Treaty prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons in international armed conflicts
The Geneva Protocol established the first widely accepted international ban on chemical and biological weapons use in warfare.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 17 June 1925
- Entered into force
- 8 February 1928
- Registered in League of Nations
- 7 September 1929
- Weapons banned
- Chemical and biological weapons in international armed conflicts
- Successor treaties
- BWC (1972) and CWC (1993) covering production and storage
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The widespread use of chemical weapons during World War I, including chlorine and mustard gas, caused enormous suffering and prompted international pressure to codify prohibitions beyond the earlier Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, which had limited but not eliminated such practices.
On 17 June 1925 in Geneva, state representatives signed the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, banning the use of chemical and biological weapons between parties to international armed conflicts.
The protocol entered into force in 1928 and became a foundational norm of international humanitarian law, though gaps remained since it did not address production, storage, or transfer of prohibited weapons. These gaps were later addressed by the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.
Political Outcome
International prohibition on the use of chemical and biological weapons in armed conflict entered into force in 1928, with reservations by some states limiting obligations to reciprocal application.