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Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Chemical Weapons Convention Destruction of Chemical Weapons Chemical Industry Verification International Cooperation Assistance and Protection Chemical Terrorism Universality Chemical Weapons History

 
Verification is the process by which the OPCW checks that its member countries are fulfilling their obligations under the Convention. If these countries are doing what they are supposed to do, they are said to be in compliance with the CWC.

The OPCW does this by:

  • assessing declarations made by its member countries on a regular basis — this amounts to reviewing hundreds of thousands of pages of documents in six languages;
  • conducting regular on-site inspections of declared military or industrial sites and/or facilities to check (i.e. verify) the accuracy of the declarations made;
  • conducting challenge inspections; and,
  • investigating any report that chemical weapons have been used.

If any member country suspects that another member country is violating the CWC, it can request a special inspection. Such inspections, which can be conducted anytime, anywhere, are called challenge inspections. A member country does not have the right to refuse a challenge inspection or to block access to the challenged site.

No member country has yet requested a challenge inspection against another member country. And the OPCW has never had to carry out an inspection to check whether chemical weapons have been used. The OPCW practices and tests its procedures for such inspections so that it can respond quickly if required.

The efforts of national governments and chemical industry to abide by the Convention, along with the work of the OPCW to verify their compliance, are both essential elements of the mission to make sure that chemical weapons are eliminated.

 

  
Reconnaissance during an Investigation of Alleged Use training exercise
in the Czech Republic