Participants in the Basic Course for National Authorities which took place in The Hague from 12 to 15 March 2013.
This Basic Course took place from 12 to 15 March 2013 at the OPCW Headquarters in The Hague and was attended by 39 participants representing the National Authorities of 34 States Parties.* The course is a key element in the OPCW’s efforts to assist and prepare National Authorities to meet their obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
Full and effective implementation lies at the heart of the CWC. To achieve this it is essential for all States Parties to establish a National Authority and pass national legislation to provide a legal basis for domestic implementation of the Convention. And National Authority personnel must have a good understanding of their role and function and of the fundamentals of the Convention.
The programme of the Basic Course covered a variety of subjects: background to the CWC, overview of the OPCW, the role of the National Authority, national implementation measures under Article VII, the Convention’s verification and transfers regimes, and an introduction to the Electronic Declaration Tool for National Authorities (EDNA).
Finally, the course included a series of case studies and exercises on legal aspects of the Convention, inspections and preparation of declarations under Article VI, and EDNA, which created the necessary balance between the theoretical and practical aspects of the course. The participants also had the opportunity to visit the OPCW laboratory and equipment store in Rijswijk, and were briefed on the role that they play in preparing for the conduct of inspections.
* Afghanistan, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, China, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Ghana, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kyrgyz Republic, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Spain, Sudan, Suriname, Turkey, Ukraine, Vietnam, Yemen.