UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Monday urged 155 countries to speed up their faltering attempt to strengthen global safeguards against biological pons, warning of the growing threat from terrorism and developments in biotechnology.
Annan said in an opening speech to a review conference on the Biological Weapons Convention that risks had evolved swiftly since the last meeting five years ago ended with "deep and bitter divisions".
"Over the same period, advances in biological science and technology continued to accelerate, promising enormous benefits for human development, but also posing potential risks," he said.
"We see today a strong focus on preventing terrorism, as well as renewed concern about naturally occurring diseases such as SARS and avian flu," he said.
Annan said those developments had transformed the environment in which the convention operates.
"Differences will remain. But I urge you to find, once again, creative and resourceful ways around them," he added.
The Convention prohibits the development, use and stockpiling of biological weapons.
Unlike treaties on chemical or nuclear weapons, it has little in the way of verification measures such as onsite inspections of military and private medical and pharmaceutical research laboratories.
Attempts to set up checks have been rejected by several countries in the convention, including the United States which pulled out of negotiations on the issue shortly after President George W. Bush came into office.
The United States said Monday that it supported other reinforcements negotiated in recent years, including global disease surveillance, biosecurity measures to prevent misuse of technology, and national policing.
US Assistant Secretary of State John Rood told the conference that the major threats in the current strategic environment "come from rogue states and terrorists".
Rood reiterated that the US believed Iran and North Korea may have biological weapons in violation of their treaty commitment, while Syria -- which has signed the convention but not ratified it -- carried out research.
"The activities of North Korea, Iran and Syria are of particular concern given their support for terrorism and lack of compliance with their international obligations," Rood explained.
The treaties banning biological and chemical weapons, and restricting the proliferation of nuclear weapons, are the three pillars of global protection against weapons of mass destruction.
Biological weapons are regarded as the weakest link, because of the lack of independent checks on countries, and the relative ease with which even benign medical research on viruses or bacteria can be misused by individuals.
"The advances in life sciences and biotechnology are mind boggling, they're moving at a very fast speed so you need to be vigilant," said Masood Khan, the Pakistani ambassador chairing the conference.
"Unlike nuclear weapons or chemical weapons you do not need big laboratories or an elaborate command and control system or huge facilities to develop weapons. Vigilance is the watchword," he told journalists.
On Saturday, Annan warned that biotechnology had brought the world to the threshold of a new era akin to the advent of nuclear power.
"We find ourselves at a point akin to the one in the 1950s, when far-sighted citizens, scientists, diplomats and international civil servants recognised the enormous potential impact of nuclear power," Annan said on Saturday.
"The challenge then was to harness the power of nuclear energy for civilian use, while preventing the spread of nuclear weapons," the outgoing UN chief added.
Annan called for a broader global drive encompassing industry, science, health experts and governments to ensure that the peaceful uses of biotechnology can be harnessed with minimal risk.
The review conference is due to end on December 8.