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Chemical Weapons Convention

Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction
Participation in the Chemical Weapons Convention   Signed and ratified   Acceded   Signed but not ratified   Non-signatory
Drafted	3 September 1992[1]
Signed	13 January 1993[1]
Location	Paris and New York[1]
Effective	29 April 1997[1]
Condition	Ratification by 65 states[2]
Signatories	165[1]
Parties	193[1] (List of state parties) Four UN states are not party: Egypt, Israel, North Korea and South Sudan.
Depositary	UN Secretary-General[3]
Languages	Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish[4]

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is an arms control treaty that outlaws the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and their precursors. The full name of the treaty is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction and it is 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 in 1997. The Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits the large-scale use, development, production, stockpiling and transfer of chemical weapons. Very limited production for research, medical, pharmaceutical or protective purposes is still permitted. 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.

As of May 2018, 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.^[1][5] Most recently, the State of 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.^[6][7]

As of January 2018, over 96% of the world's declared chemical weapons stockpiles had been destroyed.^[8] The convention has provisions for systematic evaluation of chemical production facilities, as well as for investigations of allegations of use and production of chemical weapons based on intelligence of other state parties.

Some chemicals which have been used extensively in warfare but have numerous large-scale industrial uses such as phosgene are highly regulated, however, certain notable exceptions exist. Chlorine gas is highly toxic, but being a pure element and extremely widely used for peaceful purposes, is not officially listed as a chemical weapon. Certain state-powers (e.g. the Assad regime of Syria) continue to regularly manufacture and implement such chemicals in combat munitions.^[9] Although these chemicals are not specifically listed as controlled by the CWC, the use of any toxic chemical as a weapon (when used to produce fatalities solely or mainly through its toxic action) is in-and-of itself forbidden by the treaty. Other chemicals, such as white phosphorus, are highly toxic but are legal under the CWC when they are used by military forces for reasons other than their toxicity.

History

Intergovernmental consideration of a chemical and biological weapons ban was initiated in 1968 within the 18-nation Disarmament Committee, which, after numerous changes of name and composition, became the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in 1984.^[10] On 3 September 1992 the Conference on Disarmament submitted to the U.N. General Assembly its annual report, which contained the text of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The General Assembly approved the Convention on 30 November 1992, and the U.N. Secretary-General then opened the Convention for signature in Paris on 13 January 1993. The CWC remained open for signature until its entry into force on 29 April 1997, 180 days after the deposit of the 65th instrument of ratification (by Hungary). The convention augments the Geneva Protocol of 1925 for chemical weapons and includes extensive verification measures such as on-site inspections. It does not, however, cover biological weapons.

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

Headquarters in The Hague

The convention is administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which acts as the legal platform for specification of the CWC provisions.^[11] The Conference of the States Parties is mandated to change the CWC and pass regulations on implementation of CWC requirements. The Technical Secretariat of the organization conducts inspections to ensure compliance of member states. These inspections target destruction facilities (where permanent monitoring takes place during destruction), chemical weapons production facilities which have been dismantled or converted for civil use, as well as inspections of the chemical industry. The Secretariat may furthermore conduct "investigations of alleged use" of chemical weapons and give assistance after use of chemical weapons.

The 2013 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the organization because it had, with the Chemical Weapons Convention, "defined the use of chemical weapons as a taboo under international law" according to Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.^[12][13]

Key points of the Convention

• Prohibition of production and use of chemical weapons


• Destruction (or monitored conversion to other functions) of chemical weapons production facilities


• Destruction of all chemical weapons (including chemical weapons abandoned outside the state parties territory)


• Assistance between State Parties and the OPCW in the case of use of chemical weapons


• An OPCW inspection regime for the production of chemicals which might be converted to chemical weapons


• International cooperation in the peaceful use of chemistry in relevant areas

Controlled substances

The convention distinguishes three classes of controlled substance,^[14][15] chemicals that can either be used as weapons themselves or used in the manufacture of weapons. The classification is based on the quantities of the substance produced commercially for legitimate purposes. Each class is split into Part A, which are chemicals that can be used directly as weapons, and Part B, which are chemicals useful in the manufacture of chemical weapons. Separate from the precursors, the convention defines toxic chemicals as "[a]ny chemical which through its chemical action on life processes can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm to humans or animals. This includes all such chemicals, regardless of their origin or of their method of production, and regardless of whether they are produced in facilities, in munitions or elsewhere."^[16]

• 
  Schedule 1 chemicals have few, or no uses outside chemical weapons. These may be produced or used for research, medical, pharmaceutical or chemical weapon defence testing purposes but production at sites producing more than 100 grams per year must be declared to the OPCW. A country is limited to possessing a maximum of 1 tonne of these materials. Examples are sulfur mustard and nerve agents, and substances which are solely used as precursor chemicals in their manufacture. A few of these chemicals have very small scale non-military applications, for example milligram quantities of nitrogen mustard are used to treat certain cancers.


