Statement by Mr. Md. Nazrul Islam, Deputy Permanent Representative and C.D.A. a.i. of , in the Introductory Session of the 2015 States Parties Meeting (SPM) of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), 14-18 December 2015, , Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, friends, good afternoon. Mr. Chairman, Let me commence by expressing our deep appreciation for your successful steering of this States Parties Meeting of the BWC and our strong support for your leading role in the work of the Convention including our support to the Vice Chairs. We are particularly thankful to you for the Non-Paper that you have circulated on 08 December 2015 on the possible elements for the substantive part of the Report of the 2015 Meeting of States Parties, as this document would surely be a good basis for our work here. My delegation also aligns itself with the statement made by the Islamic Republic of Iran on behalf of the Non-aligned Movement. Mr. Chair, Bangladesh bestows utmost importance to its adherence to the BWC. Since her accession to the Convention in March 1985, Bangladesh has manifested its strong commitment towards total renunciation of Biological and Toxin Weapons, both nationally and internationally. Bangladesh is party to all major Disarmament treaties including the NPT, the CTBT, the CWC, the CCW, the Treaty (APMBT) and the BWC. We are one of the few signatories of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) from our region and may ratify it in near future. We strongly adhere to the UNSC Resolution 1540 and added our voice to those in favour of a world free of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in every occasion. Bangladesh strongly supports complete and unconditional nuclear disarmament, both vertically and horizontally, and complete ban on other WMDs. Concerning BWC, we look forward to see universalization of the Convention at the earliest. We underscore that a concerted campaign specially before and during the 8th Review Conference next year as well as necessary enhanced assistance to several LDCs for acceding to the Convention would be necessary in this regard. Mr. Chairman, I would like to take this occasion to briefly state the measures taken by us

recently. During the Meeting of Experts in August 2015, our delegation had

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adherence to the BWC. We expressed intention to seek the assistance from the Implementation Support Unit (ISU) of the BWC in this area. Accordingly, in October 2015, Bangladesh officially requested the BWC ISU for assistance in drafting a national legislation that would ensure Bangladesh's further adherence to the provision of the BWC. As a follow up, a legislative drafting workshop, focused on drafting an enabling national law for ensuring compliance with the BWC, took place in our Capital Dhaka on 23-24 November 2015, involving key national stakeholders including the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Defence, Science and Technology, Armed Forced Division, Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and the ICRC. A legal expert from the UK-based Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC), which was referred to us by the BWC ISU, had conducted the Workshop. The Workshop discussed the possible key components of the draft law that will be finalized through a further consultative process. We are thankful to the BWC ISU as well as to the VERTIC for their valuable assistance in the successful holding of the Workshop. We look forward to continued cooperation with the VERTIC and the BWC ISU in this regard. We are hopeful that the draft law, when finalized, would be well incorporated into a national legislative framework for adoption by our National Parliament. Mr. Chair, Bangladesh has a multi-stakeholder National IHL Committee, which deals with all relevant IHL instruments including the BWC. I would also like to further mention here that, to comply with the BWC and the UNSC resolution 1540, our main laboratories dealing with biological agents, like the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), are fully engaged in extensive international cooperation, particularly with the WHO and the CDC of the . The Experts of the UNSCR 1540 Committee visited IEDCR in recent past to see the security and safeguard measures in place for biological agents to prevent their potential slippage into wrong hands and the recommendations they made have been duly addressed in our National Action Plan for ensuring compliance with UNSCR 1540. Earlier, we organised a National Workshop with the concerned UN Experts to raise awareness about compliance with UNSCR 1540, including on preventing proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

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Mr. Chair, We believe that the enhancement of international cooperation for the use of biological agents for peaceful purposes is an essential part of compliance with the Convention and is crucial for the realization of the purpose and objective of the Convention. We also believe that there is need for an effective mechanism to ensure the full, effective and non-discriminatory implementation of Article X. We would reiterate here the call by the NAM States Parties for the effective implementation of Article X of the BWC through enhancing international cooperation, assistance and exchanges in toxins, biological agents equipment and technology for peaceful purposes. In this regard, we recall the outcome of the Seventh Review Conference and in particular its decision to include cooperation and assistance as one of the Standing Agenda Items, with specific focus on strengthening cooperation and assistance under Article X.

Mr. Chair, We have to underscore today that despite the BWC having 173 State Parties, the threat of biological and toxin weapons is no less, especially because of rapid advances in the field of life sciences in the utilization of microbes and toxins as well as due to the emergence of non-state actors. This warrants redoubling our efforts in many areas of work in order to ensure effective implementation of the Convention. I would conclude by saying that the multilateral negotiations aimed at concluding a non-discriminatory, comprehensive and balanced legally binding agreement on appropriate multilateral verification arrangements is the call of the day as this would further strengthen the Convention. Bangladesh remains committed to the cause of total renunciation of biological and toxin weapons and looks forward to a successful outcome of this States Parties Meeting as well as the 8th RevCon next year. We are hopeful that the scourge of biological and toxin weapons can be eradicated totally from the globe through universal, complete and non-discriminatory implementation of the BWC. Thank you Mr. Chair.

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