Cabinet to approve Biological & Toxin Weapons Convention Implementation Bill

The federal cabinet which is scheduled to meet on Tuesday (tomorrow) with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair will accord approval to Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention Implementation Bill, 2019, official sources told Business Recorder. The Convention on the prohibition of the development, production and stockpiling of Bacteriological (biological) and Toxin Weapons on their Destruction (BTWC) was adopted in 1972. Pakistan is a signatory to the Convention.
Article IV of the Convention requires all States parties to take, in accordance with their constitutional processes, any necessary measures to prohibit and prevent the development, production, stockpiling, acquisition, or retention of the agents, toxins, weapons, equipment and means of delivery specified in the Convention, within their territories, under their jurisdiction or control anywhere. The sources said, a summary was submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Cabinet "on approval in principle for draft legislation for the implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)" in December, 2009 which was subsequently approved in principle by the Cabinet for further processing. Pursuant to that, the further processing of the legislation remained pending before the Parliament and subsequently the term of the Parliament expired.
In order to revive the process, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held an inter-ministerial meeting on 23 October 2018 and the revised draft was prepared with minimal changes, which was approved in principle by the then cabinet. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred the revised draft bill to the Ministry of Law and Justice for vetting. The Law Ministry vetted the draft Bill with the advice to take further action in accordance with the provisions of the Rule 27 of the Rules of Business 1973.
The sources said, as the cabinet accorded the approval of draft Bill 2019 in terms of rule 2(5)(a) of the Rules of Business 1973, it will be introduced in either House of Parliament. According to sources, Prime Minister will also take the cabinet colleagues into confidence with regard to his recent visit to China and talks with Chinese leadership about China-Pakistan Economic Corridor -II( CPEC-II).
The cabinet is also expected to approve disjointing of Ministry of Energy into two separate Ministries i.e. Ministry of Power and Ministry of Petroleum.
The PML(N) government had constituted the Ministry of Energy, clubbing both Power Division and Petroleum Division aimed at taking policy decisions at one table. Prime Minister recently gave the additional charge of Petroleum Division to Minister for Power, Omar Ayub but in fact the game is being played by a giant player in the power sector who apparently is a heavier weight compared to the Minister.