The Government of Serbia and OPCW co-hosted the Seventh Regional Meeting of the National Authorities of the States Parties in Eastern Europe in Belgrade from 3 to 5 June 2008. Participants from 24 States Parties attended the meeting: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and the United States of America.
The meeting was opened by H.E. Mr. Radojko Bogojevic, State Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, and the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter. In his opening address State Secretary Bogojevic stressed his country’s commitment to the goals and objectives of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). He said that the “OPCW has become an example of effective multilateralism and demonstrates that the concept of global disarmament under strict international verification can be made to work. It is also due to a skilful work of the Technical Secretariat and the untiring efforts of its Director-General.”
In his opening remarks, Director-General Pfirter, stressed the crucial role played by National Authorities in the effective implementation of the CWC and welcomed the strong and positive contribution made by States Parties in Eastern Europe to achieving the objective of full and effective implementation of the Convention.
The Director-General said that “an important and positive outcome of the successful Second Review Conference has been the clear reaffirmation by States Parties that national implementation efforts need to be taken to new levels. In practical terms this effort can benefit significantly by improving regional and sub-regional cooperation to engage relevant stakeholders such as customs and border authorities in exchanging relevant information, further develop the harmonisation of information on scheduled chemicals, and strengthen coordination between the National Authorities and all those involved nationally in implementing the Convention.”
National Authority representatives considered issues arising from the practical implementation of the Convention relating to the transfers provisions of the Convention, as well as the role of national authorities in relation to customs authorities. Participants visited the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence Personnel Advancement Center (NBCD) and Trayal Corporation (producer of protective equipment) in Kruševac, and the National Poison Control Centre in Belgrade. Bilateral consultations with participating States Parties were also held.