On November 07 – 25, 2016 the Eighth Review Conference of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (BWC) takes place in Geneva.

During the event its participants are engaged in the review of the effectiveness of the BWC’s provisions, the level of their implementation by Member States, as well as discussing relevant initiatives and proposals of participants of the forum in the context of finding ways to ensure the universalization and strengthening of the Convention.

Sergii Shutenko, Head of the delegation of Ukraine, Director General for International Security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in his statement during the general debates emphasized on the significant deterioration of our country's biosecurity and biosafety system due to the aggression of the Russian Federation and subversive activities of Russia-backed illegal armed groups, which, in particular, led to the loss of control over the Ukrainian anti-plague station of the Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine, the Crimean republican diagnostic laboratory, as well as the Donetsk and Luhansk regional sanitary and epidemiological stations. In this connection, the BWC Member States were appealed to elaborate a relevant mechanism of proper reaction to these challenges in the sphere of biosafety and biosecurity both in Ukraine and other regions in the world.

At the same time, the delegation of Ukraine emphasized the significant role played by the BWC in the process of disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, stressed the importance of ensuring an effective dialogue on the issue of the Convention’s adaptation to the current challenges in the field of biology, underscored the pertinence of implementing Ukraine’s initiative on raising awareness on issues related to biosafety and biosecurity among scientists working in relevant areas, as well as spoke in favor of finding opportunities to reinforce the Implementation Support Unit of this international document.