PR19: Botswana Accedes to the CWC

The Hague, 1 September 1998			Number 19

Press Release

Botswana Accedes to the CWC

On 31 August 1998 Botswana deposited its instrument of accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention with the Secretary-General of the United Nations in New York.

Botswana will therefore become the 115th State Party to the Convention on 30 September 1998, 30 days after depositing its instrument of accession. The number of signatory States, i.e. those that have signed the Convention, but which have yet to ratify it, currently stands at 54.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which came into existence in The Hague on 29 April 1997, is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Convention. The verification provisions of the Convention consist of a combination of detailed declaration requirements and routine inspections of declared stocks of chemical weapons and chemical industry facilities, as well as of short-notice challenge inspections at any location under the jurisdiction or control of any State Party.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) came into existence on 29 April 1997. Its deed of foundation—the Chemical Weapons Convention—aims to achieve four principal objectives: the elimination of chemical weapons and of 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 and assistance in the peaceful use of chemistry.

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