OPCW Director-General addresses high-level meeting to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Chemical Weapons Convention

Address by H.E. Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, New York, 27 September 2007

Distinguished Co-Chairpersons, H.E. the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a unique and singular honour for me to welcome you to this High-Level Meeting convened especially to commemorate one of the most outstanding disarmament achievements of our times.

While the symbolic theme of our rally is the Tenth Anniversary of the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), we have in reality come together to reaffirm and rededicate ourselves to peace and to progress.

This is a meeting which echoes our collective resolve for a more humane, a more cooperative and a peaceful world.

This is a gathering that unequivocally upholds the value of multilateralism whose fruits we reap every day in the work of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

I express my deepest gratitude to you all especially to Their Excellencies, the Foreign Ministers, who have spared time from their busy schedules to participate in this meeting.

Your presence makes this a truly memorable event.

I would like to thank the Governments of Poland and The Netherlands for their efforts in organising this meeting. I wish, in particular to express my sincere appreciation to Her Excellency Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga of Poland and His Excellency Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen of the Netherlands, the two co-chairs for their strong support which made this event possible. I have no doubt that under their able guidance, this meeting will be a resounding success.

I also express my sincere appreciation to His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations for his presence which follows the contribution his Secretariat has made in organising this event.

While we are not formally part of the United Nations family, we are joined together in our common quest for the promotion of international peace and security, as obligated on us – and accepted by us all – in the United Nations Charter.

We meet today to pay homage to the memory of countless victims across the world who suffered the cruel effects of the use of chemical weapons. From the fields of Ieper and other battlefields of the Great War, to Halabja, the Iran-Iraq conflict and the terrorist attack in the Tokyo subway, those dreadful arms were extensively used prior to the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The suffering victims were not just soldiers, but also innocent children, elderly and other civilians. Their suffering will continue to sustain our determination to fulfil the noble goals of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

We are thus gathered to express our determination to prevent the recurrence of unspeakable horrors. To a significant degree, we can ensure this through the full implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the first treaty to ban an entire category of weapons of mass destruction in a non-discriminatory way and under strict multilateral verification.

Much has been accomplished in the first decade of the OPCW.

Indeed, concrete progress has been achieved in eliminating what were inordinately large stockpiles of chemical weapons.

Today, nearly 25,000 metric tons of chemical weapons have been certified by the OPCW as destroyed. This represents approximately 35% of the declared stockpiles worldwide. 11 facilities where these weapons are being destroyed are currently in operation in 5 countries. I commend the possessor states for their efforts in destroying chemical weapons and for their commitment to the obligations under the Convention.

As regards chemical weapons production facilities, 94% of the 65 such units declared by 12 States Parties have either been destroyed or converted for peaceful purposes in accordance with the Convention.

Furthermore, it is now almost a daily occurrence for the chemical industry somewhere in the world to be inspected as part of the non-proliferation programme of the Convention.

All in all, more than 3000 inspections have been carried out by OPCW inspection teams at approximately 1100 military and industrial sites in 80 countries.

The OPCW has developed assistance and protection procedures and international cooperation programs for the benefit of all its Member States.

Over 5,600 participants have benefited from 500 activities in the area of international cooperation in the peaceful uses of chemistry.

The confidence that the international community places in the value of the Convention is manifest in the swelling ranks of our Membership that today stands at 182 States encompassing 98% of the global population.

We are committed to banishing forever one of the most abhorrent means of warfare and destruction. And we translate our words into deeds by working together on the basis of equality and by demonstrating concrete progress in disarmament and non-proliferation through the work of the OPCW.

We enjoy the support not just of governments but of the global chemical industry. This is a unique example in the history of arms control – a hallmark of the OPCW. Without the cooperation of the industry, the ideals of the Convention would not be attainable.

Excellencies,

The ethos of cooperation and consensus we have built at the OPCW, engenders hope that we can deal effectively with the business that remains unfinished. And indeed there is no denying or discounting the challenges that lie ahead.

Foremost amongst those is to ensure that all declared chemical weapons are destroyed, completely and irreversibly, by 29 April 2012. This solemn obligation demands unremitting efforts on the part of major possessor States.

Once chemical disarmament is completed, the non-proliferation agenda will continue to be the focus of our activities. We have to ensure that the non-proliferation regime under the Convention remains effective. This will require continued refinement and higher intensity of our industry verification efforts so that all categories of relevant facilities contemplated in the Convention are adequately covered.

We must also convince the remaining 13 states not party to join the Convention. This is critical for there to be complete confidence that chemical weapons have indeed been eliminated from every country. Not joining the Convention is devoid of any moral, ethical or strategic justifications.

Ensuring that all our States Parties continue to make steady progress towards full implementation of the Convention in their domestic jurisdictions is also a vital objective, especially, as it constitutes the most practical means of addressing the contemporary threats relating to chemical terrorism.

Effective domestic implementation also means fulfilling the requirements of UN Security Council resolution 1540. The OPCW with its institutional capacity and experience is uniquely placed to advance the objectives of that resolution.

The possibility of the use of chemical weapons by terrorists, has created a renewed interest in the ability of the OPCW to coordinate the delivery of emergency assistance to States Parties in case of an attack or the threat of an attack with chemical weapons. The OPCW’s Assistance and Protection programmes include elements for building the national capacities of our States Parties to deal with the threats or actual incidents involving the use of chemical weapons or toxic chemicals.

And finally, the OPCW will in the coming years be required to respond to the inexorable march of science and technology and developments in the field of chemistry and production technology. Decisions will be needed to ensure that the Convention’s hard earned prohibitions remain relevant for all time.

Excellencies,

Ultimately the success of the OPCW is owed to the commitment of its Member States, to all of you who have spared no effort in building an efficient and vibrant multilateral Organisation.

This High-Level Meeting and the broad participation that it has attracted are a clear testimony of the dedication and goodwill of our Member States. We have witnessed this loyalty throughout this special year.

In a widely attended solemn ceremony held at the OPCW on 9 May, Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands unveiled a monument dedicated to all victims of chemical weapons. Her Majesty’s presence at the OPCW was symbolic of the strong support The Netherlands provides to the OPCW. I once again express my deep appreciation to the host nation.

I wish to conclude with words of gratitude and words of hope.

Thanks to your devotion, humankind’s long-standing aspiration to ban poison as a means of warfare has become a reality. It constitutes a living example of how the UN Charter and its principles for the promotion of international peace and security can be transformed into action.

The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction represents a global threat. It can jeopardize our very survival. The CWC effectively addresses this danger in its specific field, and it is incumbent upon us to cooperate with each other to achieve its ultimate goal.

The spirit of cooperation and collegiality that underpins our multilateral endeavours at the OPCW can also inspire the international community to yet greater strides in the service of peace, progress and harmony.

Let us together continue forward on our march towards a better and more secure future.

I thank you for your attention.

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Categories: 10th Anniversary, OPCW and the UN, Outreach