• 
  Schedule 2 chemicals have legitimate small-scale applications. Manufacture must be declared and there are restrictions on export to countries that are not CWC signatories. An example is thiodiglycol which can be used in the manufacture of mustard agents, but is also used as a solvent in inks.


• 
  Schedule 3 chemicals have large-scale uses apart from chemical weapons. Plants which manufacture more than 30 tonnes per year must be declared and can be inspected, and there are restrictions on export to countries which are not CWC signatories. Examples of these substances are phosgene (the most lethal chemical weapon employed in WWI),^[17] which has been used as a chemical weapon but which is also a precursor in the manufacture of many legitimate organic compounds (e.g. pharmaceutical agents and many common pesticides), and triethanolamine, used in the manufacture of nitrogen mustard but also commonly used in toiletries and detergents.

A treaty party may declare a "single small-scale facility" that produces up to 1 tonne of Schedule 1 chemicals for research, medical, pharmaceutical or protective purposes each year, and also another facility may produce 10 kg per year for protective testing purposes. An unlimited number of other facilities may produce Schedule 1 chemicals, subject to a total 10 kg annual limit, for research, medical or pharmaceutical purposes, but any facility producing more than 100 grams must be declared.^[14][18]

The treaty also deals with carbon compounds called in the treaty "discrete organic chemicals", the majority of which exhibit moderate-high direct toxicity or can be readily converted into compounds with toxicity sufficient for practical use as a chemical weapon.^[19] These are any carbon compounds apart from long chain polymers, oxides, sulfides and metal carbonates, such as organophosphates. The OPCW must be informed of, and can inspect, any plant producing (or expecting to produce) more than 200 tonnes per year, or 30 tonnes if the chemical contains phosphorus, sulfur or fluorine, unless the plant solely produces explosives or hydrocarbons.

Member states

165 states signed the CWC prior to its entry into force in 1997, allowing them to ratify the agreement after obtaining domestic approval.^[1] Following the treaty's entry into force, it was closed for signature and the only method for non-signatory states to become a party was through accession. As of May 2018, 193 states, representing over 98 percent of the world's population, are party to the CWC.^[1] Of the four United Nations member states that are not parties to the treaty, Israel has signed but not ratified the treaty, while Egypt, North Korea, and South Sudan have neither signed nor acceded to the Convention. Taiwan, though not a Member State, has stated that it complies with the treaty.^[20]

Key organizations of member states

Member states are represented at the OPCW by their Permanent Representative. This function is generally combined with the function of Ambassador. For the preparation of OPCW inspections and preparation of declarations, member states have to constitute a National Authority.

World stockpile of chemical weapons

Weapons of mass destruction
By type
Biological Chemical Nuclear Radiological
By country
Albania Algeria Argentina Australia Brazil Bulgaria Canada China Egypt France Germany India Iran Iraq Israel Italy Japan Libya Mexico Myanmar Netherlands North Korea Pakistan Philippines Poland Rhodesia Romania Russia Saudi Arabia South Africa South Korea Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Ukraine United Kingdom United States
Proliferation
Chemical Nuclear Missiles
Treaties
List of treaties
Book Category
v t e

A total of 72,524 metric tonnes of chemical agent, 8.67 million chemical munitions and containers, and 97 production facilities have been declared to OPCW.^[8]

Timeline of destruction

The treaty set up several steps with deadlines toward complete destruction of chemical weapons, with a procedure for requesting deadline extensions. No country reached total elimination by the original treaty date although several have finished under allowed extensions.^[21]

Progress of destruction

As of October 2017, 69,610 of 72,304 (96.27%) metric tonnes of chemical agent have been verifiably destroyed. More than 57% (4.97 million) of chemical munitions and containers have been destroyed.^[8]

Seven State Parties, namely Albania, an unspecified state party (widely believed to be South Korea), India, Iraq, Libya, Russia and Syria have completed the destruction of their declared stockpiles. The United States is in the process of destruction and scheduled to complete in 2023.^[22] The destruction of Libya's Category 1 chemical weapons was completed in 2014; destruction of its chemical weapon precursors was completed in November 2017.^[23][24]

Japan and China started in October 2010 the destruction of World War II era chemical weapons abandoned by Japan in China by means of mobile destruction units and reported destruction of 35,203 chemical weapons (75% of the Nanjing stockpile).^[22][25]

Country	Date of accession/ entry into force	Declared stockpile (Schedule 1) (tonnes)	% OPCW-verified destroyed (date of full destruction)	Destruction deadline
Albania	29 April 1997	17[26]	100% (July 2007)[26]
South Korea	29 April 1997	3,000–3,500[27]	100% (July 2008)[27]
India	29 April 1997	1,044[28]	100% (March 2009)[29]
Libya	5 February 2004	25[30]	100% (January 2014)[30]
Syria (government held)	14 October 2013[31]	1,040[32]	100% (August 2014)[32]
Russia	5 December 1997	40,000[33]	100% (September 2017)[34]
United States	29 April 1997	33,600[35]	91%[35]	29 April 2012 (intends by 2023)[36]
Iraq	12 February 2009	remnant munitions[37]	100% (March 2018)[38]
Japan (in China)	29 April 1997	-	ongoing	2022 (commitment)[39]

Iraqi stockpile

The U.N. Security Council ordered the dismantling of Iraq's chemical weapon stockpile in 1991. By 1998, UNSCOM inspectors had accounted for the destruction of 88,000 filled and unfilled chemical munitions, over 690 metric tons of weaponized and bulk chemical agents, approximately 4,000 tonnes of precursor chemicals, and 980 pieces of key production equipment.^[40] The UNSCOM inspectors left in 1998.

