The Hague, 4 December 1997

Venezuela will be the 106th State joining the Convention banning Chemical Weapons. High expectations for Egypt and Israel to follow soon

"The first 200 days of the OPCW show that multilateral disarmament treaties can be made to work"

The Conference of the States Parties of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is expected to reach important decisions which will govern the conduct of its 1998 operations by 5 December, the closing date of its Second Session.

One hundred and eight delegations, represented by 433 participants, are present at the five-day session of the Conference. Two non-signatory States, Libya and Botswana, are also in attendance.

In his opening statement, Mr José M. Bustani, Director-General of the OPCW, provided an overview of the activities of the Organisation in its first 200 days. As he stated, the success of the Convention will depend on the success of the verification regime, a unique aspect of this Convention which differentiates it from other international organisations of its kind. As of this week, 115 initial inspections and visits had been concluded on the territory of 21 States Parties. These inspections were primarily concentrated on chemical weapons-related facilities and facilities producing small quantities of highly toxic chemicals for pharmaceutical and safety purposes.

Mr Bustani admitted that the declaration requirements for States Parties are extremely complex, and indicated that, because of the technicalities involved, some States had experienced difficulty in compiling the required information. As of last week, initial declarations had been received from 70 States. Some of these were, however, incomplete, while 31 had yet to submit an initial declaration. Mr Bustani warned that the absence of a declaration, or an incomplete one, could trigger challenge (short notice) inspections under a mechanism foreseen in the Convention. In this regard, Mr Bustani said that States Parties may wish to ponder whether it would be acceptable for a State Party which is itself in non-compliance to challenge another State Party for non-compliance.

Mr Bustani noted steady progress towards the universality of the Convention. Eighty-seven States were party to the Convention upon its entry into force, and this number, which will include all five permanent members of the UN Security Council, will have risen to 105 by the end of this week. A further 63 States are signatories to the Convention. The Director-General expressed the hope that other countries would join the Organisation in the near future. In particular he mentioned Ukraine and Kazakhstan, within the CIS, as well as Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, pointing out that accession by the latter State would be a major boost to regional security in Asia.

Announcing the imminent ratification of Venezuela as the 106th State Party, Mr Bustani expressed his hope that Israel, a signatory of the Convention, would take the final step of depositing its instrument of ratification. Taking the lead from Jordan's recent accession, Egypt could also take a fresh look at the Convention. The peace process in the Middle East would certainly benefit from these decisions, he felt.

In his statement to the Conference, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan, praised the Convention for playing an important role as a confidence-building measure, for providing for the exchange of technical know-how for peaceful purposes and therefore acting as a spur to additional disarmament initiatives. He told participants that they had created a unique tool for international peace, security and development.

The following issues were highlighted during the first days of this session of the Conference:

• Accession by Jordan and recent ratification of the Convention by Pakistan, Iran, Russian Federation and Nepal
• The need to ensure that all States Parties comply fully with all provisions of the Convention in a timely manner, in order to avoid discriminatory verification
• The need to approve a budget for operations in 1998, including agreement on how the costs of verifying destruction of chemical weapons facilities by the State Party concerned should be paid.

The Committee of the Whole, a subsidiary body of the Conference, has also been meeting to discuss a number of issues, including the draft budget for 1998. Discussions are being held on subjects which require decisions before the closing of the session, amongst which are the costs of verification, assistance and protection against chemical weapons, economic and technological development, industry declarations, confidentiality concerning samples taken off site, and old chemical weapons.