The Spiez Laboratory (German: ''Labor Spiez'', French: ''Laboratoire de Spiez'', Italian: ''Laboratorio Spiez'') is the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

institute for the protection of the population against nuclear, biological and chemical threats and dangers. It is part of the

Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports The Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS, german: Eidgenössisches Departement für Verteidigung, Bevölkerungsschutz und Sport, french: Département fédéral de la défense, de la protection de la population et des ...

(DDPS) and is located in

Spiez Spiez is a town and municipality on the shore of Lake Thun in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss canton of Bern. It is part of the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district. Besides the town of Spiez, the municipality also includes ...

. The Spiez Laboratory is one of the five labs in the world permanently certified by the

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force on 29 April 1997. The OPCW, with its 193 member ...

Tasks

NBC Protection Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence (CBRN defence) are protective measures taken in situations in which chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear warfare (including terrorism) hazards may be present. CBRN defence consis ...

Development of fundamentals of NBC protective materials and coordination of national NBC-protection. Operation of testing laboratories for the authorization and supervision of NBC protective materials. *

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

Analysis and diagnosis of biological agents and toxins. *

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

Analysis of samples of

Chemical warfare Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare and radiological warfare, which together make up CBRN, the military acronym ...

agents and related compounds (Accredited laboratory of the OPCW). Evaluation of detection and detoxification agents of chemical warfare agents. Production of chemical warfare agents as reference substances. *

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

Radioactivity measurements. Environmental testing. Member of the ALMERA network of the IAEA. *

Arms control Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Arms control is typically exercised through the u ...

Technical advice of the Swiss Confederation with International negotiations on

Disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as n ...

and arms control.

International activities

Spiez Laboratory is an internationally recognized center of excellence and works with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

(UN), the

(OPCW), the

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

(UNEP), the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

(IAEA) the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...

(WTO) and th
International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC). Also, Spiez Laboratory provides various posts in the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

program "Partnership for Peace". It is led by Marc Cadisch and appr. 100 civil employees. It can request at any time personnel and equipment of the NBC Troops of the

Swiss Armed Forces The Swiss Armed Forces (german: Schweizer Armee, french: Armée suisse, it, Esercito svizzero, rm, Armada svizra; ) operates on land and in the air, serving as the primary armed forces of Switzerland. Under the country's militia system, re ...

, if needed. This includes special hardware like the

Mowag Duro The DURO (''Durable Robust'') is a series of wheeled, multi-purpose military transport vehicles produced by General Dynamics European Land Systems/MOWAG in both four and six wheel drive. It was initially developed for Switzerland by Bucher-Gu ...

IIIP based NBC verification Laboratory, Or Swiss Air Force

Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma The Airbus Helicopters H215 (formerly Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma) is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-size utility helicopter developed and initially produced by the French aerospace company Aérospatiale. It has been subsequently manufactu ...

Helicopters or Northrop F-5 Tiger II for air measurements (e.g. after the Fukushima event).

Missions

In 2013, Spiez Laboratory was one of the four labs in Europe that analysed samples from the Syrian civil war, for the

2018 Sergei and Yulia Skripal poisoning -
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
UK

According to

Sergey Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (russian: Сергей Викторович Лавров, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat and politician who has served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Foreign Minister of Russia since 2004. ...

, the Russian minister of foreign affairs; Spiez Laboratory detected the presence of BZ ( 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate) and its precursor in the substance used in the Sergei and Yulia Skripal poisoning case. However, this assertion was subsequently refuted by the OPCW director-general on April 18: "We should not have an iota of doubt on the reliability of the system of the OPCW Designated Laboratories. The Labs were able to confirm the identity of the chemical by applying existing, well-established procedures. There was no other chemical that was identified by the Labs. The precursor of BZ that is referred to in the public statements, commonly known as 3Q, was contained in the control sample prepared by the OPCW Lab in accordance with the existing quality control procedures. Otherwise it has nothing to do with the samples collected by the OPCW Team in Salisbury. This chemical was reported back to the OPCW by the two designated labs and the findings are duly reflected in the report." In September 2018, two reported members of Russia's

Main Intelligence Directorate Main Intelligence Directorate may refer to: * Main Directorate of Intelligence (Ukraine), the military intelligence service of Ukraine * GRU The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́� ...

were arrested in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, for allegedly planning to hack the computer systems of the Spiez Laboratory. The

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

has also indicted several alleged GRU operatives on allegations of hacking the Spiez Laboratory.

2021

In 2021, the WHO created a pilot program called BioHub which is serving as a way to get countries to share virus data with one another and combat future outbreaks.

References

External links

*
OPCW-designated laboratory

UNEP conflict and disaster management operations

ALMERA network of IAEA
{{Authority control Military of Switzerland Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports Biosafety level 4 laboratories Radiation protection organizations Spiez