The Eighth Annual Meeting of the National Authorities that implement the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was held at the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague from 2 to 4 December 2006. Over 185 participants from 105 States Parties attended this meeting.
At the Meeting, States Parties reported on their progress in fulfilling their obligation to anchor the CWC’s stipulations in national legislation, as well as to institute the necessary administrative infrastructure. National Authority representatives exchanged information and shared their national implementation experience to identify common implementation-related issues and consider efforts to facilitate their resolution through collaboration between States Parties and the OPCW Technical Secretariat. Briefings were also provided during the Meeting on the Verification Information System (VIS), planned activities for commemoration of the Tenth Anniversary of the Entry Into Force of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and electronic tools developed by States Parties and the Technical Secretariat to support national implementation.
In this year, the Meeting’s thematic focus was national investigations and prosecutions of cases involving chemical weapons, including actual cases pursued in a number of States Parties. Representatives from Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Jordan, and the USA, as well as the Netherlands National Police Agency, shared their views on undertaking criminal investigations of violations of the CWC under existing national laws. The Stockholm Peace Research Institute offered an overview of the measures needed to establish effective national mechanisms for enforcing national export laws. This thematic segment of the Meeting also considered how to improve and foster cooperation and partnerships between National Authorities and prosecution services.
The National Authorities representatives are present in The Hague during the Eleventh Session of the Conference of the States Parties, which is convening from 5 to 8 December 2006. Their participation in the Conference provides a unique opportunity for these representatives to meet Secretariat officials to discuss issues of specific interest to individual States Parties. The Technical Secretariat conducted over 135 bilateral meetings with representatives of National Authorities. Such bilateral meetings are beneficial for the Secretariat in planning its implementation support programmes for 2007.
PR91 / 2006