§ Mr. TynanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made with regard to verification procedures relating to the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. [40923]
§ Mr. BradshawNegotiations on a compliance Protocol to strengthen the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) concluded unsuccessfully at the 24th Session of the Ad Hoc Group of States Parties in August 2001. And as no agreement could be reached at the subsequent Review Conference in December last year a decision was made to suspend the proceedings. The Conference will reconvene in Geneva on 11 November when we hope that it will be possible to make progress in reinforcing the norm against biological weapons. In preparation for the Conference the Government will shortly present a Government paper setting out its views on ways to counter the threat from biological weapons. This will be laid in the House in April.