The European Union

Finland, representing the European Union, proposes a list of possible measures for States Parties to address non-proliferation and peaceful cooperation on science and technology development. Their proposals draw on the EU Common Position adopted in March as well as EU actions on cooperation, with particular emphasis placed on States Parties working with non-governmental organizations and international institutions.

Proposals to increase surveillance, detection, diagnosis, and combating of infectious diseases include State Party agreement on:

• Strengthening existing international organizations and networks.
• Promoting cooperation and complementarity between organizations and networks.
• Strengthening organizations’ disease programs within their mandates and limiting them to health aspects of outbreaks.
• Establishing and improving national and regional disease programs and integrating them with emergency and disaster management plans. They point to UK and Finnish programs as examples.
• Using existing standards, guidelines, and recommendations where possible.
• Improving communication on disease surveillance with international institutions and NGOs.
• Supporting others with capacity-building when assistance is needed.
• Promoting vaccine development through international cooperation.
• Discussing real-time detection of pathogens and response to epidemics during future intersessional meetings.

In order to enhance implementation of Article X of the BWC, the EU proposes that States Parties reconfirm understandings reflected in the Final Declaration of the Fourth Review Conference, with a focus on:

• Effective national implementation of the BWC worldwide as essential for peaceful use of the biological sciences and biotechnology.
• Engaging private sector actors on the national, regional, and international levels.
• Facilitating the exchange of information on State Party implementation of Article X through the Secretariat.

Latin America Group

The group of Latin American States Parties point out the important incentives for universalization of the BWC derived from scientific cooperation and technology transfer. To this end, they propose:

• Fully implementing the agreements from previous Review Conferences and the Special Conference.
• Promoting scientific cooperation and technology transfer in the areas of public health, agriculture, farming, and animal husbandry.
• Developing efficient coordination mechanisms between the UN System and international and regional organizations.
• Annual reporting on the progress achieved.
• Reiterating the request to the UN Secretary-General to collect and distribute information each year on Article X implementation.
• Facilitating measures to create networks between scientific communities and the academic sector.
• Agreeing on procedures to assist States Parties who request such assistance under Article VII.
• Revising consultation and cooperation procedures related to Article V.
• Creating a database with information on international cooperation and technology transfer opportunities.