OPCW	Secretariat
International Cooperation and Assistance Division
S/319/2002
18 September 2002
ENGLISH only
Unofficial electronic version

AN INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE

 TECHNICAL MEETING OF NATIONAL AUTHORITIES ON PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF THE TRANSFERS REGIME IN TERMS OF THE CURRENT IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION

RIVAS-VACIAMADRID (MADRID, SPAIN)

 28-29 NOVEMBER 2002

1.                  The Technical Secretariat (hereinafter the “Secretariat”) and the National Authority of Spain wish to invite the personnel of National Authorities to participate in the technical meeting related to the application of the transfers regime in terms of the current implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, to be held in Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Spain, on
28 and 29 November 2002.

2.                  The technical meeting will be devoted to issues relevant to the implementation of the import and export provisions of the Convention. The basic objective of the meeting is to contribute to developing the national capacities to comply with the obligations assumed by States Parties under the Convention. The importance of these issues has been underlined by the discussions held by States Parties over the past two years on industry-related matters, which appear to be heading towards fruition.

3.                  In view of the above, the aims of the technical meeting are as follows:

(a)                to facilitate the exchange of information and experiences as regards imports and exports of scheduled chemicals;

(b)               to facilitate the exchange of information and experiences as regards the legislative requirements to ensure that imports and exports of chemicals are consistent with the provisions of the Convention;

(c)                to identify common problems and to facilitate their resolution through cooperative efforts of States Parties and the Secretariat; and

(d)               to contribute to greater self-sufficiency of national implementation capacities.

4.                  Active participation of National Authority representatives is expected during the meeting and therefore their nominated representatives should be actually engaged in the implementation of these CWC-related matters.

5.                  The provisional list of topics for the technical meeting is contained in Annex 1 to this note.

6.         English-Spanish-English interpretation will be provided during the sessions.

7.         The Secretariat expects to be able to sponsor a limited number of participants. Nominations should specify whether sponsorship is a precondition for participation. For sponsored participants, the Secretariat will cover the costs of travel, accommodation, meals and medical insurance. It will also provide a limited subsistence allowance to cover sundry expenses of participants. The Secretariat will cover the cost of the accommodation only when such accommodation is arranged by it. Participants who do not intend to use the accommodation to be provided by the Secretariat are requested to inform the Secretariat as early as possible. The daily subsistence allowance will remain unchanged in case participants opt to make their own accommodation arrangements. In making travel arrangements for the sponsored participants, the Secretariat will use the most economical arrangements possible. Tickets will be purchased by the Secretariat and sent to participants. Participants will be allowed to purchase tickets locally only when this leads to further savings to the Secretariat and when this is authorised by the Secretariat in advance. Any costs due to changes or cancellations made by participants after the tickets are purchased shall to be borne by the participants.

8.                  Interested National Authorities are invited to submit the nomination of their representatives to participate in the technical meeting no later than 25 October 2002 using the form contained in annex 2 of this document.  The completed forms should be returned to the Director, International Cooperation and Assistance Division, OPCW, Johan de Wittlaan 32, NL-2517 JR The Hague, the Netherlands.  The forms may also be submitted by fax: +31-(0) 70-306 3535, or by e-mail: ipb@opcw.org. It is important that all the details requested on the form be provided, and that the form is fully completed, so that the Secretariat can communicate directly with the nominated participants. Please be advised that an OPCW acceptance letter is a prerequisite for the registration of the participants sponsored by the Secretariat.

9.         Participants requiring an entry visa for Spain are advised to contact the nearest diplomatic mission of Spain as soon as possible.

10.       Additional information about the course may be obtained from the Implementation Support Branch, International Cooperation and Assistance Division, which can be contacted as specified in paragraph 8 above.

Annexes:     Annex 1: Provisional programme

                   Annex 2: Registration form