Malta Meeting on a Universal Chemical Weapons Ban in the Mediterranean Basin and the Middle East

In conjunction with the Government of Malta, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) convened a Workshop on the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in Qawra, Malta from 5 to 7 May 2004. Conference participants met to conduct in-depth discussions to promote the widest possible adherence to the Convention, its full and effective implementation by all countries in the Mediterranean Basin and the Middle East region, to address strengthening States Parties’ capacity to effectively implement the global chemical weapons ban and to prevent the proliferation of these weapons of mass destruction.

The Workshop was attended by representatives from 22 Member States, two signatory States, the Comoros and Israel, as well as representatives from key regional organisations concerned with the issue of the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including the Council of the European Union, the League of Arab States and the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs.

In his welcoming address to the Workshop, Mr Gaetan Naudi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Investment Promotion of Malta, referred to the previous two CWC seminars organised in Malta and reiterated Malta’s firm belief that universal adherence to the Convention and effective implementation of the Convention’s regime to verify non-proliferation were of utmost importance for the full achievement of the global ban on chemical weapons. Mr. Naudi also expressed Malta’s complete support for the European Union’s action plan for the implementation of the basic principles of the Union’s strategy against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The Workshop focused on the Mediterranean Basin and the Middle East region, since a number of countries in the region have not yet pledged to ensure the total elimination of chemical weapons by joining the CWC. In responding to the growing concerns about the risk of the acquisition and use of weapons of mass destruction by non-state actors, the United Nation’s Security Council recently adopted Resolution 1540, binding all States to join the international treaties that ban weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons, and to ensure their non-proliferation. Resolution 1540 calls for the enactment and effective implementation of national legislation needed to prohibit, detect and prosecute any breach of the global chemical weapons ban, in particular to prevent these weapons from falling into the hands of non-state actors.

OPCW Director General, Mr Rogelio Pfirter, in his address to the Workshop, noted that ”the Chemical Weapons Convention is a indispensable legal instrument, well suited to addressing the problem of the terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction. This instrument will reach its full potential to provide protection against the use of chemical weapons when all States have joined the CWC and are implementing it conscientiously. To reach that goal, we intend to reach out to every country and to offer our support and assistance to simplify and speed their decision to join us, as well as to provide the support they may require to fully comply with this multilateral disarmament treaty.”

Director General Pfirter thanked the Government of Malta for its invaluable support for this meeting through its generous provision of facilities and sponsorship.

19/2004

Categories: Asia, Universality