1. Historical Context

The Geneva Protocol (formally known as the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare), was signed in Geneva in June 1925 and entered into force in February 1928. It represented the first important milestone towards a comprehensive ban on biological weapons by prohibiting their use.

2. About Biological Weapon Convection

• The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) effectively prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling, and use of biological and toxin weapons. It was the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
• The Convention was negotiated by the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland. It opened for signature on 10 April 1972 and entered into force on 26 March 1975. The BWC supplements the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which prohibited only the use of biological weapons.

States Parties to the Biological Weapons Convention undertook “never in any circumstances to develop, produce, stockpile or otherwise acquire or retain:

1. Microbial or other biological agents, or toxins whatever their origin or method of production, of types and in quantities that have no justification for prophylactic, protective, or other peaceful purposes;
2. Weapons, equipment or means of delivery designed to use such agents or toxins for hostile purposes or in armed conflict.”

3. Stages In Its Finalization

• Soon after States finalized the negotiations of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1968, a UK initiative helped pave the way to overcome the impasse in the discussions on chemical and biological weapons. The UK submitted a working paper, which proposed to separate the consideration of biological weapons from chemical weapons and to concentrate first on the former.
• The BWC was negotiated in Geneva, Switzerland, within the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament (ENDC) and the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament (CCD) from 1969 until 1971.
• On 5 August 1971, the USA and USSR tabled separate but identical versions of a draft BWC in the CCD. Agreement between the two superpowers marked the final stage of the negotiation of the Convention. The negotiation of the BWC was concluded by the CCD on 28 September 1971. The Convention was commended by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 1971.
• The BWC was then opened for signature at ceremonies in London, Moscow, and Washington on 10 April 1972

4. Entry into Force

• The BWC was negotiated in Geneva, Switzerland, within the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament (ENDC) and the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament (CCD) from 1969 until 1971.
• On 5 August 1971, the USA and USSR tabled separate but identical versions of a draft BWC in the CCD. Agreement between the two superpowers marked the final stage of the negotiation of the Convention. The negotiation of the BWC was concluded by the CCD on 28 September 1971. The Convention was commended by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 1971.
• The BWC was then opened for signature at ceremonies in London, Moscow, and Washington on 10 April 1972
• US signed instruments of ratification of the BWC and the 1925 Geneva Protocol on 22 January 1975 in Washington, D.C. by US President Gerald Ford
• Subsequently, the USSR ratified the BWC on 11 February 1975 in Moscow and the UK ratified the Convention on 2 March 1975 in London.