March 26 (UPI) — The U.S. State Department Wednesday commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Biological Weapons Convention, an agreement implemented in 1975 to stop the development and use of the toxins.
“The United States remains firmly committed to the BWC and the international norm against use of biological weapons,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “We unilaterally renounced biological weapons in 1969, before the BWC was negotiated, and over the past 50 years, we have remained a steadfast leader in and supporter of the BWC.”
Rubio added that the BWC “attested to the determination of the international community to prevent the use of biological weapons by completely banning an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. This ban is a fundamental cornerstone of global peace and security, keeping America and the world safe.”
Provisions of the BWC called for a ban on developing, stockpiling or producing biological weapons and to renounce their use.
The unilateral U.S. action renouncing the weapons came Nov. 25, 1969, when then-President Richard Nixon announced the nation would unilaterally eliminate biological and toxin weapons.
Nixon noted “mankind already carries in its hands too many of the seeds of its own destruction.”
Today nearly 190 nations are members of the BWC.
The State Department said Wednesday that despite such an overwhelming number of nations signing on to the BWC, biological weapons still pose a danger.
“Even so, the United States remains concerned that some countries, including some BWC States Parties, as well as non-state actors, have continued to pursue biological weapons and the United States seeks to address this threat,” the State Department statement said.
