Barbados deposited its instrument of accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention with the Secretary-General of the United Nations on 7 March 2007. The Convention will enter into force for Barbados as of 6 April 2007, at which time Barbados will become the 182nd State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force on 29 April 1997. Adherence to the Convention contributes to international peace and security and strengthens international efforts to prevent the proliferation and terrorist acquisition or use of chemical weapons. Universal membership and the effective implementation of the Convention also provide concrete benefits to all OPCW Member States in the areas of international cooperation and the peaceful use of chemistry.
The Convention\’s implementing agency, the OPCW, aims to achieve four principal objectives: to eliminate chemical weapons, to prevent their re-emergence and spread, to provide assistance and protection upon any State Party’s request in the event of the use, or threat of use, of chemical weapons, and to foster international cooperation.
The OPCW urges the six Signatory States, which have not deposited their instruments of ratification, and the seven States, which have not acceded to the Convention, to do so as soon as possible.
PR15 / 2007