Their report is due by the end of the year. But it seems unlikely that consultation alone can clarify the origin of the thrips infestation. The case may well join earlier and still unresolved biological warfare claims that are widely seen as symptoms of the convention's need for verification and compliance measures. But desirability of verification is one thing. Drafting a protocol to achieve verification is another.
Deep disagreements abound.
The group has met privately since 1984 to exchange intelligence information and coordinate export controls for chemical and biological agents and related equipment to countries outside the group. The ad hoc group has met eight times since 1995. In the diplomatic world, brackets often indicate disagreements. There are brackets aplenty in the rolling text. The United States and Russia have weighed in on opposite sides of this question.