PR41: OPCW Member States Urged to Present Candidates

The Hague, 3 June 2002			Number 41

Press Release

OPCW Member States Urged to Present Candidates

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The Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) convened its Eighteenth Meeting on 31 May 2002 under the chairmanship of Ambassador H.E. Lionel Fernando of Sri Lanka, who assumed this office on 12 May 2002.

The Executive Council decided to urge all OPCW Member States, in particular developing countries, to present qualified candidates for the post of the Director-General of the Technical Secretariat as soon as possible.

The candidates should be presented to the Executive Council no later than 24 June 2002.

The Twenty-Ninth Executive Council Session, to be held from 25 to 28 June 2002, will review the situation in order to make an early recommendation on the appointment of the Director-General to the Conference of the States Parties.

As foreseen by the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Director-General shall be appointed by the Conference of the States Parties upon the recommendation of the Executive Council.

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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