A delegation from Chile visits the OPCW
THE HAGUE, the Netherlands – 20 September 2018 – A high-level delegation from the Republic of Chile visited the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) from 12–14 September to advance Chile’s adoption of national legislation to fully implement the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
The delegation was headed by Mr Osvaldo Alejandro Nicanor Urrutia, member of Chile’s Chamber of Deputies, and included: two other MPs, Mr Leonidas Andrés Romero Sáez and Ms María Loreto Carvajal Ambiado; Head of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions Department in the Ministry of National Defence, Lieutenant-Colonel Christian Robinson Díaz Serrano; and Chef de Cabinet of the Minister of National Defence, Mr Pablo Eduardo Urquízar Muñoz.
During the meeting with the delegation, OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Fernando Arias, commended Chile’s commitment to expedite the adoption of national legislation and its efforts to raise awareness among the country’s parliamentarians. The Director-General emphasised that, “the adoption of legislative and administrative measures by all OPCW Member States remains critical to ensuring full and effective implementation of the CWC worldwide.”
Mr Nicanor Urrutia assured the Director-General about the Chilean parliamentarians’ determination to drive the legislative process forward to adopt the news bill by the end of 2018.
During the visit the delegation learned about the range of assistance programmes offered by the OPCW to its Member States, and received briefings on diverse issues related to the implementation of the CWC. The delegation also visited the OPCW Laboratory and Equipment Store in Rijswijk.
Background
The visit was part of the OPCW’s Influential Visitors Programme (IVP), a programme that aims to support States Parties that are at the final stages of adopting national implementing legislation for the Chemical Weapons Convention.
In early 2017, Chile received assistance from the OPCW to develop and finalise its draft legislation.
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
Over 96% 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 Peace Prize.