Verification and implementation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention

ABSTRACT This article looks at verification and implementation as two aspects of the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) that Ray Zilinskas had identified as weaknesses. Based on his predictions and suggestions to develop a comprehensive and effective verification regime, the first part of this article offers some reflections on the status and prospects of BWC verification. It provides a brief overview of persisting controversies surrounding aspects Zilinskas discussed, and considers the effectiveness of the BWC despite the absence of verification, including verification “alternatives” that Zilinskas had also anticipated. The second part of this article focuses on the national legislative implementation of the BWC. This topic has received less attention in Zilinskas’s publications but remains an important component of the BWC regime, with expanding obligations to adopt laws and regulations relating to biological weapons, yet persisting gaps in national legal regimes.