Executive Council of the OPCW concludes its second session in The Hague

The Second Session of the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was held in The Hague from 23-27 June at the Netherlands Congress Centre in The Hague. The 41 member Executive Council is tasked with supervising the activities of the OPCW on behalf of its Member States. The Council considered the report by the Director-General of the OPCW, Mr José M. Bustani on the status of implementation of the Convention, which included a review of the receipt of initial declarations from States Parties to the Convention, and the current status of the processing of these declarations. The Council recognised the vital importance and urgency of the full and effective implementation of the Convention and the necessity for the States Parties to fulfill, without exception, their obligations under the terms of the Convention. The Council expressed its concern that a significant number of States Parties had not yet submitted National Declarations and/or obligatory notifications. Since some States Parties may be facing certain practical difficulties in this regard, the Council requested the Director-General, using appropriate resources of the Secretariat, to take actions to assist States Parties in submitting their Declarations and Obligatory Notifications and requested him to table a further progress report for discussion at its next Session.

The Council discussed the issue of access and clearance for access to confidential information and declaration processing. It took note of the concerns raised by a number of States Parties in relation to the envisaged number of staff who will have clearance for access to their declarations, including confidential data contained therein. Member States were assured by the Director-General that clearance for access did not, in itself, automatically mean that access would be granted. Access to individual declarations would only be granted on a strict "need to know" basis. The Council also took note of a statement by the Director-General that, on the basis of the Confidentiality Annex of the Convention and the OPCW Confidentiality Policy, the Secretariat had almost finished its preparations of detailed procedures in relation to the registration, protection, handling, archiving and destruction of confidential information. It was noted that these procedures were intended to rapidly implement the "need to know" principle as well as to keep a comprehensive audit trail that would allow the Secretariat to trace any access to confidential information pertaining to a State Party. The Director-General also stated that a revised notification, listing the staff cleared for access to confidential information, would be issued shortly through the designated channels of communication. The Council requested the Secretariat to complete the procedures referred to above as soon as possible and to report on their implementation to the next Session of the Council. Meanwhile, the Secretariat will access to the declarations of any Member State containingconfidential data to the minimum number of staff necessary to meet operational requirements.

The Council held a preliminary discussion on the Provisional Interim Staff Rules as well as the Financial Rules of the OPCW and decided to defer finalisation of these items to a later Session. Council members were encouraged to conduct informal consultations during the intersessional period in order to enable the Council to take appropriate decisions on these issues at the earliest opportunity. In accordance with the decision of the First Session of the Conference of the States Parties (FSCSP), the Council appointed the Auditor-General of India, Mr V.K. Shunglu as the First External Auditor of the OPCW for a single period of three years. The Council will report these decisions to the Conference of the States Parties at its Second Session. In accordance with the Financial Regulations of the OPCW, approved by the FSCSP, the Council decided to establish an Advisory Body on Administrative and Financial issues. This body shall be open-ended and without decision-making powers. The decision will become binding if no objections from Council Members are received within a week. This being the case, the Director-General will circulate a note in this regard on 4 July, inviting States Parties to appoint experts of recognised standing in the financial and administrative fields to serve on the Advisory Body. These experts will be provided at no cost to the OPCW. The Council will review the operation of this body after some experience of its functioning has been gained.

At its First Session in May this year, the Council had approved the "Guidelines for the Assessment and Approval of Transitional Verification Arrangements for Chemical Weapons Destruction Facilities Operational during the First 390 Days after Entry into Force". According to the Verification Annex of the Convention, such arrangements, including a transitional facility agreement, provisions for verification through on-site inspection and monitoring with on-site instruments, and the time frame for application- of the arrangements, shall be agreed between the OPCW and the inspected State Party. It had been envisaged that the Secretariat would be in a position to submit transitional verification arrangements for three chemical weapons destruction facilities located in the United States of America, which were operational at entry into force for approval by the Second Session of the Council. Whilst all of the extensive preparatory work necessary for the preparation of these documents had been completed it was not possible for the Secretariat and the Member State concerned to reach final agreement on the documents in time for them to be submitted to the Council at this session. The Council expressed its concern that, despite the requirements of the Convention, the documents were not ready for its consideration and urged both Parties concerned to increase their efforts to finalise the drafts as quickly as possible.

It was decided to hold additional regular Sessions of the Council for the remainder of 1997on the following dates: 29 July to 1 August; 1-5 September; 29 September to 3 October, and 27 October to 31 October.

The number of States that have deposited an instrument of ratification or accession of the Convention with the Secretary-General of the United Nations now stands at ninety-five. The number of States who have signed the Convention but have not yet deposited an instrument of ratification is seventy-two.

PR5/1997

Categories: Executive Council