BWC: Conference Comes Down to the Wire

By David Ruppe

Global Security Newswire

The contentious Fifth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention is scheduled to conclude today in Geneva, as treaty parties continue to negotiate improvements to the 1972 treaty into the final scheduled hours (see GSN, Dec. 4).

Differences over several important issues, however, threaten to scuttle efforts to produce a final declaration amending the treaty, officials and observers say.

“They may not get a declaration out of this,” said David Hamill, a spokesman at the U.S. consulate in Geneva.

“That would hardly be in keeping with the concerns raised by the U.S. incidents,” president of the conference, Ambassador Tibor Toth, said referring to the anthrax attacks.

Negotiations on a final declaration were expected to continue right up until the end of the three-week, 144-nation conference.  As of Thursday night, agreement had been reached on only five of the convention's more important fifteen articles, Jenni Rissanen of the Acronym Institute wrote in a report from the conference Thursday.

In a press conference today, Toth said negotiators had agreed by midnight Thursday to 75 percent of a 20-page final declaration.  The bad news was that the remaining 25 percent was text that had gone through several rounds of debate, posing tough challenges for reaching consensus, he said.

A major remaining issue between parties has been whether parties would agree to continue regular meetings in the future to try to strengthen the treaty, which has been criticized for having no mandatory verification mechanism.  While the United States delegation has said it opposes any continued discussion about a verification mechanism for the treaty (see GSN, Nov. 21), European Union countries had proposed language that might allow such discussions to continue in the future, without specifically saying so.

The Europeans have proposed conducting annual meetings of parties and meetings of governmental expert groups to further discuss means and mechanisms for strengthening the convention. Further, they proposed conducting BWC review conferences like the current one every five years.

“It’s better than nothing, though it doesn’t solve the problem of not having a verification mechanism,” said Oliver Meier, an arms control and disarmament researcher with the nonprofit organization VERTIC. “They’re trying to recast the issue, though I think the implicit purpose is the same.”

The convention does not provide for automatic review conferences, though they have occurred every five years.

A Non-Binding Statement

There has been talk at the conference, said Rissanen in an interview, that the proposals for continuing negotiations could be linked to the U.S. preference for a strong statement on parties’ noncompliance with the treaty.

“They’re might be some bargaining on these two issues,” she said.

The United States has been pushing for controversial language that would charge countries are violating the treaty’s ban on biological weapons possession.  U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton, at the start of the conference, accused five countries of having banned biological weapons programs: Iran, Iraq, Syria, North Korea, and Libya, and asked them to end the programs (see GSN, Nov. 20).

Toth today said there has been strong opposition to the U.S.-proposed “compliance” language.

“It’s difficult when you first accuse countries, name names, and then ask them to admit they have biological weapons,” Rissanen said.

The United States reportedly also proposed additional controversial language, condemning states also for failing to halt biological weapons material transfers and to destroy existing stocks.

In light of serious differences among the participants, Toth said at a Wednesday press conference that there was a possibility no final declaration would be approved “until the last moment.”

Bolton was expected to set the course for the final U.S. position.

“There’s a lot of stuff out there dangling … I think it will come down to package deals and a lot of negotiating that hasn’t been done yet,” U.S. spokesman Hamill said on Thursday.

Investigations Mechanism

In another point of contention, the United States objected to a European proposal for mandatory international investigations of suspicious outbreaks of diseases, alleged biological weapons use and suspicious facilities, according to Rissanen.

The United States opposes subjecting suspicious facilities from inspections, she said, and favors considering complaints and initiating investigations through the U.N. Security Council, where it has veto power.

Rissanen noted that under the U.S. proposal, Security Council members China and Russia also would have veto power, which could be used “to protect themselves from inspections as well as possibly other counties like Iraq.”

Also, a proposal for a common export control regime limiting certain types of equipment was opposed by some developing countries, Rissanen said.

Hope for Verification Regime Persists

The Bush administration shook up the negotiations in July by declaring its opposition to a treaty protocol that would create a mandatory verification regime for investigating banned activities, arguing it would not work against countries of concern but would put U.S. commercial and biological defense interests at risk.  That effectively killed negotiations on an enforcement protocol, and other parties have since scrambled to develop other ways to strengthen the treaty and to pursue future negotiations that might produce a binding mechanism.

The United States has not been entirely successful in quashing the verification idea. Parties did agree to include, at least in a first draft of the final declaration released Thursday, language endorsing continued discussion about a binding mechanism.

The draft said the treaty parties would solemnly declare “their recognition of the particular importance of responding to the threat of biological weapons by strengthening the convention, including through binding measures agreed by all state parties.”

