Initial Declarations Under Article III

An Overview of the Article III Declaration Requirements

Even a State Party that does not possess any chemical weapons is obligated to submit a set of declarations under Article III not later than 30 days after the Convention enters into force for it. However, these declarations would mainly be statements to the effect that the State Party had nothing to declare.

Thus the State Party would declare:

the non-possession of chemical weapons (CWC III 1(a)(i)-(iii));
the absence of any transfer or receipt of chemical weapons (CWC III 1(a)(iv)).;
the absence of chemical weapons production facilities (CWC III 1(c)(i)-(iii); and
the absence of chemical weapons production equipment transfers (CWC III 1(c)(iv)).

Old and/or abandoned chemical weapons are to be declared (CWC III 1(b)(i)-(iii), bearing in mind that chemical weapons buried before 1 January 1977 and which remain buried, or chemical weapons dumped at sea before 1 January 1985 can be declared at the discretion of the State Party (CWC III 2). If there is reason to believe that old and/or abandoned chemical weapons might be present on the territory of the State Party but the precise location(s) and type(s) are not known, it is advisable to declare all known facts.

In many cases the declarations are required to go all the way back to 1 January 1946. If a State Party gained political independence after this date it might not be in a position to declare what might have occurred during the period between 1 January 1946 and its independence. This would then be the responsibility of the former colonial power.

In many States Parties riot control agents are used. The identity of each chemical a State Party holds for riot control purposes must be declared (CWC III 1(e)). If any difficulties arise in e.g. identifying the active chemical in a commercially acquired riot control device or finding out the structural formula and CAS number of a chemical, the Secretariat can provide assistance.