The Hague, 5 March 2003

Andorra Accedes to the Chemical Weapons Convention

Andorra deposited its instrument of accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention with the Secretary General of the United Nations on 27 February 2003.

Thirty days after the deposit of its instrument of accession, on 29 March 2003, Andorra will become the 151st State Party to the Convention, and a Member State of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

The Chemical Weapons Convention is one of the United Nation’s 25 “core treaties”, which each U.N. Member State is urged to ratify to ensure security for all. Since the Convention entered into force in 1997, over three-quarters of the United Nations’ Member States have joined the OPCW. Of the remaining 43 States that are not as yet Member States, 25 States have signed, but await ratification of the Convention. A further 18 States have neither signed nor ratified the Convention, remaining outside the global ban on chemical weapons.

Andorra’s accession is particularly significant for the implementation of the chemical weapons ban in Europe: for the first time, the Convention is now in force throughout Europe, increasing the security of the entire population from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Sea.

In the past six months, the Organisation’s membership has been expanded by the accession or ratification of six new States Parties: Andorra, followed by Guatemala, Palau, Thailand, Samoa and St Vincent and the Grenadines. The continuing expansion of the membership of the Organisation confirms the international community’s trust in and commitment to a non-discriminatory, multilateral mechanism to eliminate and ban chemical weapons forever.