Why in the news?

  • At the 50th anniversary occasion of Biological Weapons Convention, India calls for increased biosecurity. (Entered into force: 26 March 1975)

Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)

  • Aim: 
    • Effectively prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons.
    • Supplements the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which had prohibited only the use of biological weapons.
  • Nature: The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) is a legally binding multilateral treaty. It is the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
  • Membership:
    • 188 State parties, including India (Signed in 1974)
    • Israel, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea and Kiribati have neither signed nor acceded to the Convention.
    • States Parties meet approximately every 5 years to review its operation.
Biological Weapons:

  • They are biological agents or their products used to disseminate disease-causing organisms or toxins to harm or kill humans, animals, or plants and thereby derail the economy of a nation. 

Source: Deccan Herald