OVERVIEW

Progress towards universal adherence

1. The year 2000 saw a further significant growth in the OPCW’s membership. As of 31 December 2000 the number of Member States of the Organisation had increased to 141, compared to 128 at the end of the previous reporting period. The 13 new members joining the Organisation in 2000 were as follows: Azerbaijan, Colombia, Eritrea, Gabon, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Malaysia, Mozambique, San Marino, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. However, at the end of 2000 33 signatories had yet to ratify the Convention, and 19 other States had yet to accede to it.

Progress in chemical disarmament

2. In the course of 2000 further significant progress was achieved in chemical disarmament, although this progress was not evenly distributed amongst the declared chemical weapons possessor States Parties. During the year a total of 1,539 tonnes, or 2.2%, of chemical weapons (CW) agents and a total of 481,969 munitions and containers, or 5.59%, were destroyed.

3. This brought the aggregate amount of chemical weapons destroyed since the commencement of OPCW’s operations in 1997 to a total of 4,863 tonnes, or 7.1%, of unitary chemical weapons including the nerve agents VX and GB (sarin) and the blister agent HD (mustard gas) contained in 4,595 bulk containers and in 866,642 items of unitary munitions, 4 tonnes of key binary components, 461 tonnes of other binary components, 522,232 items of binary munitions and canisters, and nine other containers. Ninety-four tonnes, or 26.2%, of Category 2 chemical weapons and a total of 123,074 items, or 29.8%, of Category 3 chemical weapons (unfilled munitions, devices and specifically designed equipment) had also been destroyed as of 31 December 2000. The destruction of chemical weapons had occurred at a total of eight CWDFs since the entry into force of the Convention (hereinafter "EIF" ). Between the entry into force of the Convention and 31 December 2000, the United States of America completed the destruction of 5179.630 tonnes, or 18.7%, of its Category 1 chemical weapons, including binary components, and 80,375 items, or 99.5%, of its Category 3 chemical weapons.

4. While India, the United States of America and one other State Party met the initial destruction goal established under the Convention (the elimination of one percent of Category 1 chemical weapons by 29 April 2000) with the United States of America actually being well ahead of schedule, the delegation of the Russian Federation submitted to the Executive Council (hereinafter the "Council") at its Seventeenth Session a request for it to recommend that the Conference of the States Parties (hereinafter the "Conference") at its Fifth Session in 2000 should grant an extension of its obligation to meet the initial intermediate deadline for chemical weapons destruction. In order to facilitate the Council’s consideration of, and decision-making on, the Russian request, the Chairman of the Council, Ambassador Ignacio Pichardo Pagaza, at the official invitation of the Russian Government, headed an OPCW delegation to visit the construction site of the first Russian chemical weapons destruction facility at Gorny, in the Saratov region, from 21 to 25 March 2000. In May 2000, upon the recommendation of the Council, the Conference at its Fifth Session granted the Russian Federation an extension of its obligation to meet the above-mentioned deadline.

5. In November 2000 the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS) in the United States of America, the first full-scale continuously operated facility since EIF, completed its destruction campaigns, and was being decommissioned at the end of the year under review. This marked a significant milestone for both the Chemical Weapons Convention and the United States of America.

6. The destruction of the declared chemical weapons production capacities of the 11 Member States that had declared chemical weapons production facilities (hereinafter "CWPFs") continued to progress ahead of the schedule stipulated by the Convention and the decisions of the Conference. By 31 December 2000 the Director-General had issued destruction certificates for 25 of the 61 declared CWPFs. The Director-General had also issued six certificates confirming the completion of conversion of CWPFs for purposes not prohibited under the Convention.

Declarations and inspections

7. Due to a concerted effort by Member States, as well as to an intensive campaign mounted by the Technical Secretariat (hereinafter the "Secretariat"), the situation with respect to the submission of initial declarations improved considerably during 2000. By the end of the year all but the five States Parties which did not join the Organisation until the second half of 2000 had submitted their initial declarations to the Organisation. This was a significant improvement over the situation in 1999, when approximately one quarter of the States Parties had still failed to submit their initial declarations to the Organisation. A significant increase in the submission of industry-related declarations allowed the inspection of these facilities to proceed.

