Nepal has become the state party to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction after formally depositing the Instrument of Ratification.

Nepal, the 177th country, ratified the convention this week in Washington DC, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The governments of the United Kingdom, United States of America and the Russian Federation are the depositories of the Convention. Nepal signed the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) on 10 April 1972. Minister for Foreign Affairs Prakash Sharan Mahat had formally tabled the proposal for ratification of the Biological Weapons Convention to the Legislature-Parliament on October 18. Earlier, the Cabinet had decided on January 1 to proceed with ratification of the BWC in accordance with national laws. Subsequently, Parliament had considered the proposal and ratified the Convention on October 23.

A Nepali delegation led by Deepak Dhital, ambassador/permanent representative of Nepal to the United Nations Office at Geneva, is 

participating, for the first time as the state party, in the eighth review conference of the BWC taking place there currently.