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Excerpted from the Inventory of International Organizations
and Regimes 2001 published by the CNS International Organizations and Nonproliferation
Project. A complete PDF copy of the 2000 edition of the Inventory is available in the Publications section of the NTI website.
Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling
of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (BTWC)
Opened for signature: 10 April 1972
Entered into force: 26 March
1975
The treaty is of unlimited duration.
Number of Signatories: 162
states.
Number of Ratifications: 144 states.
Depositaries: Russia,
the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Treaty obligations: not to develop, produce, stockpile, or
otherwise acquire or obtain microbial or other biological agents or toxins of
types and in quantities that have no justification for prophylactic, protective,
or other peaceful purposes; not to develop, produce, stockpile, or otherwise
acquire or obtain weapons, equipment, or means of delivery designed to use such
agents or toxins for hostile purposes or in armed conflict; to destroy, or to
divert to peaceful purposes (not later than nine months after the entry into
force of the convention) all agents, toxins, weapons, equipment, and means of
delivery; not to transfer to any recipient, and not in any way to assist,
encourage, or induce to manufacture or otherwise acquire any of the agents,
toxins, weapons, equipment, or means of delivery; to take necessary measures to
prohibit the above within their own territories.
In 1992, an agreement was reached between Russia, UK, and U.S., giving
parties access to their biological research facilities to check compliance with
the BTWC. Under this agreement, reciprocal visits took place in 1993 and
1994.
At the third Review Conference, held in 1991, it was decided to establish an
Ad Hoc Group of Governmental
Experts (VEREX) to identify and examine potential verification measures
from a scientific and technical standpoint.
VEREX held four sessions in 1992 and 1993, identified 21 potential
verification measures, and concluded in its report that some of the potential
measures would contribute to strengthening the effectiveness and would improve
the implementation of the Convention. As was decided by the third Review
Conference, if a majority of states parties asked for the convening of a
conference to examine the report, such a conference would be convened, and it
would be preceded by a preparatory committee.
On September 23, 1994, the Special Conference to consider verification
measures for the BTWC was held in Geneva. The Conference decided to establish an
Ad Hoc group, open to all states party. The objective of the Ad Hoc Group was to
consider appropriate measures, including possible verification measures, and
draft proposals to strengthen the BTWC, to be included, as appropriate, in a
legally binding instrument, to be submitted for the consideration of the states
parties. Twenty-eight working papers on verification were considered at the
fourth session of the Ad Hoc Group in July in 1996.
The Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the Fourth BTWC Review Conference
met in Geneva, April 9-12, 1996. It decided on that the Conference would be held
in Geneva, 25 November - 6 December 1996, and that Ambassador Michael
Weston (UK) would be President of the Conference. The Conference
elected Ambassador Michael Weston as Chairman, Sola Ogunbanwo (Nigeria) as
Secretary-General, Ambassador Jorge Berguno (Chile) Chairman of the Committee of
the Whole, and Ambassador Tibor Toth (Hungary) Chairman of the Drafting
Committee.
The 1996 BTWC Conference was attended by 138 states and focused on the
scope and speed of progress on concluding a verification regime. The Final
Declaration (BWC/CONF.IV/L.1) called for such a regime to be in place no later
than 2001. Negotiations on a Protocol to the BTWC which will entail verification
and compliance measures, as well as provisions for technical cooperation and
cooperation on outbreaks of disease are currently underway in Geneva. It is
hoped that the protocol will be completed before the fifth BTWC Review
Conference, which will be held in Geneva in 2001. The Ad Hoc Group (AHG) is now
discussing a bracketed rolling text of the Protocol.
Ad Hoc Group (AHG): Four sessions of the AHG were held during
the year 2000: January 17 - February 4, March 3 - 13, July 10 - August 4 and
November 13 - 24.
The year 2000 was the sixth year of negotiations for an Additional Protocol.
During the year, the Parties were able to make slow but steady progress by clearing
almost 50 percent of the brackets since 1999. However, because of the slow pace
of progress some delegation, e.g. Australia, Brazil and the EU, called for new
working methods. Others, such as India, Iran, and Russia underlined the rolling
text developed by July 1997 to be the basis for negotiations and were satisfied
with slower bracket-to-bracket approach. Since the Fifth Review Conference of
the BWC is approaching, different interpretations remain as to the AHG's mandate
and whether it means the Review Conference marks a deadline or a target date.
Nevertheless, the factor of time is pressuring the delegations with less than
seven weeks of negotiations left before the Review Conference. There are concerns
that missing the date could potentially unravel the whole process. To facilitate
the work in the reminder of the time, Ambassador Tibor Toth of Hungary, the
Chair of the AHG, introduced the Chair's "composite text," that is expected
to "bring clarity to the outstanding issues." The present draft consists of
some 210 pages and includes nearly 1,200 "square brackets" signifying areas
of disagreement or disputed text.
The main issues of contention remain export controls, bio-defense cooperation,
visits and investigations, technical cooperation and compliance. On export controls
there are differences of views between the Western Group (WG) and Non-Aligned
Movement (NAM). Some NAM delegations want to eliminate existing export control
arrangements such as the Australia Group after the Protocol's entry into force,
while the WG defend their continuation. With respect to visits and investigations,
the most important problem is the security of intellectual property right and
the confidentiality of business information. Pharmaceutical industries expressed
support for simple declarations and objected to any routine on-site inspections.
Many developing countries underline importance of their right to enjoy the fullest
possible exchange of equipment, material, and scientific and technological information
related to the use of biological agents and toxins for peaceful purposes. Conversely,
the developed world has tended to stress the need for export-control policies,
and not to transfer any of the above-mentioned items. With regard to responses
to non-compliance, delegations are divided between a "red light" and a "green
light" procedure for initiation of investigations.
Review Conference: The Review Conference of the BTWC takes place
every five years. The Fifth Review Conference of the BWC is scheduled for November
19 - December 7, 2001.
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