Toth said on Wednesday that the fate of the committee which has been meeting for seven years to negotiate the protocol probably would not be addressed in detail in the final declaration.  Several delegations were of a mind, he said, that absent an explicit decision to terminate the committee’s mandate, it would continue to meet in the future. But he said there was no consensus to resume protocol negotiations either.

Major proponents of continuing negotiations include Iran and China, leading a Third World camp. Ironically, U.S. officials in recent years have said both countries are suspected of having biological weapons programs.

“The U.S. position allows other states to suddenly pretend they are advocates of a protocol,” said Meier.

European countries expressed regret at the Bush administration’s initial announcement in July that it would oppose a protocol.

During a parliamentary debate in October, the United Kingdom’s Minister of Trade, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, indicated her government’s strong preference for the protocol and said it is continuing to work with parties to ensure “multilateral negotiations resume at an early stage following the fifth review conference.”

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Anthrax:  Hoax Suspect Charged

Clayton Lee Waagner, the man believed to be responsible for more than 550 anthrax hoax letters sent to abortion providers, was charged with a federal firearms violation yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 6), according to the Associated Press.  Meanwhile, investigators continued work on the tainted letter mailed to U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

Waagner was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ordered held without bond yesterday.  If convicted, he could face life in prison, according to the AP.  Waagner recently claimed responsibility for mailing the anthrax hoaxes to abortion providers and clinics over the last two months, the FBI said.  He said he was surprised that U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft had added him to the FBI’s Most Wanted List, the AP reported.  “Ashcroft’s just doing his job,” Waagner said.  “I understand he’s anti-abortion also.  He’s a good man” (John Nolan, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Dec. 6).

Leahy Letter Similar to Others

A menacing note found in the anthrax letter sent to Sen. Leahy is identical to one mailed, along with anthrax spores, to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), the FBI said yesterday.

The note in the Leahy letter resembled a handwritten note that was photocopied and had the same text as the one sent to Daschle, according to the FBI.  The notes read: “You can not stop us.  We have this anthrax.  You die now.  Are you afraid?  Death to America.  Death to Israel.  Allah is great.” 

The Leahy letter also contained a large amount of white powder, believed to have billions of anthrax spores, according to the Washington Post.  This will give scientists and investigators their first chance to carefully examine what is suspected to be highly virulent anthrax, the Post reported.  Testing on the powder to determine its origin could take weeks, the FBI said (Susan Schmidt, Washington Post, Dec. 7).

Federal Reserve Mail Tainted

Some mail delivered to the U.S. Federal Reserve has been contaminated with anthrax, the Washington Post reported today.  The shipment consisted of about 100 to 150 letters.  It tested positive for anthrax during an examination yesterday in a trailer being used as a temporary mail-sorting center outside the Fed’s headquarters, according to the Post.

The Fed, as requested by the FBI, will continue testing the bin of mail today to determine the extent of the anthrax and find individual pieces of tainted mail, the Post reported.  It is not yet known whether any letters in the shipment contained anthrax or if letters were tainted through cross-contamination.

There are no plans to close the Fed’s headquarters or to postpone a scheduled meeting next week of the Federal Open Market Committee, said Fed spokeswoman Michelle Smith.  “However, while the investigation is underway, the board has decided to postpone public events for security reasons,” Smith said (John Berry, Washington Post, Dec. 7).

CDC Praised for Anti-Anthrax Efforts

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiologists prevented hundreds more cases of anthrax during the recent incidents, according to federal officials.

“One thing that strikes me as the unwritten story of this man-made epidemic was the lives saved by the CDC,” said Scott Lillibridge, special assistant to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.  “They prevented hundreds of illnesses, perhaps more, with good disease detective work,” Lillibridge said.  “They stepped up the identification of people at risk and got them onto medication.”

The CDC epidemiologists had to “constantly adjust” as they reacted to changing events in a “deliberate epidemic,” Lillibridge said.  “What they did, rising to the occasion, is testimony to their preparedness efforts and their work with the public health infrastructure,” he said.  “You’ll never know how many lives they saved, because, of course, you wouldn’t want to replay it” (Jeff Nesmith, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dec. 7).

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U.S. Response:  New Research Plans Announced

The U.S. Health and Human Services Department yesterday announced seven research initiatives to help combat bioterrorism.

“Lethal bioterrorism has become a stark reality, and our ability to detect and counter this danger depends on having reliable, up-to-date knowledge,” said Secretary Tommy Thompson.  “Under these new initiatives, the submission, review and funding of this flood of scientific proposals will be expedited so that important research in this area can advance as quickly as possible.”

The new programs are to focus on “Category A” diseases:  anthrax, botulism, plague, smallpox, tularemia and viral hemorrhagic fevers (see GSN, Nov. 6). The research is to be performed under the supervision of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is part of the National Institutes of Health.

*         According to Thompson, the initiatives are as follows:

*         The Anthrax Vaccine Contract will help quicken the development of anthrax vaccines.  One area the NIAID plans to focus on is research into a recombinant protective antigen vaccine.

*         The Rapid Response Grant Program on Bioterrorism-Related Research will speed the application process for research grants.  The program will cut the application evaluation time to five to six months, down from nine to 10 months.

*         The Partnerships for Novel Therapeutic, Diagnostic and Vector Control Strategies in Infectious Diseases will aid research into pharmaceutical and diagnostic technology development.  The program will also work to encourage partnership between private and public institutions.

*         Exploratory/Developmental Grants: Technology Applications to NIAID-Funded Research.  These grants are to help researchers on NIAID-funded projects gain access to new genetic imaging and computer technologies.  The funding can be used to purchase new equipment or to work with those who already have the needed equipment and knowledge.

*         The Small Business Program on Bioterrorism-Related Research will simplify its administrative and review processes.

*         The U.S. Based Collaboration In Emerging Viral and Prion Diseases will help create multidisciplinary research groups to work with viral diseases.

*         The NIAID Investigator-Initiated Small Research Grants will provide funding for projects that can be completed in less than two years.

The NIAID has been “deluged with calls from scientists who want to help,” said Director Anthony Fauci.  “I am often approached by researchers with promising ideas and a desire to contribute to the fight against bioterrorism,” Fauci said.  “These new programs will allow us to channel that energy and new thinking toward enhancing our already significant bioterrorism research program” (U.S State Department release, Dec. 6).

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Anthrax:  Hoax Suspect Captured

A man suspected of sending anthrax hoax letters to abortion providers last month was captured by the U.S. Marshals service yesterday.  Also yesterday, investigators examined the tainted letter sent to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

Clayton Lee Waagner was arrested yesterday at a Kinko’s copy store outside Cincinnati, Ohio, according to the Los Angeles Times.  Federal marshals had sent wanted posters with Waagner’s face on them to Kinko’s stores across the country on the suspicion that Waagner was checking his e-mail there, the Times reported.

“Clayton Lee Waagner’s run from justice is over,” said U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.  “We can write across the face of that [wanted] poster: ‘Apprehended’” (Simon/Jackson, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 6).

Waagner is suspected of sending the anthrax hoaxes while being on the run following an escape from a Clinton, Ill., jail in February, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Nov. 30).  He had been convicted in 1999 on federal firearms and auto theft charges.  Waagner said during his 1999 trial that he had monitored abortion clinics for months and stockpiled guns after God asked him to “be my warrior” and kill abortion providers, the AP reported (Larry Margasak, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Dec. 5).

FBI Profile Disputed

The former head of U.N biological weapons inspectors in Iraq yesterday disputed the FBI’s profile of a lone person being responsible for the anthrax incidents (see GSN, Dec. 4), according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The idea that one person with scientific knowledge is responsible is “a lot of hokum,” said Richard Spertzel, who led U.N. biological weapons inspection teams in Iraq following the Gulf War.  “I don’t believe that the material was made by some nut,” Spertzel said.  “It’s not the kind of thing you mess with in a university laboratory … The level of knowledge, expertise and experience required … to make such a quality product takes time and experimentation to develop.”

During his testimony yesterday before the House Committee on International Relations, Spertzel said the anthrax was probably made by some group with ties to a state-run biological weapons program, such as Iraq.  “Iraq has the equipment, facilities, material and expertise to have an active biological weapons program,” Spertzel said.

The FBI supports its profile, said FBI spokesman Bill Carter.  Based on “the analysis of the letters, done in consultation with the investigators, this is the ongoing belief of who the person might be,” Carter said (Eunice Moscoso, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dec. 6).

Leahy Letter Opened

After weeks of careful planning (see GSN, Nov. 27), investigators yesterday opened the anthrax-tainted letter sent to Senator Leahy, the New York Times reported. 

Scientists at the U.S. Army’s biomedical research laboratory at Fort Detrick, Md., carefully slit open the letter using a scalpel and began removing what is suspected to be anthrax, the Times reported.  Specialized equipment was set up to help neutralize the tendency of the spores to float in the air, according to the Times.

After decontamination, the letter and envelope will be searched for possible clues such as DNA or fingerprints (Miller/Johnston, New York Times, Dec. 6).

