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| The Hague, 29 July 2005 | Number 37 | ||
From 19 to 20 July, 2005, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Guatemala and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) jointly conducted the Third Sub-Regional Meeting of OPCW National Authorities in Central America. A National Authority is established by every OPCW Member State. They liaise between governments, other Member States’ National Authorities and the OPCW Technical Secretariat to facilitate the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The National Authorities fulfil a vital role in monitoring their national chemical industry and ensuring that the chemical weapons ban can be effectively enforced within their jurisdiction.
The Third Sub-Regional Meeting was opened by H.E. Ambassador Carlos R. Martínez, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala. Representatives from all countries of the sub-region participated in the meeting, including Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama. Cuba, the United States of America and Venezuela also sent representatives to the meeting, in addition to participants representing Haiti and Honduras, which are in the final stages of the CWC ratification process and will soon become OPCW Member States.
The OPCW National Authorities in this sub-region initiated these annual meetings three years ago, in order to ensure that their governments can meet the CWC’s stipulations on the enforcement of the chemical weapons ban and the prevention of chemical weapons proliferation. The participants provided detailed briefings on the status of their Governments' national implementation measures, including measures to monitor chemical transfers by national customs services. The potential benefits of an integrated system of information-sharing on exports and imports of scheduled chemicals among CWC States Parties were also discussed.
Participants stressed the continuing need for implementation support and appreciated the OPCW’s initiatives in this area.
Ms Ana María Cerini, member of the Argentine National Authority and of the Network of Legal Experts, supported the portion of the meeting devoted to national implementing legislation. Panama expressed its interest in hosting the fourth sub-regional meeting of Central American National Authorities to be held in 2006.
The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is an international, multilateral disarmament treaty which bans the development, production, stockpiling, transfer and use of chemical weapons. The States Parties to the CWC are obligated to declare any chemical weapons-related activities, to secure and destroy any stockpiles of chemical weapons within the stipulated deadlines, as well as to inactivate and eliminate any chemical weapons production capacity within their jurisdiction.
The CWC entered into force in 1997 and mandated the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to eliminate chemical weapons forever. The OPCW verifies the irreversible destruction of declared chemical weapons stockpiles, as well as the elimination of all declared chemical weapons production facilities. The OPCW Member States, together with OPCW inspectors, monitor the non-diversion of chemicals for activities prohibited under the CWC and verify the consistency of industrial chemical declarations. In addition, OPCW States Parties undertake to provide protection and assistance, if chemical weapons have been used against a State Party, or if such weapons threaten a State Party. The CWC also calls for international cooperation in the peaceful use of chemistry.
The CWC is the single disarmament agreement that in its daily application around the world is used to verify the on-going elimination of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction, chemical weapons. OPCW inspections are conducted in dozens of countries, where both military and industrial sites are subject to verification. The verification procedures and the declaration obligations of the States Parties are applied in an entirely non-discriminatory manner, following protocols negotiated and adopted in intensive and transparent multilateral negotiations. All States Parties enjoy the same rights and bear the same obligations, regardless of their declared possession of chemical weapons.
The global chemical weapons ban is approaching universality: as of 20 August 2005, 170 States will be party to the CWC and have taken the sovereign decision to renounce chemical weapons in perpetuity, while voluntarily complying with a strict verification regime. Together, these countries form the OPCW. Only 24 States have not as yet acceded or ratified the CWC. Every country is urged to accede to, or ratify, the Chemical Weapons Convention so that the development, production, stockpiling, transfer and use of chemical weapons is illegal everywhere. Universality of the CWC is a key priority in establishing a global and permanent ban of chemical weapons.
The CWC's international jurisdiction and deterrent effect is bolstered by the steadily expanding membership of the OPCW, now encompassing over 95% of the global population, as well as 98% of the relevant global chemical industry. The broad coverage of this disarmament treaty, the most complex and comprehensive international agreement of its kind ever to be adopted, grants States party to the CWC an ever more robust assurance that chemical weapons will no longer be developed, produced, stockpiled, used or transferred.
Six States Parties have declared chemical weapons and must destroy over eight million items, including munitions and containers — in total, over seventy-one thousand metric tonnes of extremely toxic chemical agents. By comparison, one drop of a nerve agent, no larger than the head of a pin, can kill an adult within minutes after exposure.
Every Member State must introduce and apply legislation to make the development, production, use, stockpiling or transfer of chemical weapons by any person or group illegal. Severe penalties must be imposed should this crime be committed. Each Member State is obliged to provide other Member States with its fullest cooperation so as to expedite prosecution.
To make sure that the Convention is implemented effectively, Member States are obliged to designate or establish a “National Authority”. This body participates in and coordinates OPCW inspections of relevant industrial or military sites, makes initial and annual declarations, participates in assisting and protecting those Member States which are threatened by, or have indeed suffered, a chemical attack, and fosters the peaceful uses of chemistry. In addition, the National Authority acts as the focal point in the State Party's interaction with other States Parties and the OPCW's Technical Secretariat. The OPCW Technical Secretariat has established a coordinated mechanism to support Member States in their national implementation of the Convention. The focus of this work is to provide advice and assistance to the staff of National Authorities in order to help them enhance their skills and expertise.
100% of the declared chemical weapons production facilities (CWPFs) have been deactivated. All are subjected to a verification regime of unprecedented stringency. Over 75% of the declared CWPFs have been eliminated. Over 25% of the 8.6 million chemical munitions and containers covered by the Convention have been verifiably destroyed. Over 14% of the world's declared stockpiles of approximately 71,000 metric tonnes of chemical agent have been verifiably destroyed. Over 2,000 on-site inspections have been conducted in over 70 States Parties to verify compliance with the CWC.
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