Participants at an Advanced Course on Response to Chemical Warfare Agents and Toxic Industrial Chemicals Held, which was held in Costa Rica from 7 – 11 April 2014.
The OPCW organized jointly with the CWC National Authority of Costa Rica an advanced course for specialists in response to chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs), which was held from 7 to 11 April in the capital city of San José with 24 experts participating from 8 States Parties* in the Central American sub-region.
The course is the second stage of a long-term project for Central American States Parties, which started in 2013 with a basic course conducted in El Salvador. The project aims to establish and improve the protective capabilities of States Parties in the sub-region against chemical weapons and incidents involving TICs, with a view to creating a regional response team and increasing the responsiveness of the sub-region as a whole.
The practice-oriented training focused on emergency response procedures against chemical attacks and incidents with TICs, with input provided by the OPCW Technical Secretariat, Costa Rica’s Firefighter Academy, and the Technological Centre of the Brazilian Army.
The course facilitated the exchange of information and experiences among participants regarding implementation of Article X of the Chemical Weapons Convention and regional coordination issues in the area of chemical emergency response.
* Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama