Measures for protecting the civilian population against the new risks posed by chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents will be the subject of a NATO conference in Trondheim on 28-30 January. The conference will be attended by more than 100 participants from NATO countries, partner countries and international organisations.

Norway has long attached great importance to efforts to protect the civilian population, and has given high priority to this topic within NATO. The terrorist attacks in the USA on 11 September 2001 marked a turning point in these efforts. That same year NATO adopted an action plan for civil preparedness that put greater emphasis on preparedness in the event of a terrorist attack or an incident involving weapons of mass destruction. The action plan was fully endorsed by the Heads of State and Government at the NATO Summit in Prague in November 2002.

In this connection, Norway, together with Finland and Sweden, took the initiative for developing guidelines and minimum standards for a minimum level of preparedness required to protect the civilian population from CBRN risks. Norway has been heading the project, together with Finland and Sweden, since the Summit.

The conference will adopt recommendations for how the work on the guidelines is to proceed in NATO and in the various member countries and partner countries. It will be followed up by two more conferences, one in Finland in October 2004, and one in Sweden in spring 2005.

The guidelines will deal with preparatory measures and immediate crisis management carried out by first responders (including the police, fire service and health service). They will focus on procedures, equipment and training. The guidelines will help first responders in all NATO countries and partner countries to rapidly enhance their capacity for crisis management, and will facilitate co-operation across national borders in the event of a major accident or disaster.

There is a great interest in this work in allied countries, partner countries and the EU, as shown by the large number of people taking part in the conference.

The conference is being arranged jointly by NATO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning. Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Traavik of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will open the conference.

The conference itself will be closed to the press. However, members of the press will have an opportunity to make appointments for briefings or interviews.

Contact person: Adviser Anita Nergård, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tel.: +47 22 24 32 90, mobile phone: +47 41 27 74 14.