Kazakhstan calls for increased biosafety cooperation

Kazakhstan called on the international community to strengthen cooperation in the field of biosafety. At the UN Security Council meeting, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN Magzhan Ilyassov recalled the risks that the development of modern technologies entails. The fact is that, to date, there is no full-fledged organization responsible for these issues, and there are no verification mechanisms in place. Meanwhile, biological weapons remain a tool of mass destruction, so the establishment of a specialized body that will take control of rapidly developing technologies is of great necessity now.

“To date, the control of biological weapons is governed by the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention. This document was adopted almost 50 years ago and has remained unchanged since then. To date, there is no full-fledged organization responsible for biosafety issues with approved verification mechanisms. That is why President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed the creation of a specialized body, the International Agency for Biological Safety, directly accountable to the UN Security Council,” he said.

Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova

Editing by Galiya Khassenkhanova