Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)

Biological Weapons Convention Latest News

The External Affairs Minister recently called for urgent reforms to strengthen global biosecurity and modernise the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), warning that biological threats are becoming harder to manage in a rapidly evolving scientific landscape.

About Biological Weapons Convention 

• It is a legally binding international treaty that bans the use of biological and toxin weapons and prohibits all development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, or transfer of such weapons. 
• The treaty also bans any equipment or means of delivery that is designed to use biological agents or toxins for hostile purposes or armed conflict.
• It requires signatories to destroy biological weapons, agents, and production facilities within nine months of the treaty’s entry into force.
• It opened for signature on 10 April 1972 and entered into force on 26 March 1975. 
• It was the first multilateral treaty categorically banning a class of weapon. 
• Membership: 
  • It currently has 187 states-parties, including Palestine, and four signatories (Egypt, Haiti, Somalia, and Syria). 
  • Ten states have neither signed nor ratified the BWC (Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Israel, Kiribati, Micronesia, Namibia, South Sudan, and Tuvalu).
  • India signed and ratified the BWC in 1974.
• The convention stipulates that states shall cooperate bilaterally or multilaterally to solve compliance issues. 
• States may also submit complaints to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) should they believe another state is violating the treaty. 
• However, there is no implementation body of the BWC, allowing for blatant violations. 
• There is a review conference every five years to review the convention’s implementation, and establish confidence-building measures.

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What Are Biological Weapons?

• Biological weapons disseminate disease-causing organisms or toxins to harm or kill humans, animals, or plants.
• They generally consist of two parts – a weaponized agent and a delivery mechanism. 
• Almost any disease-causing organism (such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, prions, or rickettsiae) or toxin (poisons derived from animals, plants, or microorganisms, or similar substances produced synthetically) can be used in biological weapons.

Source: DDN