15th Session of the Conference of the States Parties Concludes

The 15th Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) concluded on Friday, 3 December 2010 with the adoption of a final report. Of the 188 States Parties to the CWC, 127 participated in this year’s Conference together with one signatory State (Israel), 10 international organisations and specialised agencies, and 15 NGOs.

Following are highlights of outcomes and decisions of the 15th Session contained in the final report:

Elections

• The Conference elected as its Chairperson Ambassador Julio Roberto Palomo Silva of Guatemala.
• The Conference elected representatives of 10 States Parties as Vice-Chairpersons of the Conference: Bolivia, Chile, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Italy, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Ukraine, and United States of America.
• The Conference elected, as Chairperson of the Committee of the Whole, Ambassador Vaidotas Verba of Lithuania.

Chemical Weapons Destruction

• The Conference considered and noted a report by the Director-General on the progress made by States Parties that have been granted extensions of deadlines for the destruction of their Category 1 chemical weapons.
• The Conference noted with concern that the final extended deadline of 29 April 2012 may not be fully met, and urged all possessor States Parties to take every necessary measure with a view to ensuring their compliance with the final extended destruction deadline.
• The Conference stressed in this regard that no action should be undertaken that would undermine the Chemical Weapons Convention (hereinafter “the Convention”) or that would raise questions about the commitment of States Parties, or lead to the rewriting of or reinterpreting of the Convention’s provisions.
• The Conference encouraged the Chairperson of the Executive Council to continue informal consultations on how and when to initiate discussion by the Council on issues related to meeting the final extended deadline for destruction of chemical weapons as mandated by the Council at its 58th Session.

Extension of Destruction Deadlines

• The Conference considered and adopted a decision on the extension of the intermediate deadlines for the destruction by the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of its Category 1 chemical weapons.

Implementation of Article X

• The Conference requested the Executive Council to continue its deliberations in regard to developing further measures for emergency assistance to Member States, including with regard to the victims of chemical weapons, as provided in Article X of the Convention, taking into account all proposals brought forward from the States Parties to the Conference at the 15th Session.

Annual report on implementation of the Convention

• The Conference considered and approved the report of the OPCW on the implementation of the Convention in 2009.

Election of Member States to the Executive Council

• The Conference elected 21 members for the following elective places on the Council for a term of two years, starting on 12 May 2011:
  • Africa: Cameroon, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda;
  • Asia: China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia;
  • Eastern Europe: Croatia, Hungary;
  • Latin America and the Caribbean: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico;
  • Western Europe and Other States: France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America.

2011 Programme and Budget

• The Conference considered and adopted the Programme and Budget of the OPCW for 2011, which the Executive Council had submitted to it.

Payment of annual contributions

• The Conference considered and approved the proposal for a multi-year payment plan to regularise the payment of outstanding annual contributions, and considered and noted the report on the status of implementation by States Parties of agreed multi-year payment plans.

Fostering international cooperation

• The Conference welcomed the holding of a workshop on Article XI of the Convention on 24 and 25 November 2010, and requested the Council to consider the outcome of the aforementioned workshop through the ongoing facilitation process on the full implementation of Article XI of the Convention.

Categories: C-15