OPCW Director-General Addresses Basic Course For National Authorities in France

The OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, addressed a basic course for personnel of national authorities involved in implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) that was jointly organised by France’s National Authority and the OPCW from 22 to 26 September 2008 at the Training Centre for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (CEFFIAC) in Paris.

During his visit to Paris the Director-General also held discussions with high-level officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defence, who assured him of France’s continued strong support for the CWC and the work of the OPCW.

The basic course programme covered the history of chemical weapons, rights and obligations of States Parties, establishment of national authorities, verification and transfer regimes, and international cooperation in the field of chemistry, among other subjects. Representatives from 23 States Parties participated including from Argentina, Benin, Cambodia, Canada, Central African Republic, Cuba, Ethiopia, Georgia, Germany, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Poland, Republic of Korea, Senegal, Serbia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Zambia.

The course was opened by Captain Emmanuel Carlier, Deputy-Director for Proliferation Technology with the Strategic Affairs Delegation. Captain Carlier highlighted the importance of the CWC and the variety of challenges involved in implementation of the Convention, including those related to technological and scientific developments in chemistry.

The OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, visited CEFFIAC and addressed the course participants on 24 September. The Director-General thanked the government of France for its excellent preparations as well as the French presidency of the European Union for providing another opportunity to further its collaboration with the Technical Secretariat.

The Director-General stated that the steadfast political support of the international community to the CWC must continue to be translated into effective domestic implementation of the Convention in order to realise its goals and objectives. He added that the importance of the work by National Authorities in this context cannot be over-emphasised.

Mrs. Nathalie Guillou, Armaments Engineer General and Director of the Centre for Higher Armaments Studies, welcomed the Director-General to CEFFIAC on behalf of the French Ministry of Defence. She underlined the solid relationship that exists between the OPCW and CEFFIAC as demonstrated by the Centre’s training of inspectors since 1997 and of 150 National Authorities since 2005, and the first training for inspection escorts in October 2007.