Press Contact: Tom Z. Collina, Research Director (202) 463-8270 x104
For more information about the CWC, please see the CWC at a Glance Factsheet and CWC Signatories and States-Parties
For more information about the BWC, please see the BWC at a Glance Factsheet and BWC Signatories and States-Parties
Updated: September 2012
The danger posed by Biological Weapons (BW) and Chemical Weapons (CW) still lingers two decades after the cold war’s end. Despite the reduction of threats as an increasing number of states fulfill their commitments under international conventions, a small number of states still maintain declared and undeclared stockpiles and even active BW and CW programs. A bio-technology revolution is making bio-technology more readily available and presents a potential future proliferation risk. Dual-use chemical processes also present a series of ongoing challenges. Progress has certainly been made by Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) state-parties and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the destruction of declared CW stockpiles. However, progress on the implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) has been slower due to the lack of a formal verification mechanism.
The chart below details countries possessing or developing CW or BW. It draws on open source intelligence including unclassified government assessments, notably the Department of State’s 2010 Report on Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments (hereafter referred to as “the 2010 report”.) Taking into account the clandestine and controversial nature of these programs, state capabilities are considered under four headings: State declarations detail the state’s official position on the weapons in question and whether they have declared stockpiles or programs. Allegations look at allegations made by other states, namely the
The chart also details whether each state has signed, ratified, or acceded to relevant international treaties: the 1972 BWC, which bans offensive biological weapons development and possession; the 1993 CWC, which outlaws chemical weapons development, possession, and use; and the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which forbids the use of chemical and biological weapons in war.
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COUNTRY
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BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS CAPABILITIES
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CHEMICAL WEAPONS CAPABILITIES
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TREATY STATUS
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| Albania |
State Declarations: None. Allegations: None. |
State declaration: Declared possession of 16 metric tons of Mustard gas to the OPCW. Completed destruction on July 11, 2007. |
BWC: CWC: Signed 1/14/93 Ratified 5/11/94 |
| China |
State declaration: Allegations: According to the Potential delivery systems: include cruise missiles, fighters, bombers, helicopters, artillery, rockets, mortars, and sprayers. |
State declaration: Allegations: The Potential delivery systems: Include artillery, rockets, mortars, landmines, aerial bombs, sprayers, and short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. Any other information: Approximately 350,000 chemical munitions were left on Chinese soil by |
Geneva Protocol: Acceded 8/24/29. BWC: Acceded CWC: Signed |
| Cuba |
State declarations: Allegations: A 2003 State Department Compliance Report [1] indicated that Allegations of BW programs have been made by Cuban defectors in the past. Any other information: |
Allegations: None credible. |
Geneva Protocol: Acceded 6/24/66. BWC: Signed CWC: Signed 1/13/93, |
| Egypt |
State declarations: Two vague statements alluding to a BW capability were made by President Saddat and one of his ministers in 1972. According to the 2010 report, the Egyptian government remains “committed to the prohibition of the development, production and stockpiling of bacteriological and toxin weapons.” Allegations: Various allegations that |
State declarations: No significant declarations. Allegations: Allegedly stockpiled CW, and used them in |
Geneva Protocol: Signed 6/17/25, ratified 12/6/28. BWC: Signed 4/10/72. CWC: Has not signed. |
| India |
State declarations: Allegations: Very limited – no conclusive evidence of prior or current offensive programs. The 2010 report records that “available information did not indicate that any of Potential delivery systems: Potential delivery systems include short-range, anti-ship cruise missiles; short-range, air-launched tactical missiles; fighter aircraft; artillery; and rockets. Any other information: Has a strong capability in bio-technological research. |
State declarations: Declared in June 1997 that it possessed a CW stockpile in excess of 1000 metric tons of undisclosed chemical agents. |
Geneva Protocol Signed 6/17/25, ratified 4/ 9/30. BWC: Signed 1/15/73, CWC: Signed |
| Iran |
State declarations: Has publicly denounced BW. Allegations: The Defense Intelligence Agency alleged in 2009 that agent R&D, and we believe BW agents but may only have a limited ability to weaponize them.” [2] The 2010 report assesses that there is evidence showing Potential delivery systems: include short-range cruise missiles; short-range, air-launched tactical missiles; fighter aircraft; artillery shells; and rockets. Any other information: |
State declarations: Has denounced the possession and use of CW in international forums. Allegations: Pre-2003 More recent assessments have been less certain with the 2011 report declaring that "Iran maintains the capability to produce chemical warfare (CW) agents and conducts research that may have offensive applications" and that Iran is "capable of weaponizing CW agents in a variety of delivery systems." Potential delivery systems: include artillery shells, mortars, rockets, and aerial bombs. Any other information: Has battlefield experience using CW and employing CW defensive measures during the Iran-Iraq War. CW program believed to have been started after Iraqi CW use. |
Geneva Protocol: Acceded 11/5/29. BWC: Signed CWC: Signed |
| Iraq |
State declarations: None by post-2003 governments. Allegations: None since the 2003 invasion of |
