Establishing a Universal Chemical Weapons Ban in the Caribbean

The Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and the Secretariat of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) jointly organized a workshop on the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia from 28 to 29 November 2005. Participants discussed strategies to achieve the universal and effective application of the CWC in the Caribbean, the benefits of adherence to the Treaty, and their experiences in national implementation. This sub-regional workshop was made possible through the funding provided by the European Union’s joint action in support of OPCW activities in 2005.

The workshop was designed to increase awareness of the CWC and its related obligations among member States of the OECS, as well as Caribbean States that have not joined the CWC. Five OPCW and OECS Member States —Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines— as well as the Embassies of the Eastern Caribbean States in Brussels shared their expertise in implementing the treaty with the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti, which are States from the wider region that are preparing to join the CWC.

In her opening statement, Dr Vasantha Chase, Director of the Social and Sustainable Development Division of the OECS Secretariat, noted that the OPCW had previously organised similar workshops in St Lucia in 1998 and 2001. She stated that with the assistance of the OPCW the model legislation was prepared, leading to the passage in 2001 of the Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Act that “has been accepted by the OPCW as a model for international replication…and that will assist Member States in fulfilling their obligations under the Convention.”

In his welcoming address to the workshop participants on behalf of the OPCW, Mr Santiago Oñate Laborde, the OPCW Legal Adviser, affirmed that the workshop “provides a golden opportunity to build upon last year's resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the Organisation of American States (OAS) on the creation of a biological- and chemical-weapons-free region”. The OPCW's Legal Adviser also indicated that in order to promote the cause of peace and security, “we still need the membership and support of every State in this region and throughout the world, and a firm commitment from each country represented in this room.”

During the workshop, Haiti announced that its instrument of ratification of the Convention will shortly be submitted to the United Nations. Moreover, the workshop participants also took advantage of the opportunity to establish contacts and hold informal consultations, with a view to achieving a quick process for adopting the CWC, and a streamlined process for implementing it in a timely and effective manner.

80/2005

Categories: Latin America and the Caribbean, Universality