16 March 2012 - Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Special and Ocean Concerns Jose Brillantes co-chaired the 4th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum Intersessional Meeting on Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (4th ARF ISM-NPD) held in Sydney from March 7 to 8.

Undersecretary Brillantes co-chaired the meeting with Australia and Japan.

Twenty-four countries and seven international organizations participated in the meeting.

The ARF remains to be the sole regional security dialogue mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region.

Usec_Brillantes2The meeting discussed how the ASEAN Regional Forum members can support the three pillars of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), namely non-proliferation, disarmament, and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

The meeting also discussed developments on the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) which prohibits the production and use of chemical weapons, and the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) which applies the same prohibitions to biological weapons.

The meeting recognized the Philippines' efforts to establish a biorisk network and lauded the work being done towards drafting Philippine export controls legislation to address the grave threat posed by the illicit transfers of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials.

The meeting also welcomed the Philippine hosting of a meeting on NPD-related issues in 2013.

Undersecretary Brillantes, who chairs the Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat (OAVS), also met with the personnel of the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney, led by Consul General Anne Jalando-on Louis, and was provided a briefing on the Consulate's ongoing promotion of the OAV registration as well as initiatives to further improve consular services. END