On 9 May 2007, at 13.00, a press briefing will be held at the Headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.
The briefing will provide an assessment of the OPCW’s unique successes in establishing and applying a global ban on chemical weapons.
The current risks to the global ban on chemical weapons will also be discussed.
For instance, in this year, chemical weapons have been used repeatedly to injure and kill innocent, unprotected civilians. Chemical terrorism also remains a grave concern.
The total elimination of the existing stockpiles must be undertaken swiftly to meet the objectives of the Chemical Weapons Convention on time and in full. Total chemical disarmament is the goal.
Only thirteen countries remain outside the Convention. There are concerns that undeclared stockpiles are located in these regions. The ban must be made universal to be certain that all weapons are placed under international monitoring and destroyed.
Following the briefing, accredited members of the press are cordially invited to attend a commemorative event celebrating the OPCW’s tenth anniversary.
Her Majesty Beatrix, the Queen of The Netherlands, and the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, H.E. Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen, will attend a commemorative event.
Due to the security arrangements, members of the press that wish to attend the briefing and the commemorative event are asked to seek accreditation prior to 09.00 Tuesday, 8 May 2007.
Please see further details on accreditation and the OPCW below.
Members of the press are requested to email their confirmation of attendance to the OPCW Media Branch, media@opcw.org, providing name, media affiliation and press pass ID number. Radio and TV journalists are asked to specify their technical requirements for audio feeds in advance.
This information is required prior to 09.00, Tuesday 8 May 2007.
Members of the press that are not registered with the OPCW Media Branch will not be able to pass the security barrier. The event will be held at the OPCW Headquarters: Johan de Wittlaan 32, 2517 JR The Hague, The Netherlands.
For further information please contact:
Peter Kaiser, Head, Media and Public Affairs Branch, + 31 (0) 70 416 3710
Aabha Dixit, Media Officer, + 31 (0)70 416 32 44
Rachelle Bokhove, Media Clerk, + 31 (0)70 416 35 44
Ten years ago, the global chemical weapons ban, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), entered into force. It is the first disarmament treaty that stringently verifies the total and permanent abolition and eradication of a weapon of mass destruction (WMD): chemical weapons, which were the first and, tragically, the most frequently wielded WMD. In the past decade, 182 nations, representing about 98% of the global population, have joined the ban.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was created by the CWC as the world’s chemical weapons watchdog agency, tasked to ensure that the ban is enforced. The 182 CWC States Parties are obliged to declare and eliminate any chemical weapons and any production capacity under international verification. They have pledged to prevent chemical weapons’ use and their proliferation. Together, the States Parties protect the vulnerable and support each other in their endeavour to effectively implement the ban.
Through the OPCW’s verification and Member States’ continuing efforts, 100% of the declared chemical weapons production facilities have been inactivated. All of these sites are subject to a verification regime of unprecedented stringency. Over 90%, or 58, of the 65 chemical weapons production facilities declared to the Organisation by 12 States Parties have been certified as either destroyed or converted to peaceful purposes. A global stockpile, comprising 71,000 metric tons of chemical warfare agent, has been secured and is systematically inventoried to detect any diversion prior to destruction. In the meantime, over 30% of the 8.6 million chemical munitions and containers declared and secured as per the Convention’s stipulations have been verifiably destroyed. More than one quarter of the declared chemical warfare agent has been verifiably destroyed. The OPCW inspectors have conducted in total over 2,900 inspections, of which about 1,190 inspection missions have been conducted at industrial sites. More than 1,080 sites on the territory of 79 States Parties have been inspected since April 1997.
MA01 / 2007