Fifth Biological Weapons Convention Review Conference Adjourns to Reconvene in November 2002
December 2001—The Fifth Review Conference (RevCon) of the BWC was held in Geneva from 19 November to 7 December. On the opening day of the RevCon, Ambassador Tibor Tóth of Hungary was elected President of the Review Conference.

Opening remarks of the conference revolved around the importance of preventing the use or threat of use of BW, particularly in the wake of the events of September 11th. Tóth stressed that the in light of the abrupt halt in Protocol negotiations in August, States Parties had to work constructively to overcome disagreements and obstacles to reaffirm the prohibition norm.

The general debate was started with six statements-by the European Union, the United States, South Africa, Japan, Pakistan and China. Belgian Ambassador Jean Lint delivered the European Union statement on behalf of 27 States Parties. The statement reiterated the need for the BTWC after September 11 and the subsequent anthrax attacks. The EU statement also stressed the need to adopt "concrete measures in the fight against biological weapons"-a reference to the adoption of a verification protocol. With reference to confidence-building measure (CBM) submissions, the EU urged all States Parties to cooperate fully and regularly on the exchange of information. The EU also noted that some modifications to the CBMs could be made to ease their implementation from a technical aspect. The EU further proposed that some of the CBMs be made legally binding, pointing out, "these confidence-building measures will only prove fully useful in the wider context of legally binding measures aimed at strengthening the Convention in a multilateral framework."

John Bolton, U.S. under secretary of state for arms control and international security, raised concerns about State Party compliance with the Convention, naming Iraq, Iran and North Korea as Parties in violation of the BTWC. He also criticized the Protocol as an ineffective mechanism for strengthening the BTWC. Bolton suggested national implementation measures be enacted by each State Party as a means of strengthening the Convention. The measures included national criminal legislation; security of pathogenic microorganisms; sensitizing scientists who work with pathogenic organisms to a code of conduct; establishing a mechanism for international investigation of disease outbreaks and alleged BW incidents; the establishment of a cooperative mechanism for clarifying and resolving compliance concerns; adopting strict biosafety procedures; agreement among States Parties to provide rapid emergency medical assistance upon request; and to restrict access and enhance safety procedures for the use of dangerous pathogens.