The international community remains unprepared for the potential misuse of modern bioscience and biotechnology tools to develop biological weapons. While democratized access to these tools can offer significant benefits, the international community lacks adequate mechanisms to discern whether states are using these capabilities for peaceful or nefarious purposes, making it challenging to prevent states from pursuing biological weapons development or use.
From September 30 to October 2, 2024, NTI | bio convened more than 30 experts for a workshop on enhancing transparency for bioscience research and development and bolstering confidence in compliance with the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). Held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the workshop gathered an international group of participants from 15 countries spread across five continents with expertise in biosecurity and biotechnology governance and international security, as well as previous experience working to establish a verification mechanism for the BWC and involvement in ongoing discussions to strengthen the Convention.
“Since the Ninth Review Conference in 2022, the international community has invested renewed energy in discussing potential measures for transparency, verification, and confidence-building in the context of the BWC,” NTI | bio vice president Jaime Yassif said. “This political opening provides an excellent opportunity to explore the art of the possible, as we work to develop more effective transparency measures and build confidence in compliance with the BWC.”
The meeting updated existing concepts and generated new ideas about options to enhance transparency in regard to BWC compliance. NTI helped frame these discussions by tabling a concept paper on this topic, and the group discussed approaches to advance these goals, including through scientific and technical measures for data collection and analysis, procedural approaches, and institutional structures to house such efforts. Dozens of approaches were discussed during the meeting which will inform NTI’s continued efforts to highlight and explore promising opportunities to further advance this work.
The range of ideas discussed included building on ongoing voluntary peer review exercises, where BWC states parties invite external partners to their laboratories to provide transparency into treaty implementation efforts, and establishing new scientific exchanges between countries. The experts also discussed pilot projects to explore the feasibility of collecting and analyzing publicly available information to provide new insights into laboratory activities, and pilot projects—possibly involving NGOs and/or the private sector—to test novel scientific methods for on-site data collection within labs. Several participants stressed the importance of defining a clearer threat model to guide and help focus any enhanced transparency efforts designed to bolster the BWC.
On the final day of the meeting, participants analyzed the suggested approaches and generated practical recommendations to enhance transparency regarding BWC compliance and to build trust among States Parties regarding intentions and activities. The recommendations developed at this meeting — along with interviews with technical experts, thought leaders, and policy makers — will inform an upcoming NTI | bio report to be published in early 2025. The report will include concrete proposals for actions that governments, international organizations, the private sector, and civil society can take to enhance transparency regarding bioscience research and development activities.
With the enthusiasm surrounding the 50th anniversary of the BWC in 2025, combined with the renewed political opening provided by the Working Group on the Strengthening of the BWC, NTI | bio intends to build upon the report release to actively engage with stakeholders and drive progress towards strengthening the convention and enhancing transparency.
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