Global Security Newswire

Canadian lawmakers are considering legislation that would require individuals to obtain clearances before holding, producing or disposing of human disease agents that could be used in a biological weapon, the Globe and Mail reported (see GSN, July 11, 2008).

The legislation would categorize disease agents by their threat level and establish different handling procedures for each set. People who deliberately break the law could face up to five years in prison and fines of nearly $800,000.

While Canada already requires its 3,500 private and public laboratories to follow safety rules in order to import sensitive biological agents, "there is a gap in that laboratories that do not import pathogens currently fall outside the existing regulations," said Theresa Tam, head of the Canadian Public Health Agency.

"We certainly believe that laboratories, many of them, voluntarily comply with existing laboratory biosafety guidelines and that, in general, laboratories are safe in Canada," she said. However, individuals should be individually licensed to work with lethal diseases such as anthrax, Tam added.

Asked whether Canada is doing enough to prevent bioterrorism, University of Toronto medical professor Peter Singer said, "I'm not sure."

"To really get the biosecurity thing right you need a web of protection," Singer said, adding that any legislation must balance security priorities with the needs of scientists (Gloria Galloway, Globe and Mail, Feb. 27).