Printer Friendly Page

Experts Urge Improved U.S.-Russian Cooperation to Counter Biological Weapons Threat

By Marina Malenic
Global Security Newswire

June 9, 2006

WASHINGTON — A panel of experts has urged Russia and the United States to expand their cooperation on biological security issues (see GSN, June 2). Some Group of Eight Global Partnership nations — notably Canada, France, Ukraine and the United States — have elevated the priority of biological weapons threat reduction programs, according to a report, Advancing International Cooperation on Bio-Initiatives in Russia and the CIS, sponsored by the Russian American Nuclear Security Advisory Council.

However, Russia’s lack of transparency in its biodefense projects has inhibited international cooperation in this area, it says. “Transparency within the Russian bioinstitute network remains a key issue, and facilities managed by the Russian Ministry of Defense and an array of Russian anti-plague research institutes remain off-limits, which hinders the amount of investment [in biosecurity] that can be made by Western governments,” the report says.

The experts, who convened in April 2005, also said U.S. funding for biothreat reduction projects is “rising slowly, while the European Union’s budget for such efforts is unlikely to increase substantially over the next six years.” The report says opportunities exist for expanded cooperation with institutes dealing with deadly pathogens in Russia and other former Soviet states. It also advocates building a global consensus on biosafety levels, bioethics, regulations and safety training.

Meanwhile, budget cuts in both the United States and the European Union for programs aimed at redirecting WMD experts raise questions about the future of the International Science and Technology Center in Moscow, according to the report. “The U.S. and U.K. are beginning to place emphasis on eliminating the threat and ‘graduating’ the scientific work force from their dependence on Western support through the science centers and other programs,” it says.

The experts also concluded that private industry in the former Soviet states is “not the sole or even best conduit to redirect biological scientists.” However, they encouraged those countries to create the right conditions for investment in their emerging biotechnology sector, including providing funding for infrastructure development and training.