A meeting of the Protection Network was jointly organized by the OPCW and the National Authority of the Russian Federation in Kaliningrad from 19 to 21 October 2011. The meeting was attended by 10 experts in assistance and protection representing nine States Parties.*
The Protection Network is a group of 20 experts nominated by States Parties who are involved in the emergency response to, and assistance and protection against, toxic chemicals. The group provides advice to the OPCW Technical Secretariat on the implementation of Article X of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The gathering in Kaliningrad was the network’s ninth meeting.
Mr. Valentin Rubaylo from the National Authority of the Russian Federation, in his opening remarks delivered on the first day of the meeting, commended the work of the Protection Network and stressed the importance of expert support to the implementation of assistance and protection provisions of the CWC. He reiterated the Russian Federation’s full support for the effective implementation of all provisions of the Convention.
The meeting covered topics such as evaluating the impact of assistance and protection capacity building programmes; establishment of regional centres of training (CWCAPC), regional networking in assistance and protection; and the preparedness of the Technical Secretariat and States Parties preparedness to respond to a chemical weapons attack, inter alia. Participants also elected Mr. Jaroslaw Szulc of Poland as chairperson of the Protection Network.
Participants visited the regional headquarters of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation (EMERCOM) where they were familiarised with the emergency response system of the Russian Federation, including the prevention and mitigation of chemical incidents, and attended a demonstration of specialised equipment used for emergency response.
* Australia, Czech Republic, China, India, Italy, Pakistan, Poland, UK and USA