Joint statement on a protocol to the convention on the prohibition of biological weapons

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 7, 1998

The Presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation, recognizing the threat posed by biological weapons, express strong support for the aims and tasks of the Ad Hoc Group of States Parties to establish a regime to enhance the effective implementation of the 1972 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction. We urge the further intensification and successful conclusion of those negotiations to strengthen the Convention by adoption of a legally binding Protocol at the earliest possible date.

We have agreed to contribute to accomplishing these tasks. Consequently, the United States of America and the Russian Federation will make additional efforts in the Ad Hoc Group to promote decisive progress in negotiations on the Protocol to the Convention, to ensure its universality and enable the Group to fulfill its mandate.

We agree that the Protocol to the Convention must be economical to implement, must adequately guarantee the protection of national security information, and must provide confidentiality for sensitive commercial information. We also consider it extremely important to create a mechanism for implementation that will be consistent with the scope of the measures provided for in the Protocol.

We recognize the necessity for the Protocol to include those measures that would do the most to strengthen the Convention.

We express our firm commitment to global prohibition of biological weapons and for full and effective compliance by all States Parties with the Convention prohibiting such weapons.

We support the language in the Final Declaration of the Fourth Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention (1996) that the Convention forbids the use of bacteriological (biological) and toxin weapons under any circumstances.

Moscow

September 2, 1998

NOTE: An original was not available for verification of the content of this joint statement.