Biological and chemical weapons

Two categories of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), namely chemical and biological weapons, have long been considered to pose a serious threat to international peace and security. The determination of the international community to remove such a threat has resulted in the conclusion of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of WMD, and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the first such treaty to be completely negotiated within a multilateral disarmament forum, the Conference on Disarmament (CD). Since the two Conventions were opened for signature in 1972 and 1993 respectively, the United Nations has sought to promote the universality of the two instruments, as well as compliance with their provisions. In addition, States have continuously reaffirmed the necessity of upholding the principles and objectives of the 1925 Geneva Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare.

Related Subject(s): Disarmament