The 2017 Meeting of States Parties was held in the Palais des Nations from 4 to 8 December 2017. The meeting opened at 10:00 on Monday 4 December in Room XVIII and close on Friday 8 December.

The Meeting of States Parties was chaired by Ambassador Amandeep Singh Gill of India with Ambassador Michael Biontino of Germany and Ambassador Juraj Podhorský of Slovakia as the Vice-Chairs. In accordance with the decision of the Eighth Review Conference, the meeting sought to make progress on issues of substance and process for the period before the next Review Conference, with a view to reaching consensus on an intersessional process.


Informal Indicative Schedule

This informal indicative schedule combines elements of the provisional programme of work and up-to-date information on side events.

Official documents

Advance versions of documents

Communications from the Chairman

Information for participants

The majority of information required by participants in the Meeting of States Parties can be found in the Aide Memoire, including: registration and accreditation; issuance of security badges; getting to and from the meeting; additional meetings; facilities for participants; documentation; as well as sources of additional information.


Registration

Registration for the meeting will be open soon.

All those wishing to attend the meeting must be properly registered. The registration procedure differs for States Parties, Signatory States, States not party, international organizations and NGOs. Please click here for detailed information on your participation and follow the steps in the appropriate category mentioned in the document.

All registration letters/note verbales should reach the Implementation Support Unit no later than 24 November 2017.

Valid grounds passes (issued either by the United Nations Office at Geneva or the United Nations Headquarters in New York) are required for entry into the Palais des Nations. Participants already possessing a United Nations grounds pass may proceed directly to the Meeting.

Participants who do not already have a United Nations grounds pass need to complete an application on the new online Indico system at https://reg.unog.ch/event/22463/ and follow the process described. Please note that you will have to attach the note verbale or letter, including your name on the list of your delegation, as a mandatory document while registering on-line. If you forget to attach the requested document, the system will reject your registration . A user guide is available for reference. For any queries, please contact the Implementation Support Unit at bwc@unog.ch

Once the application has been approved in Indico, you will receive via e-mail an e-ticket / QR code. A grounds pass valid for the duration of the Meeting of States Parties will be available for collection from the Pass and Identification Unit at the Pregny Gate of the Palais des Nations. Participants are advised to come to the Pregny Gate well in advance to allow enough time for security checks.

United Nations grounds passes can be collected from the Pass and Identification Unit at the Pregny Gate of the Palais des Nations. Delegations from States and international organisations can collect their passes from 12:00 on Friday 1 December. NGO representatives can collect their passes in person from 08:00 on Monday, 4 December 2017. The e-ticket / QR code and valid passport or national identification card, will have to be produced in order to collect a grounds pass.

Opening Statements

Statements & Presentations
Wednesday 6 December 2017

European Union

Thursday 7 December 2017

ISU presentation: Potential cost implications

European Union key messages on universalization

Friday 8 December 2017

European Union statement on the MSP outcome

NGO Statements

Side Events

Monday 4 December

13.00 - 15.00 International Genetically Engineered Machines competition (iGEM) - Safeguarding Advanced Biotechnologies in Practice: The iGEM Safety and Security Program

13.00 - 15.00 Malaysia and United States of America - Reports on BWC-relevant Developments ‎by International Experts

18.15 - 19.30 Russian Federation - International conference "Global Biosecurity Challenges: Problems and Solutions", Sochi, Russia, 1-2 November 2017

Tuesday 5 December

9.00 - 10.00 India - Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security - Advances in Biological Sciences and Biocontainment

Moderator: S.R. RAO, Advisor, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India

Participants:

Ambassador Rakesh SOOD, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation and Former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations

9.00 - 10.00 Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) - Science, Industry and the Chemical Weapons Convention: Scientific Review and Key Stakeholder Engagement

Dr Alexander Kelle, Senior Policy Officer, OPCW: Industry Engagement

Dr Jonathan Forman, Science Policy Adviser and Secretary to the Scientific Advisory Board, OPCW:Scientific Review for the Fourth Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention

13.00 - 15.00 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – Ukraine - Biosecurity Education: Opportunities to learn from current progress and new initiatives

