Signatories to the Biological Weapons Convention

The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), which bans the development, production, and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons, was negotiated from 1968 to 1971 and opened for signature on April 10, 1972. The convention entered into force with 43 parties on March 26, 1975, upon ratification by the three depositary states: the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom.

As of January 31, 1997, 140 states-parties have either ratified (R) or acceded (A) to the treaty, as indicated in the table below; 18 additional signatories that have not ratified the convention are also listed. These countries' status with regard to the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which prohibits the use of biological weapons, is also noted. Some states have deposited reservations to the BWC or Geneva Protocol, and those relevant to the application of the treaty are noted below.

Countries in bold type have been identified by U.S. government sources as having or actively developing biological weapons programs. (See notes a through d for sources.) Members of the Australia Group, an informal export control organization that shares information on the trade in chemical and biological agents, are shown in italics.

Country	BWC	BWC	Geneva Protocol
	Date of Signature	Date of Ratification or Accession	Date of Ratification
Afghanistan	4/10/72	3/26/75 (R)	12/9/86
Albania		6/3/92 (A)	12/20/89
Argentina	8/1/72	11/27/79 (R)	5/12/69
Armenia		6/7/94 (A)
Austrailia	4/10/72	10/5/77 (R)	5/24/302,3
Austria	4/10/72	8/10/73 (R)1	5/9/28
Bahamas, The		11/26/86 (A)	7/10/732,3
Bahrain		10/28/88 (A)	12/9/88
Bangladesh		3/11/85 (A)	5/20/89
Barbados	2/16/73	2/16/73 (R)	7/16/76
Belarus	4/10/72	3/26/75 (R)
Belgium	4/10/72	3/15/79 (R)	12/4/282,3
Belize		10/20/86 (A)	9/21/81
Benin	4/10/72	4/25/75 (R)	12/9/86
Bhutan		6/8/78 (A)	6/12/78
Bolivia	4/10/72	10/30/75 (R)	8/13/85
Bosnia & Herzegovina		8/15/94 (A)
Botswana	4/10/72	2/5/92 (R)	9/30/662,3
Brazil	4/10/72	2/27/73 (R)	8/28/70
Brunei		1/31/91 (A)
Bulgaria	4/10/72	8/2/72 (R)	3/7/34
Burkina Faso		4/17/91 (A)	3/3/71
Burundi	4/10/72
Cambodia	4/10/72	3/9/83 (R)	3/15/83
Canada	4/10/72	9/18/72 (R)	5/6/30
Cape Verde		10/20/77 (A)	10/15/91
Cental African Rep.	4/10/72		7/31/70
Chile	4/10/72	4/22/80 (R)	7/2/35
Chinac		11/15/84 (A)	8/24/292,3
Colombia	4/10/72	12/19/83 (R)
Congo		10/23/78 (A)
Costa Rica	4/10/72	12/17/73 (R)
Cote d'Ivoire	5/23/72		7/27/70
Croatia		4/28/93 (A)
Cuba	4/12/72	4/21/76 (R)	6/24/66
Cyprus	4/10/72	11/6/73 (R)	12/12/66
Czech Republic		4/5/93 (A)	8/16/38
Denmark	4/10/72	3/1/73 (R)	5/5/30
Dominica		11/8/78 (A)	11/8/78
Dominican Republic	4/10/72	2/23/73 (R)	12/8/70
Ecuador	6/14/72	3/12/75 (R)	9/16/70
Egyptc	4/10/72		12/6/28
El Salvador	4/10/72	12/31/91 (R)	Signatory
Equatorial Guinea		1/16/89 (A)	5/20/89
Estonia		6/21/93 (A)	8/28/312,3
Ethiopia	4/10/72	5/26/75 (R)	10/7/35
Fiji	2/22/73	9/4/73 (R)	3/21/732,3
Finland	4/10/72	2/4/74 (R)	6/26/29
France		9/27/84 (A)	5/10/26
Gabon	4/10/72
Gambia, The	6/2/72	11/21/91 (R)	11/5/66
Georgia		5/26/92 (A)
Germany	4/10/72	11/28/72 (R)	4/25/29
Ghana	4/10/72	6/6/75 (R)	5/3/67
Greece	4/10/72	12/10/75 (R)	5/30/31
Grenada		10/22/86 (A)	1/3/89
Guatemala	5/9/72	9/19/73 (R)	5/3/83
Guinea-Bissau		8/20/76 (A)	5/20/89
Guyana	1/3/73
Haiti	4/10/72
Honduras	4/10/72	3/14/79 (R)
Hungary	4/10/72	12/27/72 (R)	10/11/52
Iceland	4/10/72	2/15/73 (R)	11/2/67
India	1/15/73	7/15/74 (R)	4/9/302,3
Indonesia	6/20/72	2/19/92 (R)	1/21/71
Iranabcd	4/10/72	8/22/73 (R)	11/5/29
Iraqabcd	5/11/72	6/19/91 (R)	9/8/312,3
Ireland	4/10/72	10/27/72 (R)	8/29/30
Italy	4/10/72	5/30/75 (R)	4/3/28
Jamaica		8/13/75 (A)	7/28/70
Japan	4/10/72	6/8/82 (R)	5/21/70
Jordan	4/10/72	5/30/75 (R)	1/20/772,3
Kenya		1/7/76 (A)	7/6/70
Korea, Northabd		3/13/87 (A)	1/4/892,3
