The Ninth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) was held in Geneva from November 28 to December 16, 2022, and was chaired by Italy’s Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, Ambassador Leonardo Bencini.
The positive outcome of the Review Conference—by no means a foregone conclusion—was described by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as “a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak international security context.” The agreement reached allowed the Convention to overcome the political deadlock in which it had been mired for more than twenty years.
Ambassador Bencini’s presidency also stood out for its attention to gender issues, ensuring the “Bureau” (committee chairs and facilitator teams) achieved the best gender balance in the Convention’s history.
Specifically, the Ninth Review Conference established a Working Group for the 2023–2026 review cycle, with the mandate to identify and develop concrete measures to strengthen the Convention, working across seven main areas:
- International cooperation and assistance;
- Examination of scientific and technological developments relevant to the Convention;
- Confidence-building and transparency measures;
- Compliance and verification;
- National implementation;
- Assistance, response, and preparedness;
- Organizational, institutional, and financial provisions.
Among these topics, particular importance is attached to the commitment to develop specific mechanisms for international cooperation (ICA – International Cooperation and Assistance) and for the review of science and technology developments (S&T – Science and Technology), two areas that have long dominated BWC discussions. Also notable is the renewed effort to identify compliance and verification measures, possibly of a legally binding nature—an issue absent from discussions for over twenty years.
The Group, which meets for fifteen days each year, is tasked with identifying, examining, and developing specific measures and recommendations to present at the next Review Conference—or, if convergence is achieved earlier, at a Special Conference in 2025 for an “early harvest.”
Five sessions of the Working Group have already taken place.
- The first session in March 2023 was strictly organizational.
- At the session of August 7–18, 2023, discussions focused particularly on the first two items of the mandate: international cooperation and assistance, and the review of scientific and technological developments relevant to the Convention.
- The third session (December 4–13, 2023) addressed major issues relating to confidence-building measures; compliance and verification; and organizational, institutional, and financial matters.
– The fourth session (August 19–23, 2024) focused on strengthening the Convention, with notable progress recorded on assistance under Article VII and on the establishment of two new mechanisms: one on S&T and one on ICA. - The fifth session (December 2–13, 2024) concentrated on establishing two mechanisms: one dedicated to the full implementation of provisions on international cooperation and assistance (Article X), and the other on assessing scientific and technological aspects relevant to the Convention.
- The sixth session (August 2025, ongoing) is focused on compliance and verification measures, with particular attention to the possible mandate of an open-ended working group (OEWG) and the link with future S&T and ICA mechanisms.
The Importance of the Convention
The Biological Weapons Convention prohibits the development, production, and stockpiling of bacteriological (biological) and toxin weapons (viruses, bacteria, microorganisms, spores, toxins) and requires the destruction of existing stockpiles. Entering into force in March 1975, it was the first multilateral treaty banning an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. To date, the BWC has been ratified by 185 states and signed by four others.
Italy regards the BWC as a fundamental instrument in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation; its universalization and strengthening are therefore priorities, pursued during the Ninth Review Conference. Awareness of the Convention’s importance has grown further in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlighted the severe consequences of the global spread of a pathogen.
In addition to provisions prohibiting the production, transfer, and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons, other key articles of the Convention protect the right of each State Party to promote and participate in the exchange of equipment, materials, scientific and technological information, and biological agents and toxins intended for peaceful uses (e.g., medical research). Article VII further commits each State Party to provide assistance or other forms of support to any other State Party requesting it, if the latter is deemed by the UN Security Council to have been the victim of an act prohibited under the Convention.
Identifying and preventing activities in violation of the BWC is particularly complex because virtually any organism capable of causing disease or infection (such as bacteria and viruses) or toxins can potentially be altered for offensive use. This difficulty is compounded by the absence of a genuine verification and monitoring mechanism: the proposal to adopt a Protocol for this purpose collapsed in 2001 after six years of negotiations.
Currently, the main mechanisms for verifying the Convention’s implementation by its States Parties are confidence-building measures (CBMs)—a voluntary information exchange system—and periodic Review Conferences, held between intersessional work cycles. Strengthening these measures is one of the tasks assigned by the Ninth Review Conference to the above-mentioned Working Group.
Italy’s Main Interventions
Sixth session of the Working Group on strengthening the Convention, August 11–22, 2025:
Amb. Leonardo Bencini:
- Statement at the Sixth Session of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) – video
- Compliance and strenghtening the Convention – video
50th Anniversary of the Biological Weapons Convention, March 26, 2025:
Amb. Leonardo Bencini:
Fifth session of the Working Group on strengthening the Convention, December 2–13, 2024:
Amb. Leonardo Bencini:
- Compliance and Verification, December 5
- Concluding Session, December 13
Fourth session of the Working Group on strengthening the Convention, August 19–23, 2024:
Amb. Leonardo Bencini:
- Science and Technology, August 22 – video
- International Cooperation and Assistance, August 23 – video
Third session of the Working Group on strengthening the Convention, December 4–13, 2023:
Amb. Leonardo Bencini:
- Transparency and Confidence-Building Measures, December 4 – video
- Compliance and Verification, December 6 – video
- Compliance and Verification – second statement, December 7
Second session of the Working Group on strengthening the Convention, August 7–18, 2023:
Counsellor Tancredi Francese:
Ninth Review Conference of the Convention, November 28–December 16, 2022:
Undersecretary of State Maria Tripodi:
Useful links:
Biological Weapons Convention – Ninth Review Conference
Final Document of the Ninth Review Conference
Working Group on the Strengthening of the Convention
