Workshop for CARICOM Members on Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention Held in the Bahamas

The workshop, organised by the OPCW in collaboration with the CARICOM Secretariat and Government of the Bahamas, was held in Nassau on 23-24 June 2011 and attracted participants from 14 CARICOM Member States.*

The workshop was designed to build on the ongoing efforts for the effective implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention in the region. As a model international treaty in the area of weapons of mass destruction, the Convention and its implementation offer a highly relevant example towards the fulfilment of other similar obligations, such as those established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) and its renewed mandate, UNSCR 1977.

The workshop in Nassau also covered the import and export provisions of the Convention and highlighted the importance of port and border controls, with specific emphasis on the role of customs authorities.

In his address to the opening session the Hon. T. Brent Symonette, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Bahamas, stated that it is imperative for CARICOM  Member States to close security gaps and ensure that effective and responsive monitoring systems are established.

“One of the most significant obligations we have as nation states is the enactment of legislation, inter alia, to criminalise the use of chemical agents as weapons of mass destruction and to expedite prosecution relating thereto,” Mr Symonette said. “For our part the Bahamas is firmly committed to disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery, which constitute threats to peace and security nationally, regionally and globally.”


* Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago

Categories: Latin America and the Caribbean, Regional focus