OPCW-Facilitated Report Recommends International Chemical Security Coordination
THE HAGUE, Netherlands –7 December 2017– The OPCW has today released the report of the International Workshop on Chemical Security Coordination held on 28-29 September at the OPCW HQ The Hague.
The report – prepared under the supervision of the workshop’s facilitator, security and CBRN counter-terrorism consultant Mr Barry Moss – outlines the workshop’s key points of discussion and lists several recommendations for future work.
The workshop report recommends, among other things, that an international coordination mechanism on chemical security should be established.
The OPCW is examining the report’s recommendations with a view to strengthening its efforts to support global chemical security.
The workshop was made possible through a contribution from the New Zealand government.
Background
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW oversees the global endeavour to permanently and verifiably eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997 – and with its 192 States Parties – it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
Over ninety-six per cent of all chemical weapon stockpiles declared by possessor States have been destroyed under OPCW verification. For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Prize for Peace.