Emerging technologies risk charting new pathways for the development, production, acquisition and proliferation of biological weapons, but they also offer opportunities to help reduce these risks and to strengthen states’ implementation of their biological weapons non-proliferation obligations. For example, states are increasingly exploring the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and distributed ledger technology (DLT) to strengthen their implementation of export controls on dual-use items.

National export control authorities are exploring possible applications of DLT to help verify strategic trade flows and the authenticity of associated documentation and the use of AI to help determine the classification of items. The Australia Group provides a possible forum for the export control authorities of its participating states to share experiences with such technologies. These could then feed into further discussions within the framework of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).