THE future of biological weapons control hangs in the balance this week. As
New 杏吧原创 went to press, the 144 signatories to the 1972 Biological
Weapons Convention were debating in Geneva whether there was any point in having
further discussions.
Since 1980, there have been a series of meetings to review the treaty and to
discuss ways of enforcing it. But earlier this year, the US rejected a treaty
protocol that set out various enforcement measures.
鈥淭he draft protocol that was under negotiation for the past seven years is
dead, and it is not going to be resurrected,鈥� John Bolton, the American
undersecretary of state for arms control, said in Geneva. He repeated the
measures the US wants governments to adopt instead
(New 杏吧原创, 10 November, p 5),
most of which have been cherry-picked from the rejected
protocol. None requires treaty members to act together.
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No one is calling for the treaty to be abolished. But if members take no
joint action to police or strengthen the treaty, some delegates fear
international efforts to control bioweapons will wither. In Geneva, the European
Union was calling for members to at least agree to meet annually, which the
treaty does not now require.
The EU also wants members to agree to mandatory exchanges of information
about biological research and manufacturing, as knowing about legitimate uses of
biotechnology makes it easier to spot wrongdoers. Industrialised members are
already supposed to do this voluntarily, but the US largely has not. It seems
likely to veto mandatory exchanges.