#OnThisDay in 1972 the #BiologicalWeaponsConvention was opened for signature at ceremonies in London, Moscow and Washington DC #OTD #1972BWC

The Convention had been negotiated in Geneva, Switzerland, within the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament (ENDC) and the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament (CCD) from 1969 until 1971. @UNGeneva @ODA_Geneva

On 5 August 1971, the USA and USSR tabled separate but identical versions of a draft BWC in the CCD. Agreement between the two superpowers marked the final stage of the negotiation of the Convention.

The negotiation of the BWC was concluded by the CCD on 28 September 1971. The Convention was commended by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 1971. http://undocs.org/A/RES/2826(XXVI)

Four months later, on 10 April 1972, ceremonies were organized in the capital cities of the Convention’s three Depositary Governments, the UK, the USA and the USSR to mark its opening for signature.

Ceremonies were also organized three years later when, on 26 March 1975, the #BiologicalWeaponsConvention finally entered into force following ratification by 22 States, including the three Depositaries.

Today, the #BiologicalWeaponsConvention has 183 States Parties and continues to enshrine the norm that, in the words of its preamble, biological weapons are “repugnant to the conscience of mankind”. https://www.un.org/disarmament/biological-weapons