the advance circulation page. More papers will be added as they are submitted.

• Update of UN Secretary-General's CBW investigation mechanism: on 8 September the General Assembly adopted resolution 60/288 setting out the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. Among other things, the Member States agreed to "encourage the Secretary-General to update the roster of experts and laboratories, as well as the technical guidelines and procedures, available to him for the timely and efficient investigation of alleged use".

• New WHO biosecurity publication: the World Health Organization has released "Biorisk management: Laboratory biosecurity guidance", a document providing guidance on biosecurity within a biological laboratory and addressing its basic principles and best practices. WHO is inviting comments and feedback on the document.

• First background paper released: the background information document showing the additional understandings and agreements reached by previous review conferences relating to each article of the Convention (BWC/CONF.VI/INF.1) has been issued in all languages and is available for download from the official documents section of the Sixth Review Conference page.

• Deadline for submission of contributions for background papers: States Parties are requested to provide their contributions to the background information documents for the Sixth Review Conference (as decided by the Preparatory Committee - see paragraph 22 of the report) no later than 1 September 2006. Contributions should be sent to the Secretariat (see contacts).

• Appointment of provisional Secretary-General: in accordance with the invitation from States Parties (see paragraph 26 of the report of the Preparatory Committee), the Secretary-General of the United Nations has nominated Mr Tim Caughley, Director of the Geneva Branch of the Department for Disarmament Affairs, as provisional Secretary-General of the Sixth Review Conference.

Communications

• Fourth Letter from the Chair to States Parties (dated 15 October 2009) and synthesis paper

• Third Letter from the 2009 Chair to States Parties (dated 20 July 2009)

• Second Letter from the 2009 Chair to States Parties (dated 24 April 2009)

• First Letter from the 2009 Chair to States Parties (dated 6 February 2009)

• Fourth Letter to States Parties from the Chairman (10 October 2008), with provisional agenda for the Meeting of States Parties and attached synthesis of ideas and proposals

• Third letter to States Parties from the Chairman of the 2008 BWC meetings (29 July 2008) and attached indicative schedule and annotated list of attending organisations

• Second Letter to States Parties from the Chairman of the 2008 BWC meetings (24 April 2008) and Annex listing invited organisations

• Letter to States Parties from the Chairman of the 2008 BWC meetings (14 February 2008)

• Message from the Chairman to the regional groups (5 December 2007) on arrangements for the special informal sessions at the Meeting of States Parties

• Letter to States Parties from the Chairman (18 October 2007), with provisional agenda for the Meeting of States Parties and synthesis of ideas and proposals

• Chairman's statement to the Conference on Disarmament (7 August 2007)

• Chairman's speaking notes for regional group meetings (26 July and 2-3 August 2007)

• Letter to States Parties from the Chairman of the 2007 Meetings (10 July 2007)

• Letter to States Parties from Head of the ISU on contact points, secure website, CBMs, etc (27 June 2007)

• Letter to States Parties about the ISU from the Director of the Geneva Branch of UNODA (26 June 2007)

• Letter to States Parties from the Chairman of the 2007 Meeting of States Parties (24 May 2007)

• Update on the Biological Weapons Convention - Letter from the Director of the Geneva Branch of the Department for Disarmament Affairs, 2 April 2007

• Sixth Review Conference: President-designate's speaking notes from the open-ended informal briefing, 16 November 2006

• Sixth Review Conference: Arrangements for the Conference - Letter from the provisional Secretary-General (13 November 2006)

• Sixth Review Conference: Letter from the President-designate on the draft indicative programme of work for the Conference (7 November 2006)

• Sixth Review Conference: Registration, Credentials and List of Speakers - Letter from the Secretary (17 October 2006)

• President-designate's Speaking Notes from the Regional Group Meetings (September 2006)

• Message to States Parties from the Provisional Secretary-General of the Review Conference (15 August 2006)

• Request for Contributions to Background Documentation - Letter from the Secretary (29 May 2006)

• Letter to States Parties from the Chairman-designate of the Preparatory Committee (24 March 2006)