Process to Strengthen the BTWC

Significance of the efforts to strengthen the Regime

The Growing Danger from Biological Weapons

"Increased knowledge about diseases and the availability of advanced technology have made biological weapons a more attractive option for governments seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Moreover, the modernization of biotechnology has made it much easier to produce biological materials and to modify these materials to enhance their effects." [Graham S. Pearson, "The Threat of Deliberate Disease in the 21st Century," from Henry L. Stimson Centre Report No. 24, "Biological Weapons Proliferation: Reasons for Concern, Courses of Action," January 1998.]

Biological weapons are considerably cheaper than nuclear weapons and have a large effect-to-quantity ratio. In other words, a relatively small amount of biological agent can cause a relatively large number of deaths - equivalent, in some assessments, to those resulting from nuclear use.

Biological weapons do not require complex delivery systems, and their ease of manufacture is increasing with advances in microbiology and biotechnology. The importance of these industries for peaceful purposes has led to the rapid diffusion of relevant technologies and knowledge throughout the world. They have, however, a dual-use nature which means that such materials equipment and skills could can be used both for legitimate commercial activities or for illegitimate weapons production. In addition, developments such as genetic engineering are opening up the prospect of a whole new range of developments which might be misused for prohibited applications that could lead to the development of new biological weapons. For example, new agents could be developed by altering benign micro-organisms to make them toxic, resistant to antibiotics or vaccines, or more environmentally stable (and thus more militarily useful).

Given their relative affordability, effectiveness and flexibility (they can be used to attack plants, animals or humans), biological weapons are increasingly being regarded as an attractive option by some countries or and terrorist groups. The number of states with biological warfare programs has been estimated to be in the range of 9 to 12.

The Current BTWC Regime is Not Enough

In 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin admitted that for 20 years the former Soviet Union had continued an offensive biological weapons program in violation of the BTWC. Suspicions that the USSR was violating the Convention had surfaced more than a decade earlier, when an outbreak of anthrax occurred at Sverdlosk (Ekatinerburg) but, since the BTWC lacked verification provisions, these suspicions were not investigated by States Parties under the BTWC.

Following the 1990/91 Gulf War, the UN Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) gradually showed that Iraq had a significant biological weapons program; Iraq disclosed to that it had produced large quantities of various biological agents and deployed agent-filled bombs and missiles during the 1991 Gulf War. Prior to 1991, Iraq was a signatory State to the BTWC. It ratified the BTWC in accordance with the ceasefire resolution, United Nations Security Council 687(1991). These findings of the Iraq biological weapons programme were made during the UNSCOM inspection regime placed on Iraq by the Security Council as part of the cease-fire Security Council resolution 687 (1991). It took a number of years for UNSCOM to uncover the major features of Iraq's biological weapons programme.

In spring 1995 the religious cult Aum Shinrikyo in Japan released the nerve gas sarin in Tokyo's subway at the height of the commuter rush hour, killing 12 people and injuring over 5,500. This was a chemical weapon, but it has since become known that the cult was also seeking a biological weapons capability. It was working with botulinum toxin and anthrax and had developed devices to disseminate such agents. In September/October 2001, several attacks were carried out in the United States using anthrax which resulted in a few deaths and much concern about public safety. These incidents make it clear that biological weapons could be used for terrorist purposes.

A Multi-Pronged Approach is Needed

Effectively countering the threat from biological weapons requires a number of mutually-reinforcing actions, including a strengthened prohibition regime for of biological weapons, enhanced control of the storage, use and transfer of pathogens and dual-purpose equipment, preparedness and the development of protective measures against biological weapons, and determined responses to threats or cases of biological weapons possession and use.

With the recent implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention together with the existing Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, the international community has a real opportunity to strengthen the regimes for the total prohibition of biological weapons. The BTWC is at the heart of the regime to counter end the threat of biological warfare, and the most urgent priority is to strengthen the effectiveness and improve the implementation of the Convention. As the international community works to strengthen the BTWC, it will be important also to encourage universal adherence to the Convention.

The benefits to the international community from strengthening the Convention Regime are clear as it will bring improved health, safety, security and prosperity to all States Parties through various integrated measures. The strengthened BTWC Regime will, over time, increase transparency and build confidence that all States Parties are in compliance with the Convention as well as deter would-be violators. The Protocol regime will facilitate and encourage international trade in microtechnology, biotechnology and related fields -- which are increasingly important to global health and prosperity -- without the fear that dual-purpose materials, equipment and facilities may be misused for prohibited weapons purposes.