The Declaration Assessment Team (DAT) was established 2014 to engage the relevant Syrian authorities to resolve the identified gaps and inconsistencies in the Syrian declaration.
Mandate
When questions were raised as to whether Syria’s declaration about its chemical weapons programme to the OPCW was complete and correct, in 2014, the OPCW Director-General established a team of experts from the Technical Secretariat to engage the relevant Syrian authorities to resolve the identified gaps and inconsistencies in the Syrian declaration.
The Work of the Declaration Assessment Team
The team of experts known as the Declaration Assessment Team (DAT) undertook 18 visits to Syria, held several meetings with Syrian authorities, visited former chemical weapons sites, and took samples.
The DAT submitted several reports to States Parties of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
In July 2016, the Director-General informed the Executive Council, through his report to the Council’s 82nd Session, that the Technical Secretariat was not able to resolve all identified gaps, inconsistencies and discrepancies in Syria’s declaration and therefore could not fully verify that Syria had submitted a declaration that could be considered accurate and complete in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention and Executive Council decision ECM-33/DEC.1.
The Director-General submitted his report after high-level consultations with the Syrian Arab Republic.