OPCW Signs Agreement on Procurement of Assistance with Peru

A Bilateral Agreement on Procurement of Assistance between the OPCW and the Republic of Peru was signed on 5 December 2011 at the Technical Secretariat in The Hague by Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü and H.E. Allan Wagner, Peru’s Permanent Representative to the OPCW. The Agreement was concluded by the Executive Council at its 66th Session in October.

The Agreement is only the second of its kind in the OPCW’s history, and the first to be signed with a State Party in the Latin America and Caribbean region. It was concluded in accordance with Article X of the Chemical Weapons Convention and establishes a legal framework for the provision of assistance offered by Peru to the OPCW. The Agreement designates the kind of support Peru can provide through the OPCW in the event that a State Party to the Convention requests assistance against the use, or threat of use, of chemical weapons.

In particular, the Agreement stipulates that Peru, upon request, will provide up to three emergency response teams: a search, rescue and HAZMAT team; a Peruvian National Police team with expertise in forensic investigations, explosive ordnance, chemical decontamination and detection; and a National Institute of Health team with toxicological investigation capacities and expertise in chemical risk evaluation, chemical emergencies and health response.Peru also offers a training course on emergency response in case of attack with chemical weapons or toxic industrial chemicals.