OPCW Director-General Addresses OAS Hemispheric Security Committee in Washington

At the invitation of the Chair of the Committee on Hemispheric Security of the Organization of American States (OAS), H.E. Ambassador Javier Sancho Bonilla, the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, addressed the Special Meeting of the Committee on Combating the Proliferation of Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Weapons, their Delivery Systems, and Related Materials, at the OAS Headquarters in Washington, D.C. U.S.A. on 11 December 2006.

In his address to the OAS Committee on Hemispheric Security, Director-General Pfirter gave an overview of the status of the implementation of the CWC, highlighting the broad range of the Organisation’s activities in the region, which include training, workshops on implementation support, assistance and protection against the threat or use of chemical weapons and industry verification. Director-General Pfirter noted that the interaction between the OAS and the OPCW has jointly contributed to their shared goal of a chemical-weapons-free region, as foreseen by the CWC and the OAS General Assembly’s Resolution 2107 (XXXV-O/05), adopted on 7 June 2005, establishing the Americas as a biological- and chemical-weapons free zone. These efforts emphasized the OPCW’s commitment to the region. Director-General Pfirter also drew attention to the OPCW’s close interaction with the OAS in supporting States Parties to fulfil their obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

During his visit, Director-General Pfirter met the Chair of the OAS Committee on Hemispheric Security, H.E. Ambassador Javier Sancho Bonilla, Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the Organization of American States.

The Chemical Weapons Convention has achieved universality in the continental Americas.

PR96 / 2006

Categories: OPCW and the UN