On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Entry into Force of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the founding of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Africa issued the following statement:
“South Africa joins hands with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on this day, to mark the tenth anniversary of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) as well as to commemorate all victims of chemical weapons.
This anniversary provides a special occasion for the international community to publicly renew commitment to the multilateral-treaty system and to the object and purpose of the Convention and will be marked on 9 May 2007 with the unveiling of a memorial to all victims of chemical weapons in The Hague by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
South Africa supports, as an important international goal in securing the peaceful and safe future for our children and generations to come, the complete destruction as well as the non-proliferation of chemical weapons of mass destruction.
The CWC and the OPCW are unique in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation. No other process, institution or mechanism in this field has come close to realising, in a similar manner, the destruction and prohibition of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). This is the only multilateral instrument and institution that is realising actual disarmament, subject to an effective system of verification as well as setting specific deadlines whereby such destruction has to be completed.
The OPCW has, amongst others, accomplished the verification of the destruction of more than 17.6 metric tons of chemical weapon agents (almost a quarter of the global stockpile of 71 metric tons) and overseeing the destruction of 2.67 million chemical munitions and containers (representing 30% of the total number of 8.6 million chemical munitions and containers).
South Africa strongly calls on all States Parties to the CWC who possess chemical weapons to actively continue with their destruction programmes and to ensure that all chemical weapons stockpiles are destroyed by the agreed deadlines.
South Africa supports the efforts of the OPCW to stop the spread of chemical weapons, especially in view of the rapidly growing global chemical industry. In particular its supports the promotion of international cooperation in the peaceful uses of chemistry, with a particular focuses on developing countries, which are States Parties to the OPCW. In the past ten years over 1700 participants have benefited from the international cooperation programmes conducted by the OPCW.”
PR50 / 2007