Kalashnikov Says Ratification of CSTO Biosecurity Protocol Important

The Russian State Duma has ratified the protocol expanding cooperation between the CSTO States in the area of biological security.

The fourth protocol amending the CSTO Charter stipulates that the Collective Security Treaty Organization Member States will also cooperate in the area of biosecurity.

The document was signed on August 26, 2022 and submitted to the State Duma by Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation.

“We have long proposed a model law on biosecurity. Such interaction is necessary for the CSTO Member States,” commented Leonid Kalashnikov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots.

In addition, this protocol establishes the possibility of early termination of powers of the CSTO Secretary General by the decision of the CSTO Collective Security Council.

As you may recall, the Organization’s Parliamentary Assembly began the work on legislative support of biological security of the CSTO Member States in 2021. Development of the relevant Recommendations was included in the 2021–2025 CSTO PA Action Plan on Approximation and Harmonization of National Legislation of the CSTO Member States.

At the meeting of the Expert Advisory Board under the CSTO PA Council in St Petersburg on March 28, 2023, experts discussed the draft Recommendations on Legislative Support for Sanitary and Epidemiological (Medical and Biological) Security of the CSTO Member States.