The Hague, 27 October 2003

Chemical Weapons Convention Conference Closes

The Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, convened in the Hague from 20 to 24 October 2003, ended its eighth session on Friday, 24 October 2003. Delegations from 116 of the Organisation’s 157 Member States (including the Contracting States Parties Kyrgyzstan and Cape Verde) attended. In addition two Signatory States, Israel and Chad, as well as two non-Signatory States, Iraq and Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, participated in the Conference as Observer States.

The Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force on 29 April 1997. The Convention's implementing agency, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), aims to achieve four principal objectives: the elimination of chemical weapons and 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 in the peaceful use of chemistry.

The Conference considered and approved decisions on the extension of the intermediate deadlines for the destruction of the declared chemical weapons stockpiles held by three States Parties.

29 April 2007 has been set up as the revised, intermediate deadline for the destruction of 20% of the chemical weapons declared by the Russian Federation.

In full accordance with their obligations under the Convention, the Russian Federation, the United States and another State Party have been granted extensions of the final date of destruction for 45% of their respective stockpiles. The Conference further approved 31 December 2007 as the final date of destruction for 45% of the United States’ chemical weapons stockpile.

The deadline for the destruction of 100% of the chemical weapons stockpiles held by the Russian Federation and the United States, 29 April 2007, has also been extended in principle, in compliance with the Convention’s stipulations on final destruction.

To achieve universal adherence to the Convention, the Conference approved an action plan on the implementation of the obligatory national measures to ban chemical weapons and took note of the action plan on the universality of the Convention, adopted by the Executive Council.

The Conference also approved a 6.7% increase in the 2004 budget. The budget now totals € 73,153,390.