The National Authority of Hungary and the OPCW jointly organised a regional workshop from 13 – 15 October 2010 for advanced training in the Electronic Declarations Tool for National Authorities (EDNA) Version 2.0. The event was held in Budapest and attended by representatives of 23 States Parties in the region.*
The workshop was opened by Mr János Vass, Director of the Authority of Defense Industry and Export Control of the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office. Mr Vass noted the useful role that the EDNA software can play in assisting States Parties to use a standardised format when preparing and submitting declarations – one of the two pillars of the OPCW’s verification regime – while also contributing to more effective processing and handling of declarations by the Technical Secretariat.
The workshop programme focused on the preparation of electronic declarations under Article VI of the Convention using the most recent version of the EDNA software (version 2.1) as well as on the Verification Information System, common problems that arise in declarations, and tools for preparing declarations such as the Declarations Handbook.
The regional workshop in Budapest was the first of its kind and one of three such regional workshops to be held to promote the use of EDNA software. Funding support was provided by the European Union under Council Decision 2009.
*Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine
OPCW NEWS 34/2010 THE HAGUE, 19 OCTOBER 2010