The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) Database
Rolling Text (9th Session) : Article VI
Article VI of the Rolling Text is provided below. This material is from the 9th Session of the Ad Hoc Group of States Parties to the Convention.
Please note: the page numbers given are those which appear in the original text, these appear at the top of the page. The detailed footnotes are provided at the end of the main text.
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BWC/AD HOC GROUP/39
Annex 1
Page 64
ARTICLE VI58
ASSISTANCE AND PROTECTION AGAINST BIOLOGICAL AND TOXIN WEAPONS
[1. For the purposes of this Article, "Assistance" means the coordination and delivery [transfer] to States Parties of protection against biological and toxin weapons, including, inter alia, the following: detection and alarm equipment; protective equipment; decontamination equipment and decontaminants; prophylactic, diagnostic and therapeutic medical measures and materials including immunization; and advice on any of these protective measures.]
2. Nothing in this Protocol shall be interpreted as impeding the right of any State Party to conduct research into, develop, produce, acquire, transfer or use means of protection against biological and toxin weapons, for purposes not prohibited under the Convention.
3. Each State Party [undertakes to facilitate] [shall make available], and shall have the right to participate in, [subject to protection of confidential proprietary information and national security information and under non-discriminatory and equitable commercial terms], the fullest possible exchange of equipment, material and scientific and technological information concerning means of protection against biological and toxin weapons.
[4. The [Technical] Secretariat shall establish, not later than 180 days after entry into force of this Protocol and maintain, for the use of any requesting State Party, a data bank containing freely available information concerning various means of protection against biological and toxin weapons as well as such information as may be provided by States Parties.
The [Technical] Secretariat shall also, within the resources available to it, and at the request of a State Party, provide expert advice and assist the State Party in identifying how its programmes for the development and improvement of a protective capacity against biological and toxin weapons could be implemented].
5. Nothing in this Protocol shall be interpreted as impeding the right of States Parties [to request and provide assistance bilaterally and to conclude individual agreements with other States Parties concerning the emergency procurement of assistance.]
[6. Each State Party undertakes to provide assistance [to the extent possible] through the [Organization] and to this end may elect to take one or more of the following measures:
(a) To contribute to the voluntary fund for assistance to be established by the Conference at its first session;
(b) To conclude, if possible not later than 180 days after this Protocol enters into force for it, agreements with the [Organization] concerning the procurement, upon demand, of assistance;
(c) To declare, not later than 180 days after this Protocol enters into force for it, the kind of assistance it might provide in response to an appeal by the [Organization]. If, however, a State Party subsequently is unable to provide the assistance envisaged in its declaration, it is still under the obligation to provide assistance in accordance with this paragraph.]
7. Each State Party has the right to request and, subject to the procedure set forth in paragraphs 8, 9 and 10 to receive assistance and protection against the use or threat of use of biological and toxin weapons if it considers that:
(a) Biological and toxin weapons have been used against it;
(b) It is threatened by actions that are prohibited for States Parties by Article I of the Convention.
[8. The request, substantiated by relevant information, shall be submitted to the Director-General, who shall transmit it immediately to the [Executive Council] and to all States Parties. The Director-General shall immediately forward the request to States Parties which have volunteered, in accordance with paragraph 6 (b) and (c), to dispatch emergency assistance in case of use of biological and toxin weapons, or humanitarian assistance in case of [serious] threat of use of biological and toxin weapons to the State Party concerned not later than [12] hours after receipt of the request. [The Director-General shall initiate, upon a request from a State Party not later than [24] hours after receipt of the request, an [investigation] [inquiry] in order to provide foundation for further action. The Director-General shall complete the [investigation] [inquiry] within [72] hours and forward a report to the [Executive Council]. If additional time is required for completion of the [investigation] [inquiry], an interim report shall be submitted within the same time frame. The additional time required for [investigation] [inquiry] shall not exceed [72] hours. It may, however, be further extended by similar periods. Reports at the end of each additional period shall be submitted to the [Executive Council]. The [investigation] [inquiry] shall, as appropriate and in conformity with the request and the information accompanying the request, establish relevant facts related to the request as well as the type and scope of supplementary assistance and protection needed.]]
[9. The [Executive Council] shall meet not later than [24] hours after receiving an [investigation] [inquiry] report to consider the situation and shall take a decision by simple majority within the following [24] hours on whether to instruct the [Technical] Secretariat to provide supplementary assistance. The [Technical] Secretariat shall immediately transmit to all States Parties and relevant international organizations the [investigation] [inquiry] report and the decision taken by the [Executive Council]. When so decided by the [Executive Council], the Director-General shall provide assistance immediately. For this purpose, the Director-General may cooperate with the requesting State Party, other States Parties and relevant international organizations. The States Parties shall make the fullest possible efforts to provide assistance.]
[10. If the information available from the ongoing [investigation] [inquiry] or other reliable sources would give sufficient proof that there are victims of use of biological and toxin weapons and immediate action is indispensable, the Director-General shall notify all States Parties and shall take emergency measures of assistance, using the resources the Conference has placed at his/her disposal for such contingencies. The Director-General shall keep the [Executive Council] informed of actions undertaken pursuant to this paragraph.]
Notes
58. It was recognized that this Article has received only preliminary consideration with brackets introduced at this time reflecting only the specific initial views of some delegations.
While noting that the proposed language in this Article was drawn largely from the CWC, some delegations indicated that the text would subsequently need to be modified to take into account the differences between the biological weapons and chemical weapons context.