Canada

Canada proposes that all States Parties agree at the Review Conference to

• Encourage all member states to submit accurate and complete CBMs in a timely manner annually, and encourage individual states to offer support to those requiring assistance.
• Submit information for every CBM on an annual basis, even when there have been no new developments from the previous year.
• Develop a more user-friendly CBM form that allows, to the extent possible, use of specific check-boxes rather than requiring written entries.
• Mandate UN DDA to prepare a summary of major elements, trends and considerations presented in CBM reporting.
• More efficiently distribute CBMs (electronically via CD-ROM or secure website)
• Consider proposals to modify and expand existing CBMs, including that made at previous Review Conferences, as well as proposals to create new CBMs.

European Union

The EU proposes that the Review Conference could discuss two categories of measures to improve the CBM process:

• Technical improvements, such as expanding the role of multiple-choice questionnaires to facilitate CBM preparation; computerized CBM forms to aid standardization, preparation and circulation of CBM declarations; and the provision of technical assistance by members to members that request it, perhaps channeled through a BWC Secretariat.
• Political incentives, such as reminders sent out by the UNDDA to all States Parties to submit their CBMs, with an additional annual reminder by the UN Secretary General.

The EU proposes that additional steps to improve the CBM process be examined, and possibly agreed, at an annual meeting as part of the new work program, including:

• Making specific modifications to the preliminary declaration that would make the CBMs easier to understand.
• Reshaping the preliminary declaration to eliminate ambiguities arising from the declaration as it is currently constituted.
• Supplementing or clarifying the “implementing procedures” for CBM forms A, C and D.

Latin American Group

The Latin American Group proposes that the following recommendations be carefully examined within the framework of the annual meetings, assisted by a support unit:

• To provide assistance and cooperation to States Parties, when requested, in elaborating, presenting and implementing CBMs.
• To develop guidelines for the enhancement of CBM implementation.
• To assess the possibility of creating new forms designed to facilitate reading, regardless of the language in which they are presented, as well as making them available electronically.
• To design new CBMs if necessary.
• To explore the possibility of establishing a panel of governmental experts to assist in these duties.

Switzerland

In a paper circulated among the JACKSNNZ group of nations, Switzerland proposes “a set of actions which can be followed in a modular step-by-step approach,” with some modifications being adopted at the Review Conference, and other potential improvements being addressed in expert discussions as part of the new work program. Switzerland proposes that States Parties

• Launch “equivalent efforts” to both increase the number of States Parties submitting information regularly and enhance the quality, accuracy and comprehensiveness of the data.
• Make efforts to improve the efficiency of the current system by making the CBM forms more efficient (including replacing written entries with tick-boxes where possible) and minimizing ambiguities in the forms
• Mandate the UNDDA to make CBM submissions available online if the State Party has agreed.
• Discuss ways to improve CBM efficacy by creating incentives and providing assistance for members who are not in a position to submit CBMs and improving national implementation to ensure comprehensive, regular and timely submission.
• Allow the UNDDA to raise awareness of and promote and explain the CBM system, provide regular reminders to submit the forms, act as an intermediary between States Parties requesting and offering assistance in submitting CBMs, check the plausibility of the submitted information and clarify possible misunderstandings, and compile an aggregated, anonymised summary of the data and report annually on the level of participation.
• Discuss the establishment of a user-friendly, web-based information management system for CBMs at an upcoming annual meeting.
• Agree to launch a discussion on the contents and issues covered by existing CBMs and by the reporting processes of other actors in the life science field.
• Decide that a meeting of scientific and technical experts from member states be held in the framework of the intersessional meetings between 2007 – 20010 to assess existing forms, the topics covered, and general modalities related to the processing of CBMs, and to make proposals to restructure or update the forms.