Representatives of civil society organizations have called on the authorities to officially denounce the agreement on a biological laboratory construction in Bishkek, signed in 2008 between the Kyrgyz and Canadian governments. The appeal addressed to the Head of State and the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers has been sent to the Presidential Administration.

The Agreement on Cooperation in Biological Defense and Biosafety was signed between the Kyrgyz Republic and Canada on August 22, 2008. However, from the very beginning, the project faced obstacles. In 2011, the project to build the BSL-3 biological laboratory in Bishkek was suspended due to public protests. It was argued that it could pose a significant risk to national interests and contradict the country's Constitution. Although the project was suspended the agreement was not denounced by either party.

Today, because the public is against constructing a biological laboratory in the republic, the civil society calls on the authorities to denounce the agreement with Canada.

“The absence of an official diplomatic note on the violation of the agreement makes Kyrgyzstan vulnerable,” the Oi Ordo Center for Expert Initiatives representatives, who recently held a roundtable discussion on the issue, state.

Experts believe the agreement can damage the state's biological security and the ability to fulfil international obligations in this sensitive area.

The official rejection of the agreement was supported by the participants of the roundtable “Kyrgyzstan's Priority Tasks in Ensuring Regional Biosecurity” held on July 3, 2024. The event brought together experts, activists and officials. They expressed concern about the potential dangers associated with the possible resumption of negotiations on the biological laboratory construction.

The address to President Sadyr Zhaparov and Head of the Cabinet of Ministers Akylbek Zhaparov emphasized the country's right to withdraw from the agreement.

“According to the established procedures applied in the world practice, we ask to give the responsible state structures of the Kyrgyz Republic the instruction to prepare and implement an official notification to the Kyrgyz Republic of its intention to withdraw from this agreement,” the official letter reads.

The initiative was widely supported by parliamentarians, civil society organizations and other public activists, as they believed the potential biological risks outweighed the project's benefits.

“By suspending the project with Canada, we will minimize the risk of atypical infections spreading in our republic,” said Baktybek Saipbaev, a systems analyst and medical expert.

In his opinion, the deployment of such facilities in the Kyrgyz Republic without the possibility of controlling them creates risks for the state.
Baktybek Saipbayev cited the example of neighbouring Kazakhstan, where outbreaks of unusual diseases were associated with foreign pathogens.

There is no direct evidence that this is due to the presence of a laboratory in the neighbouring country. Nevertheless, the expert remains confident that the decision to abandon the construction of the biological facility in the republic prevented the emergence of atypical strains, plague, smallpox, anthrax and hepatitis.

“These diseases can present a serious threat to public health,” the analyst added.

At the same time, biosecurity experts, including Baktybek Saipbayev, recognize the need to establish a BSL-3 laboratory. This is needed to combat zoonotic diseases and improve epidemiological control.

"We are facing growing threats such as tick-borne encephalitis and typhoid fever. The laboratory could help us in the study and production of vaccines to control these diseases. But it is important for such facilities to be established under strict control of the authorities and to be in line with the stated tasks and goals,” the expert concluded.