Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to call for the Biological Weapons Convention to be updated to include provision for inspection and compliance enforcement at the Ninth Review Conference due to occur in 2021.

The UK strongly supports the effective global implementation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. Verification remains a highly contested question and there is currently no prospect of consensus among the Convention's States Parties to agree any declaration, inspection or investigation provisions. However, at the Ninth Review Conference the UK will work to build consensus on strengthening the operation of the Convention, including improved decision making and more structured scientific and technological review processes.

The UK continues to take a leading role in efforts to build up and sustain operational capabilities for the UN Secretary-General's Mechanism for the investigation of allegations of the use of chemical and biological weapons. This is complementary to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.