Status of Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention is Reviewed Once Again at the Fifth Session of the Executive Council of the OPCW

The Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) held its Fifth Session at the Netherlands Congress Centre in The Hague, from 29 September to 1 October 1997. In his opening statement to the Council, the Director-General of the OPCW, Mr José M. Bustani, presented an overview of the principal activities undertaken by the Technical Secretariat since the Council's Fourth Session. The Council was informed that the Secretariat had completed 77 inspections at chemical weapons-related and Schedule 1 sites in 17 States Parties. Since the Fourth Session of the Council, 9 chemical weapons-related inspections and 18 initial inspections at Schedule 1 facilities had been conducted. An additional 7 initial inspections of Schedule 1 facilities are planned for completion by the end of October. The Secretariat was able to fulfil the requirement of the Convention that all declared former chemical weapons production facilities must receive an initial inspection between 90 to 120 days after entry into force. During the period 27 July - 25 August, 34 inspections of chemical weapons production facilities were carried out. Five transitional verification arrangements (TVAs) for chemical weapons destruction facilities have been completed. Three of these had been adopted by the Council at its Fourth Session and two more were approved at the Fifth Session. The Council also recommended to the Second Session of the Conference of the States Parties that it approve the request by one of the Member States to use its converted chemical weapons production facility for purposes not prohibited by the Convention.

A report on the status of implementation of the Convention submitted to the Council by the Director-General noted that to date, more than one third of initial declarations were still outstanding and a significant number of those received were still incomplete. As of 19 September, only 55 states had notified the OPCW of their National Authority. This is despite the fact that the Secretariat continues to offer support to States Parties in their preparation of overdue initial declarations. The Council again reiterated its concern that the number of national declarations and/or obligations and notifications submitted remains alarmingly low. The Council urged those States Parties which had not yet submitted their declarations or which had submitted incomplete declarations to fulfil their obligations without further delay. The Council requested the Secretariat to provide on a regular basis, a status report containing information on the submission of the initial declarations and notifications required and relevant for the implementation of inspection and verification activities, all notifications pertaining to Schedule 1 transfers and the dates of submission in conformity with the Convention on each Member State.

The Director-General also informed the Council that, under Article X of the Convention (related to assistance and protection against chemical weapons) States Parties have the obligation to elect one or more of the three possible measures set out in the Convention to provide assistance and protection against chemical weapons to other States Parties through the Organisation, by the deadline of 26 October. Despite the marked improvement in the collection of assessed contributions following an arrangement reached at the Fourth Session of the Council, approximately 50% of States Parties, representing 18.6% of the total assessments, have not yet made payments to the OPCW. The Council urged those States Parties whose assessed contributions were still outstanding, in whole or in part, to meet their financial contributions forthwith. The Director-General also informed the Council that the Secretariat will start the training for the second group of Inspectorate candidates on 5 January 1998 but at that point, may only be able to identify 70 to 75 qualified candidates for this group, as opposed to the original target of 90. The shortfall will be in the areas of chemical weapons/munitions specialists and paramedics. These inspectors will complete their training and will be ready for employment with the OPCW in July 1998.

The Council emphasised the importance of ensuring the universality of the Convention, in particular, by encouraging those states which have neither ratified nor acceded to the Convention to do so as soon as possible. For this purpose, the Council endorsed the decision of the Director-General to meet with representatives of those states, which have neither ratified nor acceded, during his visit to the United Nations in mid-October, in an effort to enhance the universality of the Convention. The Council further recognised that universality may have special relevance to all states with security concerns.

The Director-General presented his views on the draft OPCW Programme of Work and Budget for 1998. The draft budget currently proposed amounts to approximately Dfl. 130 million. The Council received the first report of the Advisory Body on Administrative and Financial Matters on this issue and a simplified version of the draft agreement concerning the relationship between the United Nations and the OPCW. Consultations on both these issues will be conducted between the Fifth and Sixth Sessions of the Council, in order that the Second Session of the Conference of the States Parties may take a formal decision.

Among other issues, the Secretariat was requested to prepare a paper on financial and resource implications of a request that all notifications and inspection reports, as well as all agreements concluded between the Secretariat and individual States Parties, would be translated into an official language chosen by the State Party in question. The Director-General provided an update on the status of the revised security study for the electronic data management system (EDMS). The Secretariat intends to meet interested delegations and the audit team to discuss this issue during the intersessional period. The Director-General has undertaken to implement the recommendations of the revised security study as soon as possible, particularly those measures also previously identified by the Security Audit Team as being essential. The issue of transfers of saxitoxin (a chemical listed on Schedule 1 of the Convention) for medical/diagnostic use, was also considered. Informal consultations will be conducted on this issue, during the intersessional period, in the context of two papers submitted by Australia and Canada. Finally, at the First Session of the Conference of the States Parties, a procedure had been adopted for addressing unresolved issues, carried forward from the Preparatory Commission and the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole, Ambassador Figueroa of Argentina informed the Council about the designation of facilitators and their respective assignment of issues.

The Council will meet again for its Sixth Session, from 28-31 October 1997.

PR18/1997

Categories: Executive Council