Topic: The threat of Global Bioterrorism .
Country: The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago.
Delegate: Mattieu Ramsawak.
In the recent Summit of the CARICOM Heads of Government held in Port-of-Spain,
Prime Minister Patrick Manning stated that Trinidad and Tobago is in full support of
world initiatives against terrorism, in particular against bioterrorism. Indeed, bioterrorism
is one of the oldest and deadliest forms of weapons of mass destruction. With modern
advances in science and technology, the threat of bioterrorism has taken a deadly new
turn.
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago believes that the threat of bioterrorism is very real,
and is in full support of world initiatives to curb or prevent these heinous attacks from
occurring. Recently several Trinidadian nationals belonging to prominent religious
extremist groups have been implicated in terrorist plots in North America and parts of
Europe and Asia. The republic of Trinidad and Tobago believes that it has a legitimate
reason to be weary of bioterrorist attacks against itself, as this country is the leading
economic power in the Caribbean and the largest supplier of natural gas to the United
States. As it is yet still considered a developing country, the country feels that it does not
yet have the adequate resources to prepare for a possible terrorist attack.
The Government of Trinidad and Tobago has taken many safety precautions against the
threat of bioterrorism. It has reformed the import regulations on incoming items like
fruits, vegetables, livestock and other foodstuff, to allow strict control over what comes
into the country. Recently the Trinidad and Tobago regiment performed searches on
several local privately-owned laboratories, in order to determine if any illegal research
involving diseases or viruses has been carried out. The government also recently invited
the American CIA to the country to give tips to local law enforcement about preparedness
for threats such as biological warfare.
Trinidad and Tobago supported the creation of the Biological Weapons Convention
Implementation Support Unit at the convention in Geneva on August 20th, 2007. The
Republic believes that this is a positive step towards preventing the use of biological
warfare. In the past it has also supported the United Nations Special Commission in its
anti-terrorism endeavors.
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago believes that the threat of biological warfare can be
eradicated if countries act swiftly and sternly. Countries should take measures to secure
and/ or destroy their supplies of known viruses such as Ebola. Countries must also make
known to the international community any research it undertakes with known
communicable viruses. I think it is also worthwhile for countries to collaborate to form
groups of experts to do scientific research to find cures to many of the current deadly
diseases, like th Bird Flu, which currently have no cure.
Trinidad and Tobago also believes that any countries with a known history of biological
terror capabilities to carefully monitored, and that countries who fail to adhere to any
formed agreement on the matter be strongly reprimanded within the sanctions of the UN.
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is happy to sign any agreement that will encourage
the co-operation of nations to do all that is possible to prevent acts of bioterrorism from
affecting innocent people.