BWC Survey Template
[BWC Survey Template]
In order to comprehensively analyze a state’s BWC-related legislation, The VERTIC has developed a Legislative Analysis Tool, in the form of a survey template, compiling national implementation measures which are necessary to fulfill Article IV of the BWC. The survey identifies 137 distinct national implementation measures falling into eight categories.
SUMMARY
The Legislative Analysis Tool is designed to help countries review existing legislation so that they can examine which additional measures need to be put in place to fulfill their obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and other related international agreements, and to ensure that any new legislation fits within their existing legal framework. The Tool contains a legislative survey template that identifies 137 measures that are relevant to the implementation of the BWC, and a survey overview template that provides a place to summarize key findings and recommendations from the legislative survey. The survey was created by Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC) in 2008, underwent major revisions in 2020, and was made publicly available in 2021. Although the surveys can now be done independently, the VERTIC team is available to review and analyze the results at a state’s request. The templates are currently only published in English, but The VERTIC plans to release them in Arabic, Russian, French and Spanish in the near future. The VERTIC is based in the UK and works on all types of verification schemes for international agreements. The VERTIC has three main programs: 1. Verification and Monitoring, 2. National Implementation Measures, 3. Compliance Mechanisms and Measures. This tool is under the national implementation program for the BWC. Under the Implementing the Biological Weapons Convention program there are several tools: International Agreements, Legislative Assistance Provider, Legislation Drafting Tools, Legislation Drafting Assistant, BWC Legislation Database, Universality of the BWC, National Implementation Measures, and Fact Sheets. Many of these tools have their own entries in this library.