State declarations: No significant stockpiles of CW. Allegations: None since 2003. Any other information: Had extensive program before the Persian Gulf War under which it produced and stockpiled mustard, tabun, sarin, and VX. Delivered chemical agents against Iranian forces during the Iran-Iraq War using aerial bombs, artillery, rocket launchers, tactical rockets, and helicopter-mounted sprayers. Also used chemical weapons against its Kurdish population in 1988. Program was largely dismantled by United Nations weapons inspectors in the 1990s. There remains an unknown quantity of various chemical agents in two bunkers at the Muthanna State Establishment. These were too dangerous to be entered by inspectors. The OPCW and |
Geneva Protocol: Acceded 9/8/31. BWC: Signed 5/11/72, ratified 6/19/91. CWC: Acceded 1/13/09. |
| Israel |
State declarations: Has revealed little in terms of capabilities or programs. Allegations: There is belief that |
State declarations: Has revealed nothing about its CW capabilities. Allegations: There is belief that |
Geneva Protocol: Acceded 2/20/69. BWC: Has not signed. CWC: Signed |
| Libya |
State declarations: |
State declarations: In 2003, |
Geneva Protocol: Acceded 12/29/71. BWC: Acceded CWC: Acceded 1/6/04 |
| North Korea |
State declarations: The 2010 report comments that Allegations: The 2010 report remarks that |
State declarations: None Allegations: Potential delivery systems: include ballistic missiles, artillery, and aircraft. |
Geneva Protocol: Acceded 1/4/89. BWC: Acceded CWC: Has not signed. |
| Pakistan |
State declarations: None. Allegations: No substantial allegations. The 2010 report states that “available information did not suggest that any agent and toxin research activities by Pakistani entities were inconsistent with Potential delivery systems: include short-range, anti-ship cruise missiles; short-range, air-launched tactical missiles; fighter aircraft; artillery; and rockets. Any other information: Has ability to support limited biological weapons research and development effort. |
State declarations: None. Allegations: None substantial. |
Geneva Protocol: Signed 4/15/60. BWC: Signed CWC: Signed |
| Russia |
State declarations: In 1992, Boris Yeltsin acknowledged that the Allegations: Agents weaponized included tularemia, typhus, Q fever, smallpox, plague, anthrax, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, glanders, brucellosis, and The 2010 report details that |
State declarations: Possessed the world’s largest chemical weapons stockpile: 40,000 metric tons of chemical agent, including VX, sarin, soman, mustard, lewisite, mustard-lewisite mixtures, and phosgene. Allegations: The Potential delivery systems: include artillery, bombs, spray tanks, and short-range ballistic missiles. |
Geneva Protocol: Acceded 4/5/28. BWC: Signed CWC: Signed |
| South Korea |
State declarations: None. Allegations: None. |
State declarations: Previously declared a chemical weapons stockpile of unspecified agents, Completed destruction of these on July 10, 2008. |
Geneva Protocol: Acceded 1/4/89. BWC: Signed CWC: Signed |
| Sudan |
State declarations: None. Allegations: No confirmed evidence of a BW program. |
State declarations: After acceding to the CWC in 1999,
Allegations: Unconfirmed reports that |
Geneva Protocol: Acceded 12/17/80. BWC: Acceded 10/17/03 CWC: Acceded |
| Syria |
State declarations: President Assad has hinted at Allegations: |
State declarations: In a July 23, 2012 statement, Jikah Makdissi, a spokesman for the Syrian Foriegn Ministry, made a statement that is largely viewed as confirming Syria's possession of chemical weapons. Allegations: Potential delivery systems: by aircraft, artillery rocket or ballistic missile. Any other information:Key elements of its program rely on foreign sources. |
Geneva Protocol: Acceded 12/17/68. BWC: Signed CWC: Has not signed. |
| Taiwan |
State declarations: None. Allegations: 2010 Compliance Report confirms that “available information did not indicate that any biological research and development activities by |
State declarations: Small quantities of CW for research. Denies any other possession. Allegations: Rumors of a defensive CW capability. However, |
Geneva Protocol: Has not acceded.
Has pledged to |
| United States |
State declarations: Unilaterally gave up its biological weapons program in 1969. The destruction of all offensive BW agents occurred between 1971 and 1973. Currently conducting research as part of its biodefense program. Allegations: According to a compliance report published by the Russian government in August 2010, the The Any other information: In May 2012, the second of the controversial H5N1 avian flu papers was published. The US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity advised against publishing due to concerns that the dual-use research would be used in biowarfare. |
State declarations: Declared a large chemical arsenal of 27,771 metric tons to the OPCW after the CWC came into force in 1997. Has been working to destroy this arsenal since, and in January 2010 only 5,449 metric tons remained. . Allegations: The Russian report also alleges that the |
Geneva Protocol: Signed 6/17/25, ratified 4/10/75. BWC: Signed CWC: Signed |
Updated by Wanda Archy.
Sources:
2010 Report on Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments, Department of State, July 2010, http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/145181.pdf
2005 Report on Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments, Department of State, August 2005, http://www.state.gov/t/vci/rls/rpt/51977.htm
2010 Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Arms Control Today
NOTES
1. Cited in 2010 Compliance Report, 2003 report is not in the public domain.
2. “Annual Threat Assessment,” Statement before the Committee on Armed Services,
3. Tucker, Jonathan B., “Iraq Faces Major Challenges in Destroying its Legacy Chemical Weapons,” CNS Feature Stories, March 4, 2010, http://cns.miis.edu/stories/100304_iraq_cw_legacy.htm
4. Horner, Daniel “Russia Revises Chemical Arms Deadline,” Arms Control Today, July and August 2010, http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2010_07/RusChem
5. Interview with President Assad of
