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Disarmament

Other Organizations and Initiatives Related to the Biological Weapons Convention

The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) is not the only treaty which addresses the threats posed by biological and toxin weapons. The regime that prohibits these weapons is bolstered by cooperation and coordination with organizations relevant to the Convention as well as other international instruments.

Related International Instruments

The 1925 Geneva Protocol

The Protocol for the Prohibition in the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous, and other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare (better known as the 1925 Geneva Protocol) opened for signature in 1925 and entered into force in 1929. France is the Depository. The 1925 Geneva Protocol prohibits the use of biological weapons in war but does not cover their use in other types of hostile action. The protocol does not prevent the development, production and stockpiling of these weapons – actions which were undertaken by a number of its member States. Reservations to the protocol permitted certain States bound by its terms to use biological weapons, even in war, under specific circumstances.

Find out more about the 1925 Geneva Protocol

The Chemical Weapons Convention

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is an international treaty which bans the development, production, stockpiling, transfer and use of chemical weapons, and also stipulates their timely destruction. The Convention entered into force in 1997 and mandated the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to eliminate the scourge of chemical weapons forever and to verify the destruction of the declared chemical weapons stockpiles within stipulated deadlines.

Find out more about the CWC and the OPCW

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540

Unanimously adopting resolution 1540 (2004) under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, the Security Council decided that all States would establish domestic controls to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and means of delivery, in particular for terrorist purposes, including by establishing appropriate controls over related materials, and adopt legislative measures in that respect.

Find out more about UN Security Council Resolution 1540

Other organizations, initiatives and fora

Basel Convention
European Union