Congressional Mail Will Be Double-Checked

Mail sent to the U.S. Congress will be both irradiated and visually checked for evidence of contamination, congressional aides said yesterday.  Mail will first be sent to private companies in Ohio and New Jersey for irradiation.  Afterwards, the firm Pitney Bowes will check for suspicious powders, aides said.  Any letters containing suspicious powder will be turned over to police.

The process of irradiating the mail takes two days, and the new inspections will add an additional three-day delay to delivery, according to aides (Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, Dec. 6). 

New Alert Issued on Handling Mail

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to issue an alert today on steps people can take to reduce the risk of contracting anthrax from potentially cross-contaminated mail, according to the Washington Post.  The new recommendations will likely be similar to ones issued in the past, which included being alert for suspicious packages and washing hands after opening mail.

Last month, CDC Director Jeffrey Koplan said it was “highly unlikely to virtually impossible” for someone to contract inhalational anthrax from a piece of cross-contaminated mail, according to the Post.  While the CDC still has no proof that cross-contamianted mail poses a health hazard, officials have become concerned that it may indeed pose such a risk, the Post reported.

Findings in the investigations into the deaths of Kathy Nguyen and Ottilie Lundgren (see GSN, Dec. 4) “have raised concerns that the two unsolved cases of inhalational anthrax may be due to contact with cross-contaminated mail,” said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner.  “This could make some people feel nervous about opening their mail,” Skinner said.  “We’re saying people who think they may have gotten a cross-contaminated letter and are concerned about opening the mail may take the following steps to help reduce the already low risk” (Connolly/Nakashima, Washington Post, Dec. 6).

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Smallpox I:  Lawmakers Advocate Dead-Virus Vaccine

Four members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed a letter asking Congress and health officials to pursue a safer form of smallpox vaccine.  The four representatives are expected to hold a briefing on the subject today.

Representative Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) called for the briefing after meeting with representatives of the Maryland-based biotech firm Novavax, which has been working to develop a smallpox vaccine using a dead virus, rather than a weakened live one that previous and current vaccines use.  The letter, signed by Weldon, Joseph Hoeffel (D-Pa.), Connie Morella (R-Md.) and Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), followed a decision by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department last week to award a second contract to the British firm Acambis to produce more smallpox vaccine using the live virus (see GSN, Nov. 29).

The Acambis vaccine could have serious side effects for some people, and 20 percent of the U.S. population could not receive the vaccine safely, said the letter from the representatives.  People at high risk for negative side effects would include young children, the elderly, people with eczema, pregnant women and anyone with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV (see GSN, Nov. 21).

Health officials have said that due to negative side effects, they have no plans to mass-vaccinate Americans against smallpox (see GSN, Nov. 30).  They currently plan to vaccinate only people who are directly at risk when an outbreak occurs.

The United States needs a vaccine that could be administered to the population before a smallpox outbreak occurs, so a safer vaccine is necessary, the representatives said.  Novavax said its dead virus vaccine might fill that need, but some experts question the vaccine’s effectiveness.  Novavax said it planned to begin producing the vaccine early next year but would need months or years to test it.  The firm has asked for U.S. funding assistance.

“If they need a billion dollars to do this [develop a safer vaccine], add $4 to everyone’s tax bill … If we had a good, safe vaccine, we would revaccinate the U.S.,” said Roger Pomerantz of the Center for Human Virology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia (Julie Appleby, USA Today, Dec. 6).

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Smallpox II:  Could We Choose to Vaccinate?

U.S. health officials should provide Americans with the choice to vaccinate themselves if they wish, CATO Institute health policy analyst Veronique de Rugy said today.

Rugy criticized a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that included draft legislation to prevent the spread of smallpox and other contagious diseases by granting U.S. states the power to enforce quarantine and other measures (see GSN, Nov. 8).  Rugy said the report indicated that the CDC and the U.S. Health and Human Services Department had not planned appropriately for the future and would not provide Americans with the choice to receive smallpox vaccination.

“We need to recognize that in a case of an outbreak, these unfortunate measures might be necessary to stop the disease from spreading because our population is not vaccinated at all.  However, it seems that the mere existence of this report is a sign that CDC, HHS and others did not … prepare the U.S. population for bioterrorist attacks,” Rugy said.

The report assumed that the U.S. population would not receive the smallpox vaccine and that HHS would maintain full control over the availability of the vaccine, she said.  “The report does not consider the possibility of making the vaccine available to the American public … The right thing to do is to make the smallpox vaccine immediately available to the public.  Americans should be allowed to individually decide for themselves whether they consider vaccination to be a good thing,” Rugy said (CATO release, Dec. 5).

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Food Safety:  Industry Fights New Regulations

The U.S. food industry has fought to prevent or weaken new food safety measures, even though officials have warned that the U.S. food supply could be a terrorist target, the Washington Post reported today.

