The Hague, 31 October 2003

First Regional Meeting of National Authorities of States Parties in Asia Held in Singapore

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and The Government of Singapore jointly organised the First Regional Meeting of National Authorities of States Parties in Asia from 29 to 31 October 2003. Around 40 participants from 28 States Parties of the OPCW participated in this three-day meeting: Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, China, India, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Republic of Korea, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, and Yemen.

The OPCW Director-General, Mr Rogelio Pfirter, noted in his opening address that, “Through full and effective compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), States Parties can make a decisive contribution to international peace and security. This is precisely the key role National Authorities are expected to play in the process. By ensuring that national industry makes accurate declarations, by assisting our inspection teams in their missions, or by advising national legislative branches in accordance with your constitutional procedures, you are providing the regime with the indispensable counterpart it needs to be operative.”

National Authorities are government bodies established to implement the Convention’s stipulations at the national level. This meeting contributes to the on-going efforts by the OPCW to establish a mechanism to support Member States in their national implementation of the Convention.

The objective of these conferences is to facilitate the exchange of information and experiences, to identify common problems and to facilitate their resolution through the cooperation of States Parties and the Secretariat, as well as to enhance the National Authority’s self-sufficiency in implementing the Convention’s stipulations.

During this workshops discussions took place to explain the aims and procedures of national implementation measures as stipulated under Article VII of the CWC. Representatives of the Asian and other interested National Authorities also had the opportunity to exchange information on the kind of systems and procedures that were in place to ensure the national implementation of the Convention. Deliberations also focused on the establishment of a regional network to support the continued implementation of the Convention, in particular in areas where collective action might be required, such as tracking transfers of scheduled chemicals, developing effective national implementing legislation, assistance and protection against chemical weapons, and procedures for clarification.