The Twelfth Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, the principal decision-making organ of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), drew to a close in The Hague on 9 November 2007.
H.E. Mr Abuelgasim Abdelwahid Sheikh Idris, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Sudan to the OPCW, was unanimously elected as the Chairperson for the Twelfth Session of the Conference. Representatives of the following 10 States Parties were elected as Vice-Chairpersons: Cameroon, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, France, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Nigeria, Russian Federation and the United States of America. The Conference elected Ambassador Werner Burkart of Germany as Chairperson of the Committee of the Whole.
The Conference also elected 20 new members of the 41-member OPCW Executive Council for a two-year term that will start on 12 May 2008. The new members are: Algeria, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Nigeria and South Africa for the African Group; the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kuwait, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for the Asian Group; the Russian Federation, Slovakia and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for the Eastern European Group; Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba and Peru for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States Parties; Australia, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden for the Western European and Other States Group.
At the Twelfth Session, the Conference considered and noted a status report by the Director-General on the progress made by those States Parties that have been granted extensions of deadlines for the destruction of their Category 1 chemical weapons.
The Conference approved a number of decisions, including the OPCW’s Programme and Budget for 2008, for a total of EUR 75,025,734. This is the third consecutive year that the OPCW has agreed a zero nominal growth budget.
The Conference reaffirmed the importance and urgency of States Parties fulfilling their obligations under Article VII. This Conference decision also stresses that States Parties that have not yet done so should notify the Organisation of the designation or establishment of their National Authority and of the steps they are taking in relation to the enactment of legislation and the adoption of administrative measures to implement the Convention.
The Conference adopted a decision to continue with the Action Plan on the Universality of the Convention, which it adopted at its Eighth Session in 2003. At its Fourteenth Session, the Conference will review the results and the implementation of this Action Plan.
The Conference stressed the importance of achieving and maintaining a high level of readiness of the OPCW Technical Secretariat to deal with the use or threat of use of chemical weapons within the context of Article X of the Convention.
The Conference reaffirmed its determination to promote the full implementation of Article XI. It also requested the Council to continue to develop concrete measures within an agreed framework towards the full implementation of Article XI and to report back to the Conference at its Thirteenth Session.
Of the 182 OPCW States Parties, 116 participated in the Twelfth Session of the Conference. Two Signatory States (Israel and the Dominican Republic) and two non-Signatory States (Iraq and Lebanon) were present as observers. Nine international organisations attended the Conference: the United Nations (UN), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the Council of the European Union, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), the League of Arab States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Representatives of the chemical industry and non governmental organisations also observed the proceedings.
The Conference decided to hold its Thirteenth Session from 2 to 5 December 2008 in The Hague.
PR119/2007