Nations review the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention
Sponored by the Green Cross, meeting in Geneva takes on biowarfare and natural disease outbreaks; concerns linger over nonsignatories; biotech seen as key line of defense
Bio-risk management was first on the agenda at last month’s meeting of signatories to the international Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC). Held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and organized by Green Cross International and its national affiliates in the United States, Russia, and Switzerland, the conference closley examined issues related to the prevention of, and response to, outbreaks of disease globally and to strengthen the existing international ban on biological weapons. Concerns over biological weapons have grown in recent years, due both to terror concerns and to the natural development of SARS and avian bird flu — both of which have frustrated public health authorities. Moreover, several dozen countries have not signed the BTWC, suggesting that at least some of those states may have active biowarfare programs.
Conference attendees urged the following steps:
—Universalizing the BTWC by encouraging non-signatories to sign
—Address recent scientific and technological developments in the biotech area in order to help implement a more comprehensive biosecurity regime
—Confront the threat of bioterrorism by addressing the security of biological pathogen collections and research laboratories globally, including international trade.
—To make progress in holding States Parties accountable by passing national implementation criteria.
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