Biological Weapons Convention

About Biological Weapons Convention

The Biological Weapons Convention BWC, formally the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological Biological and Toxin Weapons, was opened for signature in 1972 and entered into force in 1975. The BWC was the first multilateral treaty banning an entire category of weapons. As of the mid 2020s, more than 180 states are parties to the convention. The BWC prohibits developing, producing, stockpiling, or acquiring biological weapons. However, the convention lacks a verification mechanism, unlike the Chemical Weapons Convention. Compliance relies on voluntary confidence building measures. Alleged violations include the Soviet Biopreparat program, which continued after signing the BWC and was only exposed by defector Vladimir Pasechnik in 1989 and Kanatjan Alibekov in 1992. Iraq had a biological weapons program discovered after the 1991 Gulf War. Review conferences are held every 5 years. Negotiations for a verification protocol collapsed in 2001 after the United States rejected the draft protocol.