8. The situation with respect to the submission of annual declarations, however, continued to be of concern during 2000. As of 31 December 2000, 55 States Parties had provided annual declarations covering their declarable activities in 1999, and 37 States Parties had submitted annual declarations on their anticipated/projected activities in the year 2001 involving scheduled chemicals.

9. During 2000 a total of 300 inspections were conducted at 227 sites in 45 States Parties, involving a total of 15,574 inspector days. All CW destruction operations were subject to systematic inspection through continuous monitoring by OPCW inspectors. Approximately 80% of the inspector days were devoted to CW-related facilities, while the remaining 20% were related to related to inspections under Article VI.

10. In an effort to reduce the inspection costs for CWDFs, the Secretariat and States Parties involved in CW destruction continued to explore and apply in practice an instrumental monitoring procedure which would lead to a reduction in the size of inspection teams, while also maintaining the required degree of confidence. It was intended to apply this cost-efficient operational concept to the monitoring of destruction operations at newly built CWDFs. When planning the inspection of other facilities, when possible, the Secretariat, with the prior agreement of the inspected States Parties, would combine several inspections in one grouping in order to reduce travel costs.

11. During 2000 a total of 140 industry inspections were conducted - significantly more than in the previous years: 28 in 1997, 94 in 1998, and 80 in 1999.

12. Beginning in May 2000 - the commencement of the fourth year since EIF - the OPCW started to implement the verification regime for other chemical production facilities, under Article VI of the Convention and Part IX of the Verification Annex. This is an important chemical weapons verification measure provided for under the Convention.

Transfers of scheduled chemicals

13. From 29 April 2000 onwards – exactly three years after the entry into force of the Convention – Schedule 2 chemicals may only be transferred to, or received from, States Parties to the Convention.

Consultations, cooperation and fact-finding

14. During the period under review no requests were submitted to the Council under Article IX with a view to clarifying situations which might be considered ambiguous, or as giving rise to concern about possible non-compliance. Similarly, there were no requests during the year under review for either challenge inspections or investigations of the alleged use of chemical weapons.

Readiness for non-routine verification measures

15. In order to improve the Organisation’s preparedness for challenge inspection, a challenge inspection exercise was conducted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

16. In order to improve the Organisation’s preparedness for investigations of alleged use of chemical weapons, the OPCW conducted a trial investigation in Slobovo, Poland.

International cooperation, protection and assistance

17. The Secretariat worked energetically to improve the focus and the quality of its diverse activities in the three key areas of international cooperation, protection, and assistance through a focus on activities in the following two categories: support for capacity-building in States Parties for the peaceful application of chemistry in areas relevant to the implementation of the Convention; and the provision of administrative and technical support for National Authorities and of other implementation assistance.

18. A new important activity in the area of international cooperation was launched during 2000, in the form of the OPCW associate programme. This programme aims to provide scientists and engineers from countries with economies which are developing or in transition, with additional experience through exposing them to modern practices in the chemical industry, thus contributing to the development of the chemical sciences and the chemical industry, improving practices in the field of chemical safety, and enhancing cooperation amongst States Parties in relation to the peaceful application of chemistry.

19. The OPCW continued to support scientific exchanges in areas of relevance to the Convention, and to render advice to countries which had shown an interest in developing their national analytical capabilities.

20. By 31 December 2000 only 18 States Parties had, on at least one occasion, provided annual information on national programmes related to protective purposes in accordance with Article X, paragraph 4, of the Convention.

21. Unilateral offers of assistance to deal with instances of the potential use or threat of use of chemical weapons were received from 31 States Parties - an increase of one over the year 1999. The Voluntary Fund for Assistance increased by almost NLG 85,000 during 2000, to a total of approximately NLG 1,340,000.