Korea, South	4/10/72	6/25/87 (R)	1/4/892,3
Kuwait	4/14/72	7/18/72 (R)	12/15/712,3
Laos	4/10/72	3/20/73 (R)	5/20/89
Lebanon	4/10/72	3/26/75 (R)	4/17/69
Lesotho	4/10/72	9/6/77 (R)	3/10/72
Liberia	4/10/72		6/17/27
Libyaabcd		1/19/82 (A)	12/29/713
Liechtenstein		5/30/91 (A)	9/6/91
Luxembourg	4/10/72	3/23/76 (R)	9/1/36
Macedonia		12/24/96 (A)
Madagascar	10/13/72		8/2/67
Malawi	4/10/72		9/14/70
Malaysia	4/10/72	9/6/91 (R)	12/10/70
Maldives		8/2/93 (A)	12/27/66
Mali	4/10/72		11/19/66
Malta	9/11/72	4/7/75 (R)	9/21/64
Mauritius	4/10/72	8/7/72 (R)	3/12/68
Mexico	4/10/72	4/8/74 (R)	5/28/32
Mongolia	4/10/72	9/5/72 (R)	12/6/683
Morocco	5/2/72		10/13/70
Myanmar (Burma)	4/10/72		1/4/482,3
Nepal	4/10/72		5/9/69
Netherlands, The	4/10/72	6/22/81 (R)	10/31/30
New Zealand	4/10/72	12/13/72 (R)	5/24/30
Nicaragua	4/10/72	8/7/75 (R)	10/5/90
Niger	4/21/72	6/23/72 (R)	4/5/67
Nigeria	7/3/72	7/3/73 (R)	10/15/682,3
Norway	4/10/72	8/1/73 (R)	7/27/32
Oman		3/31/92 (A)
Pakistanb,5	4/10/72	9/25/74 (R)	4/15/60
Panama	5/2/72	3/20/74 (R)	12/4/70
Papua New Guinea		10/27/80 (A)	9/2/802,3
Paraguay		6/9/76 (A)	10/22/33
Peru	4/10/72	6/5/85 (R)	8/13/85
Phillipines	4/10/72	5/21/73 (R)	6/8/73
Poland	4/10/72	1/25/73 (R)	2/4/29
Portugal	6/29/72	5/15/75 (R)	7/1/302,3
Qatar	11/14/72	4/17/75 (R)	10/18/76
Romania	4/10/72	7/25/79 (R)	8/23/292,3
Russiabcd	4/10/72	3/26/75 (R)	4/5/282,3
Rwanda	4/10/72	5/20/75 (R)	5/11/64
Saint Kitts & Nevis		4/2/91 (A)	4/27/89
Saint Lucia		11/26/86 (A)	12/21/88
San Marino	9/12/72	3/11/75 (R)
Sao Tome & Principe		8/24/79 (A)
Saudi Arabia	4/12/72	5/24/72 (R)	1/27/71
Senegal	4/10/72	3/26/75 (R)	6/15/77
Serbia & Montenegro	4/10/72	10/25/73 (R)
Seychelles		10/11/79 (A)	6/29/762,3
Sierra Leone	11/7/72	6/29/76 (R)	3/20/67
Singapore	6/19/72	12/2/75 (R)	8/29/652,3
Slovak Republic		5/17/93 (A)	9/22/93
Slovenia		4/7/92 (A)
Solomon Islands		6/17/81 (A)	6/1/81
Somalia	7/3/72
South Africa	4/10/72	11/3/75 (R)	5/24/302,3
Spain	4/10/72	6/20/79 (R)	8/22/292,3
Sri Lanka	4/10/72	11/18/86 (R)	1/20/54
Suriname		1/6/93 (A)	10/31/30
Swaziland		6/18/91 (A)	7/23/91
Sweden	2/27/75	2/5/76 (R)	4/25/30
Switzerland	4/10/72	5/4/76 (R)1	7/12/32
Syriacd	4/14/72		12/17/68
Taiwancd	4/10/72	2/9/73 (R)	8/7/29
Tanzania	8/16/72		4/22/63
Thailand	1/17/73	5/28/75 (R)	6/6/31
Togo	4/10/72	11/10/76 (R)	4/5/71
Tonga		9/28/76 (A)	7/19/71
Tunisia	4/10/72	5/18/73 (R)	7/12/67
Turkey	4/10/72	10/25/74 (R)	10/5/29
Turkmenistan		1/11/96 (A)
Uganda		5/12/92 (A)	5/24/65
Ukraine	4/10/72	3/26/75 (R)
United Arab Emirates	9/28/72
United Kingdom	4/10/72	3/26/75 (R)	4/9/302,3
United States	4/10/72	3/26/75 (R)	4/10/754
Uruguay		4/6/81 (A)	4/12/77
Uzbekistan		1/11/96 (A)
Vanuatu		10/12/90 (A)
Venezuela	4/10/72	10/18/78 (R)	2/8/28
Vietnam		6/20/80 (A)	12/15/802,3
Yemen	4/26/72	6/1/79 (R)	3/17/713
Zaire	4/10/72	9/16/75 (R)
Zimbabwe		11/5/90 (A)	4/18/80

Sources: ACDA, Government of France, Government of the United Kingdom, UN Treaty Office, U.S. Department of State Treaty Office.

Notes: a, b, c, d: Suspect according to: a. Speech by DCI John Deutch before the Los Alamos National Laboratory Conference on Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons Proliferation and Terrorism, May 23, 1996; b. "Proliferation: Threat and Response," DOD. 1996; c. 1995 ACDA Annual Report; d. Office of Technology Assessment, 1993.

1. Binding with respect to neutrality status.

2. Binding only as regards relations with other parties.

3. To cease to be binding in regard to any enemy states whose armed forces or allies do not observe provisions.

4. To cease to be binding as regards use of chemical agents with respect to any enemy state whose armed forces or allies do not observe provisions.

5. Submitted background information declaring full compliance with obligations under the convention. BWC/CONF IV/3 (October 28, 1996)