Arms control & disarmament projects

Promoting effective verification of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention
Researchers: Angela Woodward
Funders: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ploughshares Foundation

VERTIC’s project on biological weapons promotes the negotiation and establishment of a comprehensive and permanent verification system for the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). The convention currently lacks such a verification system. VERTIC closely followed and contributed to the decade-long discussions and negotiations on a verification protocol for the BWC which would have established such a system. Since the negotiations in the Ad Hoc Committee (AHC) of states parties collapsed in August 2001, the focus of VERTIC’s work has changed. While still strongly advocating the establishment of a comprehensive verification regime, VERTIC’s attention has turned to researching various other means for ensuring that the treaty is fully implemented and that compliance is monitored and verified.

VERTIC's focus is currently on two areas: strengthening tools and mechanisms for verifying biological weapons compliance and national implementation legislation.

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