A mass biological warfare attack on the U.S. food supply, such as widespread poisoning of food processing plants, would be nearly impossible, according to bioterrorism experts.  Terrorists could cause panic, however, by infecting even a small amount of food shipments or U.S. livestock and crops, the Post reported.

“While you would certainly inflict some casualties, what you’re really doing with agriculture bioterrorism really is attacking our economy,” said Jerry Jaax, a bioterrorism expert at Kansas State University.  “It’s an assault on our way of life.”

The U.S. food industry, led by the National Food Processors Association, the National Growers Association and the American Frozen Food Institute, however, has argued that existing food safety standards are enough to combat any terrorist threat, according to the Post. 

Instead of new regulations, what are needed are more inspectors and more funding for them, industry officials said. “I think we’ve already got the system in place to deal with terrorism, said Kelly Johnston, chief lobbyist for the food processors.  “We just need more information from the government to make sure we can address any potential threat.”

The food industry opposes new security measures because they add to operating costs, force companies to give inspectors access to their financial records and could result in shipping delays, the Post reported. 

Industry officials have blocked or weakened several Congressional proposals in the past, including plans to consolidate all federal food inspection agencies for better coordination (see GSN, Nov. 26), continuation of new limits for salmonella in meat and poultry and plans to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration greater authority over domestic and international food processors, according to the Post. 

“What this says is, Congress is willing to protect us but only to the extent that the new law doesn’t offend the food industry, change existing federal bureaucracy or cost much money,” said Carol Tucker Foreman, of the Consumer Federation of America.  “In the end, Congress will do a lot of talking and flapping and then bring forth a very small egg” (Eric Pianin, Washington Post, Dec. 6).

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Anthrax:  Postal Service Tries to Calm Public

U.S. Postal Service officials yesterday tried to reassure the public that there was no health risk from mail potentially cross-contaminated with anthrax.  Meanwhile, investigators discovered new findings in the first cases of anthrax in Florida.

Deputy Postmaster General John Nolan downplayed a statement made Monday by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Jeffrey Koplan that possibly “tens of thousands” of letters are lightly tainted with anthrax (see GSN, Dec. 4).

“There is no evidence” that large numbers of mail have been contaminated, Nolan said.  “There have been some letters that have been cross-contaminated.  But the numbers we have seen are extremely small… To indicate that there are tens of thousands of letters that were contaminated is pure speculation.”

If necessary, the Postal Service could track the thousands of pieces of letters that passed through the same mail-sorting machine near the same time as the anthrax-tainted letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), officials said.  There are no plans to do so, however, because the CDC has said the health risk to the public from the mail was very low, officials said.

“It’s not our decision,” said postal spokesman Azeezaly Jaffer.  “We have asked the CDC over and over and over… They have told us repeatedly: There is no risk here.  No need to do any notification” (Nakashima/Weiss, Washington Post, Dec. 5).

New Florida Findings

New tests results from the American Media Inc. headquarters in Florida, the workplace of the first two anthrax victims, show a much broader pattern of anthrax contamination than previously thought, according to the New York Times.

Tests that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted throughout the three-floor building found spores not only in the building mailroom and on the computer keyboard of Robert Stevens, the first anthrax casualty, but also in places such as atop a room divider and in a space between banks of shelves, the Times reported.  Out of 462 samples tested, 84 places were contaminated.

Officials said they were surprised by how much the anthrax had spread.  That may mean that the anthrax in the Florida incidents was prepared in a manner identical to the spores sent to Senators Daschle and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), investigators said.

Other findings, however, suggest otherewise.  Some contaminated locations were along routes taken by people traveling from the first floor mailroom back to desk and cabinets, investigators said.  This could mean that spores were moved about the building as the mail was delivered.  If so, the Florida spores were prepared through a less-dangerous method which caused them to fall where they were released, rather than float throughout the air, according to the Times.

Investigators said they were frustrated as the AMI investigation heads into its third month.  “We still don’t have a letter.  We still have a death and a lot of anthrax that was there,” a federal law enforcement official said (Revkin/Canedy, New York Times, Dec. 5).

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Smallpox:  AMA Opposes Mass Vaccination

The American Medical Association, the largest U.S. association of doctors, decided yesterday to oppose proposals to vaccinate the entire U.S. population against smallpox, saying the potential threat of terrorists releasing smallpox did not outweigh the risks of mass vaccination (see GSN, Nov. 27).

The AMA supported studying alternative strategies, such as vaccinating people if they have contact with smallpox victims (Reuters/New York Times, Dec. 5).

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