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 Internati ...

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 (DDPS) and is located in Spiez. 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 s ...

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 hereditar ...

Analysis and diagnosis of biological agents and toxins. * Chemistry 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 a ...

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 rel ...

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 th ...

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 ...

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 security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

(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 ...

(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 1 ...

(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 ...

(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, if needed. This includes special hardware like the Mowag DuroIIIP based NBC verification Laboratory, Or

Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (german: Schweizer Luftwaffe; french: Forces aériennes suisses; it, Forze aeree svizzere; rm, Aviatica militara svizra) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914 as a part of the army an ...

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 manufactur ...

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 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) (IUPAC name 1-azabicyclo .2.2ctan-3-yl hydroxy(diphenyl)acetate; US Army code EA-2277; NATO code BZ; Soviet code Substance 78) is an odorless and bitter-tasting military incapacitating agent.QNB: Incapacitating Age ...

) 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 were arrested in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

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 Nether ...

, 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 United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and a ...

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