PR02: The OPCW Completes 1000 Days

The Hague, 25 January 2000			Number 02

Press Release

The OPCW Completes 1000 Days

Today, the OPCW marks the completion of its first 1000 days of its existence. In the last 1000 days, the OPCW has made great strides towards its goal of a world free of chemical weapons.

The world's declared stockpile of 70,000 tonnes of chemical weapons and over 8 million munitions and bulk containers have been inspected and are subject to a stringent international verification regime.
Three of the four countries that have declared possession of chemical weapons are now actively destroying their chemical weapons under continuous OPCW monitoring.
More than a million chemical weapons and 4000 tonnes of chemical warfare agents have been destroyed.
The 60 declared chemical weapons production facilities in the world have all been inspected and sealed; 20 have been certified as destroyed and 5 have been approved for conversion to other purposes.
To prevent proliferation of these weapons, a stringent industrial verification regime has been put in place, inspecting facilities that produce or consume "dual use" chemicals that can be used for both peaceful purposes and to create chemical weapons.
More than 90% of the world's 6 billion people live in countries that have ratified the Convention.
The OPCW serves as a focal point for several international cooperation projects in peaceful uses of chemistry.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) came into existence on 29 April 1997. Its deed of foundation—the Chemical Weapons Convention—aims to achieve four principal objectives: the elimination of chemical weapons and of the capacity to develop them, the verification of non-proliferation, international assistance and protection in the event of the use or threat of use of chemical weapons, and international cooperation and assistance in the peaceful use of chemistry.

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