Workshop: “Practical Exercise on Biological Weapons Proliferation Scenarios through Transit, Export and Import”

Building on the results achieved in 2023, on 11 and 12 January 2024 in Hanoi, the Chemical Corps - the Standing Office of the National Focal Point of Vietnam for countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (Standing Office 81) - in cooperation with the Export Control and Related Border Security Program of the U.S. Department of State (EXBS Program), organised the workshop “Practical Exercise on Biological Weapons Proliferation Scenarios through Transit, Export and Import”. The workshop aimed to assess the threats and risks of biological weapons proliferation scenarios in Vietnam, and to discuss, exchange views and carry out practical exercises on preventing and responding to biological weapons proliferation scenarios through transit, export and import activities in accordance with current practice and legal regulations.

Figure 1 – Workshop delegates in a group photograph

The workshop was attended by 40 delegates from ministries and sectors, including the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance, the National Focal Point of Vietnam for countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Standing Office 81 and the EXBS Program.

Figure 2 – Senior Colonel Ngo Van Dinh, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Chemical Corps, delivers the opening remarks at the workshop

At the workshop, the experts agreed that in the coming years the world situation will continue to evolve rapidly and in complex and unpredictable ways, and that proliferation activities involving weapons of mass destruction, including biological weapons, may take many forms, leading to the risk of disease outbreaks that threaten national security and non-traditional security, including in Vietnam. Because they are difficult to control and capable of causing destruction over a wide area, even globally, biological agents and biological weapons are of particular concern to many countries, and terrorist organisations constantly seek to acquire them.

Figure 3 – Overview of the workshop (1)

In Vietnam, Article 35 of Decree 81/2019/ND-CP on countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction sets out the responsibilities of the Ministry of Health in implementing the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC). The experts agreed that, although there are still gaps and inconsistencies in the implementation of the BWC and in the control of its implementation, Vietnam's legal system basically meets international obligations and requirements well; there are relatively clear legal tools to control the transit, export and import of biological agents; and there is a basis for ensuring the conditions necessary to put the regulations into practice, helping to improve the effectiveness of the management of controlled biological agents.

Figure 4 – Overview of the workshop (2)

During the workshop, the Vietnamese experts also practised handling exercise scenarios from multiple perspectives. In the role of the Red Team, the experts approached the scenarios from the perspective of terrorists and actors seeking to acquire and proliferate biological weapons through the export, import and transhipment of goods, especially dual-use items. Conversely, in the role of the Blue Team, the experts viewed the issue from the perspective of State management agencies, applying legal regulations and international best practices in order to prevent and respond to situations in which the export, import, transit and transhipment of dual-use goods are exploited to proliferate biological weapons. The workshop helped raise the awareness and capacity of the implementing officials of the National Focal Point and of specialised forces from ministries and sectors in countering the proliferation of biological weapons.

Some images of delegates carrying out exercises at the workshop

Thanh Tung - Centre 81