The Hague, 8 September 1998

Major Breakthroughs at Eleventh Session of the OPCW's Executive Council

At its Eleventh Session (1-4 September 1998) the Executive Council, the governing body of the OPCW, advanced the work of the Organisation by resolving the following two outstanding issues of fundamental importance to the effective and cost-efficient implementation of the Convention: the costs of verification under Articles IV and V of the Convention, and the approval of a model facility agreement as a basis for Schedule 2 plant site inspections (see Highlights below).

The session opened with the customary statement by Mr José Bustani, the Director-General of the OPCW, who announced that, with the recent ratification by Botswana, the number of States Parties had risen to 115. During the same session of the Council it was announced that Cyprus had become the 116th State Party to the Convention, leaving 53 States which have signed the Convention, but which have yet to ratify it (the precondition for full membership of the Organisation).

The Director-General also announced that the Secretariat had started Schedule 3 inspection activities. These inspections relate to Schedule 3 chemicals, amongst which are some chemicals which have historically been used as chemical weapons, but which also have many legitimate commercial uses. Most Schedule 3 chemicals are produced industrially and in very large quantities.

The Director-General announced that Albania had presented its initial declaration on 25 August, thus increasing to 82 the total number of initial declarations actually received, leaving 29 declarations still outstanding. The Islamic Republic of Iran made preliminary observations on its initial declaration, which it plans to submit prior to the Third Session of the Conference of the States Parties, which will take place from 16-20 November 1998.

The Council reaffirmed the importance of the timely submission by all States Parties of their initial declarations, and expressed grave concern that, as of the date of the report on the status of implementation presented at this session, a significant number of States Parties had still not submitted the initial declarations required under the Convention.

In his opening statement, the Director-General also made reference to the Draft OPCW Programme and Budget for 1999, now under discussion by the Council, and indicated that the amount currently being requested is 147 million guilders - a modest increase of approximately 6.2 million guilders in comparison with the 1998 appropriation.

Major Highlights of the Eleventh Session of the Council

The major achievement of this session of the Executive Council was the successful resolution of two issues of substantive importance, left unresolved since the conclusion of the preparatory phase of the Organisation, namely the costs of verification in relation to inspection of chemical weapons related facilities and the adoption of a model facility agreement for Schedule 2 plant sites.

The costs of verification: this long-standing issue was finally resolved on an ad referendum basis, subject to approval by the Council at its Twelfth Session, to the mutual satisfaction of those States Parties which are chemical weapons possessors and of those States Parties which do not possess chemical weapons. The successful resolution of this issue will pave the way for the future conduct of OPCW verification activities within a context which clearly defines their financial implications, as under the Convention "possessor’ States Parties are required to bear the costs of verification of their chemical weapons and related facilities. The Council has identified a formula which allows States Parties to calculate the very substantial amounts to be reimbursed to the Organisation - primarily for the inspection of chemical weapons destruction facilities, chemical weapons storage sites and chemical weapons productions facilities. The Council also agreed to examine further cost-effective ways and means of the long-term monitoring of chemical weapons-related facilities.

The model facility agreement approved for Schedule 2 plant sites provides an agreed framework within which details of all matters related to the conduct of inspections of Schedule 2 plant sites can be managed in the future. As facility agreements are mandatory for all chemical weapons destruction and production facilities, as well as for all Schedule 1 inspections and most Schedule 2 inspections, the completion of the model facility agreement for Schedule 2 plant sites is particularly significant. Schedule 2 inspections relate to those chemicals which are precursors to, or which, in some cases, can themselves be used as chemical weapons agents, but which also have a number of peaceful applications and commercial uses. The standard agreement now approved by the Council will ensure consistency in the conduct of these inspections in all States Parties to the Convention.