Biological Weapons Convention
1975 treaty that comprehensively bans biological weapons / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), or Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), is a disarmament treaty that effectively bans biological and toxin weapons by prohibiting their development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use.[5] The treaty's full name is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction.[5]
Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction | |
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Signed | 10 April 1972 |
Location | London, Moscow, and Washington, D.C. |
Effective | 26 March 1975 |
Condition | Ratification by 22 states, including the three depositaries[1] |
Signatories | 109 |
Parties | 185[2] (complete list)
12 non-parties: Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt (signatory), Eritrea, Haiti (signatory), Israel, Kiribati, Micronesia, Somalia (signatory), Syria (signatory), and Tuvalu. |
Depositary | United States, United Kingdom, Russian Federation (successor to the Soviet Union)[3] |
Languages | Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish[4] |
Full text | |
Biological Weapons Convention at Wikisource |
Having entered into force on 26 March 1975, the BWC was the first multilateral disarmament treaty to ban the production of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction.[5] The convention is of unlimited duration.[6] As of February 2023, 185 states have become party to the treaty.[7] Four additional states have signed but not ratified the treaty, and another eight states have neither signed nor acceded to the treaty.[8]
The BWC is considered to have established a strong global norm against biological weapons.[9] This norm is reflected in the treaty's preamble, which states that the use of biological weapons would be "repugnant to the conscience of mankind".[10] It is also demonstrated by the fact that not a single state today declares to possess or seek biological weapons, or asserts that their use in war is legitimate.[11] In light of the rapid advances in biotechnology, biodefense expert Daniel Gerstein has described the BWC as "the most important arms control treaty of the twenty-first century".[12] However, the convention's effectiveness has been limited due to insufficient institutional support and the absence of any formal verification regime to monitor compliance.[13]