Thank you,Mr. Chair.

At the cost of repetition, allow me to begin by congratulating you. I assure you of India’s full support.

Mr. Chair,

The recent biological outbreaks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, have imposed a steep learning curve for policymakers and practitioners around the world.

They have underpinned the need for global efforts that facilitate rapid detection, and prompt, effective and coordinated response, in preparing and responding to outbreaks, irrespective of their nature or origin.

Mr. Chair,

Public health and security realms, despite being separate, are inter-related. Effective measures and capacities to address natural or accidental disease outbreaks, also strengthen response against those that are deliberate.

The International Health Regulations (IHR), which were amended recently in June this year, serve as an important framework to prevent, protect against, control and respond to the international spread of disease.

Improving national capacities and strengthening international cooperation for disease surveillance, detection, diagnosis and containment, in the realm of public health, would complement the objectives in the context of BWC, particularly under assistance, response and preparedness.

Mr. Chair,

As in the case of public health, the importance of finding practical solutions to implement Article

VII in BWC - in light of the growing threats driven by rapid advances in science and technology and its increasing accessibility - is becoming more evident.

Article VII of the Convention is a provision for international solidarity, which encourages joint effort by States Parties in response to the use of biological weapons. It also serves as an important incentive for the universalization of the convention.

Under Article VII, each State Party undertakes to provide or support assistance to any Party, which so requests, if the Security Council decides that such Party has been exposed to danger as a result of violation of the Convention.

In view of the humanitarian imperative, BWC States Parties have agreed that assistance under Article VII can also be considered pending the determination by the UN Security Council.

Owing to the evolving nature of threats, the previous Review Conferences have also underlined the need to consider offering assistance in the event of use of biological agents as weapons by anyone other than States Parties, including non-State actors.

Mr. Chair,

The discussions during the last review cycle reflected a broad consensus that Article VII needs be fully and effectively operationalised.

In this context, I would like to refer to the updated working paper i.e. working paper number 4, submitted by France and India, on the establishment of a database for assistance.

As you might recall, this is not a new proposal. The 8th Review Conference supported the establishment of the database. It did not, however, provide a specific mandate for establishing it. It has, therefore, not yet been created.

Mr. Chair,

Differences between States Parties in terms of their development, national capacities and resources can affect national and international capacity to respond effectively to alleged use of biological and toxin weapons.

Our proposal addresses the requirement for assistance, particularly for developing countries, and identifies the gap between the ‘need for’ and the ‘lack of’ institutional and operative structure to give effect to Article VII.

The working paper essentially calls on the BWC ISU to establish, administer and maintain a database on a secure web-based platform.

The database will act as a clearing house tool for matching assistance requests and offers for assistance registered in the database and will be open to all States Parties without exception.

In the last review cycle, with the support of the BWC ISU, the experience of assistance databases utilized in relevant international organizations were examined, in order to further develop the Article VII database proposal. A series of three virtual workshops were also conducted to consult States Parties which helped in its further refinement.

The working paper proposes that BWC States Parties can benefit from assistance under Article VII in three main categories. These are:

• First - Non-monetary contributions, such as expertise and information sharing.
• Second - Pre-exposure preparedness and capacity building, such as protection and detection including through pre-emptive training modules, awareness and response.
• Third - Post exposure response scenarios, namely decontamination, prophylactic or containment measures.

Other categories that fit in well in the database could also be considered, as long as they are fully relevant to the scope of the BWC and avoid duplicating assistance under Article X.

The database will be open to government agencies of States Parties, international organizations and, NGOs if registered as users by designated contact points in States Parties.

Mr. Chair,

Similar mechanisms for assistance databases exist in international organizations, even though their mandates, operating principles, modalities, along with possible roles in the response, differ.

We understand that the proposed database should, to the extent possible, not duplicate emergency assistance mechanisms provided by other international organizations.

A cross-platform synergy among existing databases is, therefore, important. Efforts to optimize complementarities should be factored in at operationalization phase, with due consultations among States Parties.

Given the financial situation of the Convention, the establishment of a voluntary trust fund under Article VII may also be considered as an option, if agreed to by all States Parties.

Mr. Chair,

The Article VII Database proposal belongs to all of us. The benefits accruing from the database far exceed the costs.

It is our hope that the Working Group will decide to recommend the establishment of this database in its final recommendations and we look forward to hearing comments and suggestions from States Parties in order to further refine the proposal for its finalization.

Mr. Chair,

My delegation positively notes South Africa’s proposal for framing voluntary guidelines for requesting assistance, which could facilitate response and provision of assistance.

We note that, although the use of these guidelines as envisaged is not mandatory, the template can potentially provide valuable information, to determine and guide assistance efforts in the context of Article VII.

My delegation also acknowledges the useful working paper submitted by the United States and others.

I, thank you, Mr. Chair.