OPCW Director-General Pfirter (left) and AU Commission Chairperson Konaré signing the Memorandum of Understanding in Khartoum.
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| The Hague, 26 January 2006 | |||
On 24 January 2006, the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Professor Alpha Oumar Konaré, signed a Memorandum of Understanding during the Sixth Ordinary Session of the Summit of the African Union, held in Khartoum, the Sudan from 23 to 24 January 2006.
The Memorandum seeks to enhance cooperation between the two Organisations to implement the Chemical Weapons Convention and to achieve universality in Africa, in accordance with the decision adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union at Durban, South Africa in July 2002 (Decision AHG/Dec.181 (XXXVIII)).
The universality of the Convention in Africa, the effective national implementation of its provisions, and the increased participation by African Member States in the OPCW’s international cooperation programmes are the Memorandum’s key goals. This intensified cooperation will benefit African Member States’ economic and technological development, as well as helping to attain common goals in the field of peace, security and disarmament. The Memorandum also establishes an effective mechanism between the African Union Commission and the OPCW Technical Secretariat to collaborate in areas of mutual interest.
The Memorandum also foresees closer cooperation between the OPCW and the African Union in the implementation of the decisions of the Conference of the States Parties to the CWC on the Action Plan for national implementation, as well as other decisions adopted by the policy-making organs of the two institutions, relating to arms control and chemical weapons disarmament.
At the signing ceremony, African Union Commission Chairperson Konaré stated that cooperation with the OPCW is important for the African Union in achieving peace and security on the continent, as well as contributing towards the fulfilment of the African Union’s goal of establishing a chemical weapons-free zone in Africa. Director-General Pfirter said that the Memorandum serves to solidify and deepen the already existing cooperation between the African Union and the OPCW, thus promoting the universal and effective implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention in Africa and to foster the peaceful uses of chemistry.
The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is an international, multilateral disarmament treaty which bans the development, production, stockpiling, transfer and use of chemical weapons. The States Parties to the CWC are obligated to declare any chemical weapons-related activities, to secure and destroy any stockpiles of chemical weapons within the stipulated deadlines, as well as to inactivate and eliminate any chemical weapons production capacity within their jurisdiction.
The CWC entered into force in 1997 and mandated the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to eliminate chemical weapons forever. The OPCW verifies the irreversible destruction of declared chemical weapons stockpiles, as well as the elimination of all declared chemical weapons production facilities. The OPCW Member States, together with OPCW inspectors, monitor the non-diversion of chemicals for activities prohibited under the CWC and verify the consistency of industrial chemical declarations. In addition, OPCW States Parties undertake to provide protection and assistance, if chemical weapons have been used against a State Party, or if such weapons threaten a State Party. The CWC also calls for international cooperation in the peaceful use of chemistry.
The CWC is the single disarmament agreement that in its daily application around the world is used to verify the on-going elimination of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction, chemical weapons. OPCW inspections are conducted in dozens of countries, where both military and industrial sites are subject to verification. The verification procedures and the declaration obligations of the States Parties are applied in an entirely non-discriminatory manner, following protocols negotiated and adopted in intensive and transparent multilateral negotiations. All States Parties enjoy the same rights and bear the same obligations, regardless of their declared possession of chemical weapons.
The global chemical weapons ban is approaching universality: as of 11 November 2005, 175 States are party to the CWC and have taken the sovereign decision to renounce chemical weapons in perpetuity, while voluntarily complying with a strict verification regime. Together, these countries form the OPCW. Only 19 States have not as yet acceded or ratified the CWC. Every country is urged to accede to, or ratify, the Chemical Weapons Convention so that the development, production, stockpiling, transfer and use of chemical weapons is illegal everywhere. Universality of the CWC is a key priority in establishing a global and permanent ban of chemical weapons.
The CWC's international jurisdiction and deterrent effect is bolstered by the steadily expanding membership of the OPCW, now encompassing over 95% of the global population, as well as 98% of the relevant global chemical industry. The broad coverage of this disarmament treaty, the most complex and comprehensive international agreement of its kind ever to be adopted, grants States party to the CWC an ever more robust assurance that chemical weapons will no longer be developed, produced, stockpiled, used or transferred.
Six States Parties have declared chemical weapons and must destroy over eight million items, including munitions and containers —in total, over seventy-one thousand metric tonnes of extremely toxic chemical agents. By comparison, one drop of a nerve agent, no larger than the head of a pin, can kill an adult within minutes after exposure.
Every Member State must introduce and apply legislation to make the development, production, use, stockpiling or transfer of chemical weapons by any person or group illegal. Severe penalties must be imposed should this crime be committed. Each Member State is obliged to provide other Member States with its fullest cooperation so as to expedite prosecution.
To make sure that the Convention is implemented effectively, Member States are obliged to designate or establish a “National Authority”. This body participates in and coordinates OPCW inspections of relevant industrial or military sites, makes initial and annual declarations, participates in assisting and protecting those Member States which are threatened by, or have indeed suffered, a chemical attack, and fosters the peaceful uses of chemistry. In addition, the National Authority acts as the focal point in the State Party's interaction with other States Parties and the OPCW's Technical Secretariat. The OPCW Technical Secretariat has established a coordinated mechanism to support Member States in their national implementation of the Convention. The focus of this work is to provide advice and assistance to the staff of National Authorities in order to help them enhance their skills and expertise.
100% of the declared chemical weapons production facilities (CWPFs) have been deactivated. All are subjected to a verification regime of unprecedented stringency. Over 75% of the declared CWPFs have been eliminated. Over 25% of the 8.6 million chemical munitions and containers covered by the Convention have been verifiably destroyed. Nearly 17% of the world's declared stockpiles of approximately 71,000 metric tonnes of chemical agent have been verifiably destroyed. Over 2,000 on-site inspections have been conducted in over 70 States Parties to verify compliance with the CWC.
For further information please contact: Media and Public Affairs Branch, + 31 (0) 70 416 3710, media@opcw.org,
Johan de Wittlaan 32, 2517 JR The Hague, The Netherlands.