Review Conference Working Group Meets

5 October 2006

The Open-Ended Working Group for the Chemical Weapons Convention’s Second Review Conference (WGRC) held its second meeting on 29 September 2006 at the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.

The WGRC Chairman, H.E. Ambassador Lyn Parker, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom, opened the session, attended by representatives of forty-nine CWC States Parties, including the Vice-Chairs: the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mexico, the Russian Federation, and The Sudan.

At the meeting, States Parties made general statements about the substance of the review and discussed the contribution of civil society to the review process.

The OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, briefed the Working Group on developments relating to issues considered at the First Review Conference held in 2003 and confirmed that the Working Group could count on the support of the Scientific Advisory Board, which would make an important contribution to the review process.

The Working Group will hold its next meetings on 13 November 2006 and 11 December 2006.

PR66 / 2006