Seminar on Biosecurity on Dual-use risks

Department of Life Sciences and CES University of Coimbra

23 November 2009

  

Organized by

Department of Life Sciences and CES, University of Coimbra, Portugal

Landau Network – Centro Volta (LNCV), Italy*

Bradford Disarmament Research Centre, University of Bradford (BDRC), UK*1

  

Morning Session, 9:30 – 12:30 

 

· Introduction: Project Presentation and Outline of the Seminar

o Background of speakers, of Landau Network-Centro Volta and Bradford Disarmament Research Centre

o Project and rationale on Biosecurity and Dual Use Education and Awareness Raising

o Outline of the Seminar

· Questions of security related to the life sciences

· Definitions

o Biological Weapons

o Biosecurity

o Biosafety

o Dual-Use

· The historical prohibition on poisonous, biological and toxin weapons

· History of Biological Weapons: State Programmes and Bioterrorism

· Legal Aspects

o The international Prohibition regime

The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention: development, the Intersessional Process, Meetings, the compliance system.

Mention of other disarmament agreements including the Chemical Weapons Convention

The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540

o European Union

Dual-use export controls regulations in the EU

The EU Institutional Framework: the Common Foreign and Security Policy

The Common Security Strategy

o National legislation cases

· Dual-use

o Dual-use risks and the dual-use “dilemma”

o Possible dual uses of new technologies in the contemporary period including: aspects of Biodefence; Biocontrols; the so called Non Lethal Weapons; anti materiel weapons; delivery capabilities; mass production capabilities.

o Latest scientific developments from the BTWC perspective.

o Comparison with nuclear dual-use?

o Dual-use examples for discussion

The “Mousepox experiment”

The recreation of the 1918 Spanish flu virus

· The existing policy making processes

The UN, EU and national governments

WHO, OECD

Entities financing research

· Engaging in a cooperative “Web of Prevention” o The role of the scientists in raising public awareness and in participating to the policy making.

Afternoon Session, 14:30 – 17:30

Discussion and debate

• · History of Biological Weapons
• · Potential use of biological science and technologies for hostile purposes
• · Discussion of dual-use experiments
• · Engagement of scientists

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