Biological Weapons

In April of 1972 80 states (including Canada) signed the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and On Their Destruction, also known as Biological and Toxins Weapons Convention. The Convention, which entered into force in 1975, currently has 145 States Parties.

Canada values both the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which bans the use of biological weapons, and the 1975 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), the first global treaty abolishing an entire class of WMD. The BTWC however contains no provisions for monitoring or verifying compliance. Canada joined other countries in negotiations to produce a compliance Protocol to the Convention. If concluded, the Protocol would have established an international Organization for the Prohibition of Biological Weapons (OPBW); it also would have required each state party to adopt national implementing legislation. After six years of negotiations, this process collapsed in July 2001. Canada is convinced that both instruments fundamentally enhance global security. Canada worked diligently in the Ad Hoc Group in Geneva to strengthen the BTWC's norm against biological weapons through the creation of an instrument which will deter and expose activities in violation of the Convention, and remains convinced that conclusion of a multilateral compliance mechanism will be a significant step in the global strategy to reduce the threat posed by biological weapons.