Meeting of Experts of States Parties to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention
Geneva, 18 – 22 August 2008

At the 6th Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (Geneva, 20 November – 8 December 2006) the States Parties reached agreement on a work programme for 2007–10 that should lay the groundwork for substantive improvement of the BTWC subsequent to the 7th Review Conference in 2011. This second so-called intersessional process follows a similar series of annual meetings between 2003 and 2005, during which a 2-week meeting of experts was followed by a 1-week meeting of the States Parties at the end of the year. Although the first intersessional process did not produce formal decisions, the States Parties nonetheless considered the information exchanges and debates useful. The annual meeting of the experts of the 2nd intersessional process are limited to one week. However, in contrast to the first series, the delegates participating in the 2nd series of meetings will have the opportunity to consider a number of recurring themes.

The first Meeting of Experts (MX) was held from 20 to 24 August 2007; the first Meeting of States Parties (MSP) from 10-14 December 2007.

The second Meeting of Experts meets at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland from 18 to 22 August 2008.  The themes agreed at the 6th Review Conference for this meeting are:

• National, regional and international measures to improve biosafety and biosecurity, including laboratory safety and security of pathogens and toxins; and
• Oversight, education, awareness raising, and adoption and/or development of codes of conduct with the aim of preventing misuse in the context of advances in bio-science and bio-technology research with the potential of use for purposes prohibited by the Convention.

This webpage contains the working documents of the Meeting of Experts, statements by the States Parties to the BTWC, presentations made by experts and intergovernmental organizations, and participating non-governmental organizations. The BWPP also produces a daily report summarizing the debates and events of the previous day. The MX Reports are distributed before the start of the meetings at the Palais des Nations, via the BWPP web site and BCW Discussion Forum, as well as a dedicated list serve.

The daily reports are written and produced by the BWPP with support from the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy.

The BioWeapons Prevention Project is dedicated to reinforcing the norm against the weaponization of disease. It is a global civil society activity that tracks governmental and other behaviour under the treaties that codify the norm. It nurtures and is empowered by an international network, and acts both through that network and its publication