Italy Provides OPCW Medical and Logistical Support for Protection against Chemical Weapons

The Italian Republic has made a substantial contribution to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to strengthen the OPCW’s ability to provide assistance and protection should any OPCW Member State be stricken or threatened by chemical weapons attack.

The Italian Government’s offer follows Italy’s significant financial contribution to the OPCW Fund for assistance.

Under the Chemical Weapons Convention, every State Party has the right to request the OPCW’s assistance and protection if a chemical weapons attack occurs, or if any activity prohibited by the Convention threatens any State Party. The 178 OPCW Member States have an obligation to prepare for such a request by contributing to a common Fund for assistance, or by pledging to provide specialized personnel, equipment and logistical support for the swift and effective delivery of assistance, if a request is received.

H.E. Ambassador Mario Brando Pensa, Italy’s Permanent Representative to the OPCW, specified that the offer of assistance includes a doctor and team of experts for decontamination that can be deployed within 24 hours of the receipt of a request for assistance. The team will be transported with a national aircraft. This assistance can be further expanded by using a navy vessel, carrying one helicopter and one heavy tank track. Ambassador Pensa underscored that this offer reaffirms the importance the Italian Government places upon ensuring that the OPCW is able to respond to a request for assistance and protection against the use, or threat of use, of chemical weapons.

The Italian offer of assistance also provides for training in chemical detection, disaster management and fire fighting. Training in preparation for a possible incident involving chemical weapons is of crucial importance since an effective first response minimizes casualties.

OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, commended the Italian offer as another noteworthy example of Italy’s long-standing support for both the full implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the OPCW’s mission. On behalf of the OPCW, Director-General Pfirter thanked the Italian Government for its resolve to expeditiously deliver the support any stricken Member State has a right to expect. He urged all Member States to bear the latent threat of chemical terrorism in mind when reviewing their own national protection capacity, as well as their national response strategy, should any of their number be attacked or threatened. Director-General Pfirter expressed the hope that Italy’s offer will spur similar offers of assistance so that the Convention’s objective of providing the fullest protection to all Member States around the world can be met.

Chemical weapons are banned because their use causes indiscriminate mass causalities, primarily targeting the unprotected and the vulnerable. Historically, the effects of chemical weapons upon civilian populations have been devastating. Protection and assistance is crucially important to ensure the safety of civilian populations.

Each OPCW Member State has joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, forever renouncing the development, production, stockpiling and use of these weapons, while assuming the permanent obligation to prevent the production of new weapons. The Chemical Weapons Convention became international law in 1997. It establishes a total ban on these weapons, stipulating their non-proliferation and the time-bound elimination of all chemical weapons stockpiles and production capacity under international verification.

PR38 / 2006

Categories: Assistance and Protection