Global Non-Proliferation and Counter-Terrorism: The Impact of UNSCR 1540

Chapter 7: The Biological Weapons Convention and UNSCR 1540

The threat posed by biological weapons (BW) has undoubtedly grown in recent years, as non-state actors have now joined states in demonstrating an interest in developing and using these weapons of mass panic, if not destruction. Terrorist groups and individuals have sought to develop and use BW for various purposes, such as to influence political processes, to inflict economic and psychological panic as well as to kill people. The 1984 salmonella poisoning perpetrated by the Rajneesh sect in Oregon in the United States and the 2001 anthrax attacks there illustrate the means and motivations of those seeking to use BW. The underlying factors that foster the prospective spread of biological weapons and related materials—the dual-use nature of biological agents, equipment, and techniques and the rapid advances in biotechnological science —persist, requiring innovative approaches and layering and reinforcing measures to prevent BW proliferation.1 The 1925 Geneva Protocol and the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) are central to the legal regime requiring the disarmament and nonproliferation of BW.2 These legal instruments were augmented by the United Nations Security Council’s adoption of Resolution 1540 (UNSCR 1540) on April 28, 2004. This requires states to enact and enforce effective laws and supporting measures to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapons, their related materials, and their means of delivery to and by non-state actors, especially terrorists. This chapter examines the Biological Weapons Convention and the biological weapons–related provisions of UNSCR 1540,including the major concepts governing their scope and operation, and describes their interrelationship. It 7 The Biological Weapons Convention and UNSCR 1540 angela woodward 96 07-1017-8 CH 07 1/10/07 12:23 PM Page 96 details states’ obligations under each instrument, among them national implementation obligations, and discusses their respective monitoring and verification arrangements.The chapter concludes by highlighting particular challenges in ensuring compliance with these agreements and assessing what UNSCR 1540 adds to the BW disarmament and non-proliferation regime. The Biological Weapons Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Regime The legal regime concerning BW comprises a range of international legal instruments, primarily treaties dealing with international humanitarian law, disarmament, and non-proliferation. But multilateral agreements on other, related issues are increasingly being considered in a BW non-proliferation context, for example those dealing with human, animal, and plant disease and environmental protection. This section focuses on the primary BW disarmament and non-proliferation treaty, the Biological Weapons Convention, and on the provisions in UNSCR 1540 related to biological weapons. The Biological Weapons Convention, which was the first agreement to ban an entire category of weapon, was opened for signature on April 10, 1972, and entered into force on March 26, 1975. As of March 2006 the Convention has 155 states parties3 and sixteen signatory states.4 However, twenty-three states have neither signed nor ratified the treaty.5 In common with certain other multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation treaties adopted during the Cold War, the governments of Russia (formerly the Soviet Union), the United Kingdom, and the United States serve as the treaty’s depositaries, by virtue of which they have functional responsibilities concerning the treaty’s operation. But states parties have assigned some logistical tasks—principally, convening treaty meetings and handling the confidence building measures data exchange process (described below)—to the United Nations Secretary General, with functional operations being carried out by the United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs. UN Security Council Resolution 1540 was adopted unanimously, after consultations with member states, in April 2004. Its provisions, requiring states to prohibit and prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, are binding on all states.6 The Resolution specifically refers to states parties’ obligations under the BWC.7 The following sections detail states’ obligations under each instrument, particularly those relating to national implementation, and describe the evolution of their respective arrangements for monitoring and verifying states’ compliance with those obligations. The BWC and UNSCR 1540 97 07-1017-8 CH 07 1/10/07 12:23 PM Page 97 General Obligations The Biological Weapons Convention explicitly prohibits all activities except research that contribute to the acquisition of a biological weapon, which is defined using a general purpose criterion (GPC), contained in Article 1:“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...