C-II/4

	OPCW	_{Conference of the States Parties}
Second Session			C-II/4
1 - 5 December 1997				4 December 1997
				Original: ENGLISH

CREDENTIALS OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE SECOND SESSION

OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE STATES PARTIES

Report of the Credentials Committee

1. Introduction

1.1 On 3 December 1997, upon the proposal of the Chairman of the Conference, in accordance with Rule 27 of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference of the States Parties (C-I/3), the Conference appointed the following 10 Member States as members of the Credentials Committee for the Second Session: Cameroon, Ecuador, Ghana, Hungary, New Zealand, Oman, Peru, Republic of Korea, Slovakia and Sweden.

1.2 The Committee met on 4 December 1997 and elected H.E. Mr Vicente Azula De la Guerra of Peru as its Chairman.

1.3 During its meeting, the Committee reviewed Chapter IV of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference and noted in particular the following elements of Rule 26:

(a) credentials designate the representative of a Member State in a given session of the Conference;

(b) the credentials of each representative shall be submitted to the Director- General; and

(c) credentials shall be issued by the head of State or Government or by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Member State concerned or by any other authority acting on their behalf.

2. Examination of credentials

2.1 The Committee had before it a memorandum by the Director-General, dated 4 December 1997, concerning the credentials of representatives of Member States participating in the Second Session of the Conference. On the basis of that memorandum, as of 4 December 1997, the Committee determined the following:

(a) formal credentials meeting the requirements of Rule 26 of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference, were submitted by 51 Member States: Algeria, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe;

(b) credentials in due form were also received from the Russian Federation which will become a Member State during the Second Session of the Conference; and