- The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), officially the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, is an arms control treaty administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), an intergovernmental organization based in The Hague, The Netherlands.
- The treaty entered into force on 29 April 1997, and prohibits the large-scale use, development, production, stockpiling and transfer of Chemical Weapons and their precursors, except for very limited purposes.
- The main obligation of member states under the convention is to effect this prohibition, as well as the destruction of all current chemical weapons. All destruction activities must take place under OPCW verification.
Members
- As of March 2021, 193 states have become parties to the CWC and accept its obligations.
- Israel has signed but not ratified the agreement, while three other UN member states (Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan) have neither signed nor acceded to the treaty.
- Most recently, the Palestine deposited its instrument of accession to the CWC on 17 May 2018.
- In September 2013, Syria acceded to the convention as part of an agreement for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons.
- As of February 2021, 98.39% of the world’s declared chemical weapons stockpiles had been destroyed.
Implementation
- All States Parties have agreed to chemically disarm by destroying any stockpiles of chemical weapons they may hold and any facilities which produced them, as well as any chemical weapons they abandoned on the territory of other States Parties in the past.
- States Parties have also agreed to create a verification regime for certain toxic chemicals and their precursors (listed in Schedules 1, 2 and 3 in the Annex on Chemicals) in order to ensure that such chemicals are only used for purposes not prohibited under the Convention.
- A unique feature of the Convention is its incorporation of the ‘challenge inspection’, whereby any State Party in doubt about another State Party’s compliance can request a surprise inspection.
- Under the Convention’s ‘challenge inspection’ procedure, States Parties have committed themselves to the principle of ‘any time, anywhere’ inspections with no right of refusal.
Important Articles
- Article III requires each State Party to submit declarations to the OPCW within 30 days after the Convention enters into force for that particular State Party
- Article IV sets out the requirements for States Parties to destroy their chemical weapons
- Article V relates to the requirement for States Parties to destroy and/or convert their Chemical Weapons Production Facilities (CWPFs)
- Article VI covers “activities not prohibited under this Convention”, otherwise known as the non-proliferation or industry verification regime
- Article VII covers national implementation of the Convention and requires each State Party to enact implementing legislation at the national level
- Article VIII establishes the OPCW as the implementing body of the Convention
- Article IX provides for the consultation and clarification if concerns about possible non-compliance arise
- Article X provides for assistance and protection to a State Party if it is attacked or threatened with attack by chemical weapons
- Article XIV deals with the settlement of disputes that may arise concerning the application or the interpretation of the Conventio
- Article XV deals with the amendments to the Convention
- Article XVI deals with the duration of the Convention and the States Parties’ the right to withdraw from the Convention
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