OPCW Inspects 1000th OCPF Plant Site

OPCW inspectors have now inspected 1,000 different sites around the world of “Other Chemical Production Facilities” (OCPFs) as they are classed under Article VI of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The 1000th site inspection was conducted at an industrial plant in France.

OCPFs do not produce any of the three Schedules of chemicals listed in the Convention. They are subject to inspection because the configuration and complexity of their production processes enables them potentially to be converted for the manufacture of chemical weapons or related materials. Of the nearly 5,000 chemical plants sites globally that are inspectable by the OPCW, about 85% are currently OCPFs. 

Recognizing their importance to the Convention, the most recent Conference of the States Parties in December approved a plan to scale up the OPCW’s annual number of industrial inspections from 209 in 2011, to 241 in 2014. All of the additional inspections will be OCPFs.  

“This milestone is yet another demonstration of the shared commitment of the OPCW, its States Parties and the global chemical industry to ensuring that chemistry is only used for peaceful purposes,” said OPCW Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü. “By increasing the number of OCPF inspections in the coming years, we will improve our capacity to verify compliance with the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention and thereby raise the level of confidence among all our stakeholders.” 

Toxic chemicals are used for a variety of peaceful purposes from making ink to producing pharmaceuticals. To allow for verification, States Parties declare legitimate activities involving scheduled chemicals (chemicals that have been used as warfare agents or to make such agents in the past).  The OPCW verifies such declarations through a combination of data monitoring and on-site inspections without “undue intrusion into the State Party’s chemical activities”.

For more information about Scheduled chemicals, OCPFs and the OPCW’s industrial verification regime, please visit our website .