Home > Chemical Weapons Convention > Introduction
History of negotiations | Fundamental provisions
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW, or the “Organisation”) is the treaty-implementing body for the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (the “CWC”, or the “Convention”). The Convention aims to eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction by prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons by States Parties. States Parties, in turn, must take the steps necessary to enforce that prohibition in respect of persons (natural or legal) within their jurisdiction. All States Parties have agreed to chemically disarm by destroying any stockpiles of chemical weapons they may hold and any facilities which produced them, as well as any chemical weapons they abandoned on the territory of other States Parties in the past. States Parties have also agreed to create a verification regime for certain toxic chemicals and their precursors (listed in Schedules 1, 2 and 3 in the Annex on Chemicals to the Convention) in order to ensure that such chemicals are only used for purposes not prohibited. A unique feature of the Convention is its incorporation of the “challenge inspection”, whereby any State Party in doubt about another State Party’s compliance can request the Director-General to send an inspection team. Under the Convention’s “challenge inspection” procedure, States Parties have committed themselves to the principle of “any time, anywhere” inspections with no right of refusal.
All States Parties to the Convention are automatically members of the OPCW. Established in 1997 upon entry into force of the Convention, the OPCW has its headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands. The OPCW has three organs: its plenary organ, the Conference of the States Parties (the “Conference”); its executive organ, the Executive Council (the “Council”); and the Technical Secretariat (the “Secretariat”), which is headed by a Director-General.
States Parties declare to the OPCW the extent of specific activities which could pose a risk to the object and purpose of the Convention. These activities are subject to international verification and monitoring by the Secretariat, primarily through inspections, to ensure non-proliferation. With the aim of promoting transparency and confidence-building, certain declared information is shared among States Parties within the confines of the strict confidentiality regime provided for in the Convention. In parallel, implementation of the Convention must be carried out in a manner which avoids hampering the economic or technological development of States Parties, and international cooperation in the field of chemical activities for purposes not prohibited under this Convention. States Parties also benefit from the right to request, through the OPCW, assistance and protection against the use or threat of use of chemical weapons.
The Convention has enjoyed remarkably wide adherence from the outset: 165 signatory states; 87 States Parties at entry into force of the Convention on 29 April 1997, and 168 States Parties as at 21 May 2005. View a complete up-to-date list of States Parties.
History of the negotiations leading to the conclusion of the Convention
The Convention’s fundamental provisions