You may have missed it, but March 26th was the 45th anniversary of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). The BWC prohibits the development, production, and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons and its members are committed to preventing biological weapons and reducing all biological risks. Today, 183 nations including India, China and the United States have joined the convention, yet implementation of convention remains weak. In 1998, when the US was heading to war with Iraq over concerns that Baghdad was hiding weapons of mass destruction including biological weapons, President Clinton called on Congress to take actions to strengthen the inspection systems and "prevent the use of disease as a weapon of war and terror".
The BWC was first opened for signatures on April 10m 1972. When the BWC went into force on March 26, 1975, it became the first multilateral disarmament treaty to ban an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. The convention was meant to supplement the 1925 Geneva protocol that prohibited the possession but not the development of chemical and biological weapons. The 1975 convention prohibited the development, production, and stockpiling of Biological and Toxin Weapons.
As stated in Article 1, the BWC included all microbial and other biological agents or toxins except for small doses for defensive purposes.
"Each State Party to this Convention undertakes never in any circumstances to develop, produce, stockpile or otherwise acquire or retain:
(1) Microbial or other biological agents, or toxins whatever their origin or method of production, of types and in quantities that have no justification for prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes.
(2) Weapons, equipment or means of delivery designed to use such agents or toxins for hostile purposes or in armed conflict."
In 1989, Congress passed the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act to implement the convention with the express purpose of protecting the United States from biological terrorism. The act amended the criminal code to "impose criminal penalties upon anyone who knowingly develops, produces, stockpiles, transfers, acquires, retains, or possesses any biological agent, toxin, or delivery system for use as a weapon or assists a foreign state or any organization to do so".
As of 1998, 140 countries had joined the treaty including nuclear weapon states like Iran, Iraq, and north Korea, yet the BWC remained weak with no mechanism to monitor compliance other than a "gentleman's agreement". Since 1994, state members of the United Nations had been meeting to identify ways to strengthen the BWC and find ways to verify adherence from a scientific and technical standpoint. The committee drafted a treaty to define compliance measures. By 1997, the draft treaty grew to 253 pages including 23 articles, eight annexes and five appendices. The treaty when completed was expected to define a protocol of how international inspectors would monitor suspected facilities. Implementation remained difficult, particularly because biological agents such as anthrax required only a few kilograms to produce an effective military weapon. In addition, many of the same pathogens hat can be weaponized also have legitimate uses in the fields of medicine or industry making it exceedingly difficult to distinguish between activities that are prohibited by the convention and those allowed.
In the United States, U.S. government agencies the National Security Council (NSC) were in deadlocked negotiations with the departments of Defense, Energy and Commerce and the Pharmaceutical Research industry of how intrusive the inspection regime should be. The NSC wanted a more intrusive regime while the Pharmaceutical industries and wanted to protect their proprietary interests. Negotiations remained deadlocked until January of 1998 when the US began heading to war with Iraq over Baghdad’s refusal to allow UN Weapons inspectors and concerns that Iraq was harboring biological weapons in violation of the BWC. As the confrontation intensified, and the Iraqi threat grew, Secretary of Defense William Cohen, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Secretary of Commerce William Daly met to iron out their differences and come up with a compromise that struck a balance between national security and pharmaceutical secrets. President Bill Clinton announce this compromise as a new initiative in his 1998 State of the Union, urging Congress to act now "to prevent the use of disease as a weapon of war and terror" and strengthen the "international inspection system" within the BWC.
"Last year the Senate ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention to protect our soldiers and citizens from poison gas. Now we must act to prevent the use of disease as a weapon of war and terror. The Biological Weapons Convention has been in effect for 23 years now. The rules are good, but the enforcement is weak. We must strengthen it with a new international inspection system to detect and deter cheating."
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. 2020. Address Before A Joint Session Of The Congress On The State Of The Union | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: <https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-before-joint-session-the-congress-the-state-the-union-8> [Accessed 16 April 2020].
Armscontrol.org. 2020. Strengthening The BWC: Moving Toward A Compliance Protocol | Arms Control Association. [online] Available at: <https://www.armscontrol.org/act/1998-01/arms-control-today/strengthening-bwc-moving-toward-compliance-protocol> [Accessed 16 April 2020].
Congress.gov. 2020. S.993 - 101St Congress (1989-1990): Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act Of 1989. [online] Available at: <https://www.congress.gov/bill/101st-congress/senate-bill/993> [Accessed 16 April 2020].
Un.org. 2020. Biological Weapons – UNODA. [online] Available at: <https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/bio/> [Accessed 16 April 2020].
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