In 2009, before Iraq joined the CWC, the OPCW reported that the United States military had destroyed almost 5,000 old chemical weapons in open-air detonations since 2004.^[41] These weapons, produced before the 1991 Gulf War, contained sarin and mustard agents but were so badly corroded that they could not have been used as originally intended.^[42]

When Iraq joined the CWC in 2009, it declared "two bunkers with filled and unfilled chemical weapons munitions, some precursors, as well as five former chemical weapons production facilities" according to OPCW Director General Rogelio Pfirter.^[29] The bunker entrances were sealed with 1.5 meters of reinforced concrete in 1994 under UNSCOM supervision.^[43] As of 2012, the plan to destroy the chemical weapons was still being developed, in the face of significant difficulties.^[37][43] In 2014, ISIS took control of the site.^[44]

On 13 March 2018, the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, congratulated the Government of Iraq on the completion of the destruction of the country's chemical weapons remnants.^[38]

Syrian destruction

Following the August 2013 Ghouta chemical attack,^[45] Syria, which had long been suspected of possessing chemical weapons, acknowledged them in September 2013 and agreed to put them under international supervision.^[46] On 14 September Syria deposited its instrument of accession to the CWC with the United Nations as the depositary and agreed to its provisional application pending entry into force effective 14 October.^[47][48] An accelerated destruction schedule was devised by Russia and the United States on 14 September,^[49] and was endorsed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2118^[50] and the OPCW Executive Council Decision EC-M-33/DEC.1.^[51] Their deadline for destruction was the first half of 2014.^[51] Syria gave the OPCW an inventory of its chemical weapons arsenal^[52] and started its destruction in October 2013, 2 weeks before its formal entry into force, while applying the convention provisionally.^[53][54] All declared Category 1 materials were destroyed by August 2014.^[32] However, the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack in April 2017 revealed that undeclared stockpiles likely remained in the country.
A suspected chemical attack on Douma took place on 7 April 2018 that killed at least 49 civilians with scores injured, and which has been blamed on the Assad government.^[55][56]

Financial support for destruction

Financial support for the Albanian and Libyan stockpile destruction programmes was provided by the United States. Russia received support from a number of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Canada; with some $2 billion given by 2004. Costs for Albania's program were approximately US$48 million. The United States has spent $20 billion and expected to spend a further $40 billion.^[57]

Known chemical weapons production facilities

Fourteen states parties have declared chemical weapons production facilities (CWPFs):^[8]

Bosnia and Herzegovina  China  France  India

Iran  Iraq  Japan

Libya  Russia  Serbia

Syria  United Kingdom  United States

• 1 non-disclosed state party (referred to as "A State Party" in OPCW-communications; said to be South Korea)^[58]
  

As of October 2017, all 97 declared production facilities had been deactivated and (91) have been certified as either destroyed (68) or converted (23) to civilian use.^[8]

See also

Related international law

• 
  Australia Group of countries and the European Commission that helps member nations identify exports which need to be controlled so as not to contribute to the spread of chemical and biological weapons


• 1990 US-Soviet Arms Control Agreement


• 
  General-purpose criterion, a concept in international law that broadly governs international agreements with respect to chemical weapons


• 
  Geneva Protocol, a treaty prohibiting the first use of chemical and biological weapons

Worldwide treaties for other types of arms

• Biological Weapons Convention


• 
  Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW)


• 
  Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Chemical weapons

• Chemical warfare


• Weapons of mass destruction


• Tear gas

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chemical Weapons Convention.

• 
  Full text of the Chemical Weapons Convention, OPCW


• Online text of the Chemical Weapons Convention: Articles, Annexes including Chemical Schedules, OPCW


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  Fact Sheets, OPCW


• 
  Chemical Weapons Convention: Ratifying Countries, OPCW


• 
  Chemical Weapons Convention Website, United States


• 
  The Chemical Weapons Convention at a Glance, Arms Control Association


• 
  Chemical Warfare Chemicals and Precursors, Chemlink Pty Ltd, Australia


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  Introductory note by Michael Bothe, procedural history note and audiovisual material on the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction in the Historic Archives of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
  


• 
  Lecture by Santiago Oñate Laborde entitled The Chemical Weapons Convention: an Overview in the Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law