The Hague, 22 May 2004

The Marshall Islands Join the Chemical Weapons Convention

On 19 May 2004, the Marshall Islands deposited its instrument of ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Depositary of the CWC. On 18 June 2004, thirty days after the deposit of its instrument of ratification, the Marshall Islands will become both the 163rd State Party to the Convention and Member State of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

In the past 12 months, steady growth in the OPCW’s membership has continued: 12 new Member States have joined the OPCW—Timor Leste, Tonga, Sao Tome and Principe, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Cape Verde, Belize, Libya, Tuvalu, Chad, Rwanda and the Marshall Islands.

The Marshall Islands, notably, is the fourth Pacific Island State to accede to the Convention within the past twelve months. Since Entry in Force of the CWC, membership among the Pacific Islands Forum countries has more than doubled. Now, all the Pacific Island States that signed the CWC in 1993 have ratified, and a further five Pacific Island States that had not previously signed the Convention have since joined the global chemical weapons ban. The Pacific Island Forum has called for universal adherence to the CWC.

In addition to ensuring the swift and permanent elimination of these terrible weapons, universal adherence to the CWC is a key factor in preventing the spread of these dangerous weapons and their precursors of mass destruction to non-state actors. In response to the increasing concerns about the terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction, the United Nations’ Security Council adopted Resolution 1540, obliging all countries in the world under law, including States that have not yet joined the CWC, to implement the CWC’s non-proliferation provisions.