The OPCW Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) convened its 19th session from 10 to 12 September 2012 in The Hague, chaired by Mr. Stefan Mogl. The members elected Professor Alejandra Suarez as Vice-Chair, replacing Professor Mahdi Balali-Mood whose terms of office had ended.
In her statement to the session the OPCW Deputy Director-General, Mrs Grace Asirwatham, pointed out that the SAB’s report on the developments of science and technology will constitute an important input for the Third Review Conference.
“The report will be an important document and its assessment of the impact of relevant developments on the Convention will be widely read by States Parties and other stakeholders,” she stated. Mrs Asirwatham also stressed the importance of the work being undertaken by the SAB and its temporary working groups (TWGs) on sampling and analysis, convergence of chemistry and biology, and education and outreach.
Every five years the States Parties meet to review the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). To assist their preparations for these conferences, the SAB drafts a comprehensive report that reviews developments in science and technology over the previous five years and assesses their impact on CWC implementation. The SAB adopted its third such report in the 19th session, which will be circulated with the session report to States Parties and posted on the OPCW’s public website.
Prior to the SAB’s 19th Session, two of the temporary working groups also held meetings. The TWG on sampling and analysis held its seventh meeting from 4 to 5 September and the TWG on the convergence of chemistry and biology held its second meeting from 6 to 7 September. The reports of both meetings were endorsed by the SAB. The TWG on convergence decided to look not only at the production aspects of convergence but also at the benefits that convergence could potentially bring, for example for medical countermeasures, protective clothing and decontamination. The group continued its in-depth discussion on the topic of commercial bio-mediated processes and also discussed bioregulators and chemicals of biological origin that fall within the remits of both the chemical and biological weapons conventions.
The TWG on sampling and analysis recommended criteria for identification of ricin for verification purposes and recommended a system to be adopted by the OPCW for trace analysis in biomedical samples. The group also received presentations on different protocols used to handle samples when the nature of the hazard is unknown, particularly the elimination of any biological hazard prior to chemical analysis. The TWG also discussed new developments in verification techniques, such as high resolution mass spectrometry and chemical forensics.