§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what work is being carried out by her Department to support the negotiations to strengthen the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. [22511]
§ Mrs. RocheMy Department is working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Ministry of Defence to achieve early international agreement on a legally binding protocol to establish an effective verification and compliance regime for the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC). My officials are members of the UK delegation, led by the FCO, which is playing a major role in the negotiations in Geneva. Responsibility for implementing an agreed protocol in the UK will fall to my Department and my officials are working with the UK pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to secure their support for a strengthened BTWC regime.