NEWS

India told the UN Security Council meeting said it attaches importance to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)

BIOLOGICAL AND TOXIN WEAPONS CONVENTION (BTWC)

• First multilateral treaty categorically banning a class of weapon
• Came into force in 1975
• Prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological weapons
• Prohibits the development, stockpile, production, or transfer of biological agents and toxins of “types and quantities” that have no justification for protective or peaceful use
• Bans the development of weapons, equipment, or delivery systems to disseminate such agents or toxins.
• Should a state possess any agent, toxin, or delivery system for them, they have nine months from entry into force of the treaty to destroy their stockpiles, or divert them for peaceful use
• States shall cooperate bilaterally or multilaterally to solve compliance issues
• States may also submit complaints to the UNSCR should they believe another state is violating the treaty
• There is no implementation body , but there is only a review conference that too every five years to review the convention’s implementation, and establish confidence-building measures.
• The Convention currently has 183 states-parties, including Palestine, and four signatories (Egypt, Haiti, Somalia, and Syria).
• Ten states have neither signed nor ratified the BWC: Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Israel, Kiribati, Micronesia, Namibia, South Sudan, and Tuvalu.