Preparatory Commission for the	PC-X/B/WP.11
Organisation for the Prohibition	27 February 1995
of Chemical Weapons	Original:  ENGLISH

Tenth Session

(3 - 7 April 1995)

WORKING GROUP B

CHAIRMAN'S SUMMARY OF THE MEETING

ON 27 FEBRUARY 1995

1.         Working Group B, under the chairmanship of Mr. Sylwin Gizowski of Poland, met on 27 February 1995.

2.         The Working Group discussed the progress achieved in the implementation of the relevant recommendations and decisions adopted by the Commission at its Ninth Session as well as matters arising from the work of Expert Groups and other bodies under Working Group B during the first part of this intersessional period.  The summary of recommendations made by delegations at that meeting is contained below.  The Chairman intends to report on this summary to Working Group B at its next meeting.

3.         The discussion was facilitated by the Background Discussion Paper prepared by the Secretariat (PC-X/B/WP.10).

4.         The Executive Secretary reported to the participants on the activities of the Secretariat falling under the purview of Working Group B in the first half of the current intersessional period.

5.         The delegation of the United States of America provided a brief overview of the status of the on-going US-Russian bilateral discussions on matters related to the Wyoming Memorandum and the Bilateral Destruction Agreement.

6.         The participants expressed the view that, while the Expert Groups under the purview of Working Group B have achieved some progress during the first half of the current intersessional period, that progress was not adequate to enable the Commission to resolve the most pressing outstanding issues.  Many delegations expressed the view that, in its attempts to resolve those issues, the Commission should attempt neither to add to the provisions of the Convention nor to interpret it.  The Commission's mandate is rather to devise a mechanism for implementing the Convention in its current form.

7.         All delegations who took the floor during the meeting endorsed the view that meetings of working groups between sessions of the Commission are important forums which provide an opportunity for Member States both to evaluate the work of the Commission in general and to identify strategic priorities for the future.  The usefulness of these meetings will continue to increase, as the intersessional periods are becoming longer.

8.         The Chairman is of the view that the recommendations listed below should be utilised in the preparation of the draft Plan of Activities and Schedule of Meetings under the Purview of Working Group B for the next intersessional period.  That draft should be circulated to Member States well in advance of the meeting of the Friends of the Chairmen of Working Groups A and B which is scheduled for 24 March 1995.

9.         The following issues were identified by delegations as requiring consideration on a priority basis during the next intersessional period:

(a)        issues specifically identified in the Paris Resolution, with particular emphasis on the tasks relevant to implementation of the CWC by the Technical Secretariat and the National Authorities;

(b)        training issues;

(c)        issues related to the recruitment of inspectors;

(d)        issues in regard to inspection equipment:

           procurement of equipment;

           finalisation of operational requirements and technical specifications;

           development of the list of approved equipment with indications of specific types of equipment for particular types of inspections;

(e)        preparation of the Inspection Manual;

(f)         CW-related issues (taking into account approaches explored initially in 1993);

(g)        chemical industry issues:

           low concentrations;

           definition of the term "production by synthesis";

           biochemical and biologically mediated processes;

           model agreements;

           aggregate national data;

           identification of declarable facilities;

(h)        old and abandoned chemical weapons:

           "usability" of old chemical weapons produced between 1925 and 1946;

           responsibility for the destruction of abandoned chemical weapons and the timelines for destruction;

           verification and destruction regime for abandoned chemical weapons;

(i)         challenge inspection issues, in particular abuse of the right to request a challenge inspection (criteria and cost implications);

(j)         inspection mandate forms;

(k)        issues related to the implementation of Articles X and XI of the Convention;

(l)         all aspects of the issue of abandoned chemical weapons buried on the territory of a State Party after 1976 or dumped in its waters after 1984, including a possible challenge inspection, and its implications for the Technical Secretariat's responsibilities and other Expert Groups' tasks in this regard.

10.       Delegations made the following recommendations for the improvement of the methods of work of the Commission:

(a)        the Secretariat should carry out an analysis of the results of the work of the Commission during the two years of its existence and should identify priority tasks for the future.  That analysis should be based on the Programme of Work contained in PC-VIII/A/WP.7.  It should make reference to documents which contain solutions to issues identified by the Commission as being of high priority.  The analysis must be presented to the Tenth Session of the Commission for action;

(b)        the Secretariat should identify areas where the pace of the Commission's work may hinder its preparations for entry into force;

(c)        it is essential to identify tasks which could be resolved with little effort in the short term and to rationalise the remaining tasks in order to evenly distribute the workload, with due attention to the tasks which require the attention of several expert groups, rather than one;

(d)        agendas for expert group meetings should contain only those tasks which could reasonably be expected to be finalised during a particular meeting;

(e)        chairmen of expert groups should make certain that documents for consideration at their meetings are prepared well in advance;

(f)         there should be fewer formal and more informal meetings, and more time should be allocated for consultations prior to expert group meetings to discuss draft documents being prepared for the meetings; and

(g)        the issue of the recruitment of qualified inspector candidates requires close co-operation between the Secretariat and Member States and must be addressed through consultations in the near future (the Executive Secretary announced his intention to hold informal consultations on this issue on 17 March 1995).

11.       Some delegations expressed the view that, if significant progress leading to the resolution of major outstanding issues is not achieved in the next few months, the Commission may wish to consider recommendations with a view to changing its working mechanisms.

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