Joint Statement submitted by Japan on behalf of the G7 to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention Meeting of States Parties 

Check against delivery.

December 11, 2023

Mr. Chair,

I have the honour of delivering a statement on behalf of the G7: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. We are pleased to see you presiding over this meeting, and we are confident in your leadership of our work here this week. We also wish to commend the Implementation Support Unit (ISU) on another year of indispensable work.

At the Hiroshima Summit in May, G7 leaders declared their ongoing support for the BTWC, through a commitment to its universalization, effective implementation, and strengthening. This support was underscored by the G7 Non-Proliferation Directors’ Group, which highlighted the Convention as a “pillar of the international security and non-proliferation architecture,” and by substantial programming delivered in support of the Convention by members of the G7-led 31-member Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction.

It is important to recognize the BTWC’s keystone role in the global architecture to combat biological weapons. The significance of this Convention cannot be undersold; As the first treaty prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling, and use of a single class of weapon of mass destruction, this Convention serves as a testament to what successes we can achieve through our collective effort and will to make this world a safer place. We, the G7, remain in steadfast support of this goal today.

Regarding ongoing efforts to strengthen the Convention, we welcome the Final Document adopted by consensus at the Ninth Review Conference last year, and the continued work by the new intersessional programme. It is time to capitalize on the opportunities provided to us by the Working Group process and to achieve cross-regional consensus to advance the Convention. We are committed to engaging constructively in the Working Group so that it can make progress across the full range of issues on its agenda, including as a near-term priority the mechanisms on international cooperation and assistance as well as science and technology. We support the continued mission of universalization of the Convention and urge all States Parties to submit their annual reports on Confidence-Building Measures to ensure continued transparency when implementing the Convention.

We, the G7, also wish to emphasize our support of mainstreaming gender within the context of the BTWC. Strengthening the Convention requires us to not only seek gender parity among delegations and experts, but also to contend with the gendered impacts of biological weapons. Advocating for more women within the system also requires us to adequately comprehend and correct the ways in which women have been historically marginalized and disempowered in this process in order to successfully integrate their inclusion.

The G7 supports the ability of international organizations, including regional intergovernmental organisations, to deliver statements in formal BTWC plenary meetings. Their participation in the work of the BTWC contributes greatly to our substantive deliberations and is consistent with the principles of inclusivity, transparency and openness.

Mr. Chair,

The G7 underscores its ongoing commitment to deliver related capacity building programming through the Global Partnership. The GP has been, and will continue to be, instrumental in countering biological threats, and its many concrete contributions to strengthening this Convention should be recognized. While GP Partners have delivered more than 300 individual projects since 2016 in support of the BTWC, we would highlight the current multi-year project being implemented by the ISU on universalization and effective implementation of the Convention in Africa, a key component of the GPs Signature Initiative to Mitigate Biological Threats in Africa. In this context, as we explore ways and means to strengthen the BTWC’s international cooperation and assistance provisions, we should aim to leverage the GP’s extensive experience and expertise in precisely this domain.

The G7 has been, and will remain, a strong supporter of the BTWC, and its mission to rid the world of the threat of biological weapons. We look forward to working with States Parties to achieve progress during this Meeting of States Parties.

Thank you.