13.00 - 15.00 Chimerix - Workshop on Smallpox Preparedness

Introduction
Dr D. Fraser Gray, Director, Chimerix Inc

Smallpox past and present
Prof Dr Mike Bray, Editor-in-Chief Antiviral Research
- Overview of smallpox disease
- Challenges with developing novel AVs against smallpox: pros & cons of existing animal models and what they tell us about human disease
- Advances in synthetic biology and why this presents an increased risk to our biosecurity
- Scenarios of potential smallpox outbreak: accidental to biothreat attack

Options for Smallpox: From vaccines to anti-virals
Prof Dr Graciela Andrei, REGA Institute, Leuven, Belgium
- Vaccines: Importance and issues with existing smallpox vaccines
- Introduction to two antivirals active against smallpox virus
- Attributes and issues with the antivirals including key data in vitro/invivo and current development status

Q&A

Wednesday 6 December

9.00 - 10.00 Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security - Multilateral Biosecurity Dialogue in South-East Asia

Moderator: Anita CICERO, Deputy Director, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security

Participants:

Kenneth BERNARD, US Public Health Service (retired) and Advisor, National Security and Biodefense

Irma MAKALINAO, Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of the Philippines Manila College of Medicine

Tikki PANGESTU, Visiting Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

Woraya LUANG-ON, Director, Bureau of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand

Zalini YUNUS, Senior Director, Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention Nucleus, Science and Technology Research Institute for Defence, Ministry of Defence, Malaysia

9.00 - 10.00 Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security - What is the Role of the BWC Within the Global Health Security Landscape: The Global Health Security Agenda Joint External Evaluations, UNSCR 1540, and Sustainable Development Goals?

Bonnie D. Jenkins, Ph.D.
Founder and President, Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS)
Joint Visiting Fellow, Brookings Institution and the University of Pennsylvania Perry World House
Former Ambassador and Special Envoy, Threat Reduction Programs, U.S. Department of State

Gian Luca Burci
Adjunct Professor
Department of International Law and Global Health Center
Graduate Institute of International Development Studies
Geneva

Richard Cupitt, Ph.D
Senior Associate and Program Director, The Henry L. Stimson Center
Visiting Scholar, Pritzker School of Law, Northwestern University
Former U.S. Special Coordinator for UN Security Council resolution 1540

13.00 - 15.00 Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford and the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge - Global Catastrophic Biological Risk: Considering Very Low Probability, Very High Consequence Events

13.00 - 15.00 France and Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique - Initiating a Request under Article VII of the BTWC (the presentation is available here)


Thursday 7 December

9.00 - 10.00 Italy - European Union - United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) - Aligning International Needs Assessments and National Action Plans in Africa in the Post-Ebola Biological Field

9.00 - 10.00 Switzerland and Germany - Strengthening the UNSGM: Moving Towards a Global Trusted Network of UNSGM Designated Laboratories

09:10 Opening remarks
Ambassador Sabrina Dallafior, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Conference on Disarmament
Ambassador Michael Biontino, Permanent Representative of Germany to the Conference on Disarmament

09:20 Report on the Third Swiss UNSGM Designated Laboratories Workshop
Dr Cédric Invernizzi, Senior CBRN Arms Control Expert, Spiez Laboratory, Federal Office for Civil Protection, Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports, Switzerland

09:35 Report on the German activities to strengthen the UNSGM Bio Reference Laboratories
Dr Stefan Kloth, Research Associate, Strengthening Global Health and Biosecurity, Robert Koch Institute, Germany

09:50 Q&A

13.00 - 15.00 InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) - Implementation in Action: IAP’s Experience in Engaging Scientists in Biosecurity

13.00 - 15.00 Emergent BioSolutions - How Real is the Biological Threat: A Global Perspective

Dr. Andrew Nichols, Booz Allen Hamilton
The Current Biological Threat Landscape

Rear Admiral W. Craig Vanderwagen, former Assistant Secretary for Preparedness & Response, US HHS
The US Experience in Biological Preparedness and Planning

Colonel Dr. Benjamin Queyriaux, NATO International Military Staff, Medical Advisor
Bio-threat Preparedness in the Military

Prof. Dr. Roberto Mugavero, president of the Italian “Observatory on Security and CBRNE Defence”
European CBRNe Threat Scenarios and New Tools for Risk Mitigation

13:00 - 15:00 European Union - The European Union's Continued Support for Strengthening the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention

Friday 8 December

13.00-15.00 Canada - Strengthening Global Mechanisms and Capabilities for Responding to Deliberate Use of Disease

Press releases