BWC NIM CBWPA

• Since ratifying the BWC in 1987, the Republic of Korea has focused on national implementation. In 2006, in order to effectively prohibit and prevent the development of any type of biological weapons and to control the manufacture of biological agents or toxins that can be used as biological weapons, Korea’s Ministry of of Trade, Industry and Energy(MOTIE) entirely revised the former Chemical Weapons Prohibition Act, which became the “Act on the Prohibition of Chemical and Biological Weapons and the Control of the Production, Export, and Import of Specific Chemicals and Biological Agents” (CBWPA). This new Act has been in effect since January 2007.

• This CBWPA Act was revised and expanded to provide a comprehensive set of rules and regulations on the prohibition and control of biological agents that were previously scattered among various Acts, such as the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, the Act on the Prevention of Contagious Animal Disease and the Plant Quarantine Act.

  There are 67 kinds of biological agents and toxins listed in the CBWPA Act that can be used only for peaceful purposes, such as prevention and treatment of diseases. The Act contains provisions for national declaration and authorization of any possession, production, export or import, and for inspections of facilities producing and possessing those biological agents and toxins.

  In addition, the CBWPA Act requires the export of biological agents and toxins to be controlled through the Notice of Export & Import of Strategic Items officially published in accordance with the Enforcement Ordinance for the Foreign Trade Act.

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