Abandoning State Party

Significantly, a state that is party to the Convention has primary responsibility for the disposal and clean-up of chemical weapons abandoned on another state party s territory. As the verification annex of the CWC states, [the] Abandoning State Party shall provide all necessary financial, technical, expert, facility as well as other resources. The Territorial State Party shall provide appropriate cooperation. This is the clause that, for example, obUges Japan to survey the remains of chemical weapons its armies left behind in China and pay the associated costs of disposal. 

A State Party which has abandoned chemical weapons on the territory of another State Party (hereinafter referred to as the Abandoning State Party ) shall, not later than 30 days after this Convention enters into force for it, submit to the Technical Secretariat all available relevant information concerning the abandoned chemical weapons. This information shall include, to the extent possible, the location, type, quantity as well as information on the abandonment, and the condition of the abandoned chemical weapons. 

The report of the Technical Secretariat shall be submitted to the Executive Council, the Territorial State Party, and to the Abandoning State Party or the State Party declared by the Territorial State Party or identified by the Technical Secretariat as having abandoned the chemical weapons. If one of the States Parties directly concerned is not satisfied with the report it shall have the right to settle the matter in accordance with provisions of this Convention or bring the issue to tire Executive Council with a view to settling the matter expeditiously. 

Pursuant to Article I, paragraph 3, the Territorial State Party shall have the right to request the State Party which has been established as the Abandoning State Party pursuant to paragraphs 8 to 12 to enter into consultations for the purpose of destroying the abandoned chemical weapons in cooperation with the Territorial State Party. It shall immediately inform the Technical Secretariat of this request. 

For the purpose of destroying abandoned chemical weapons, the Abandoning State Party shall provide all necessary financial, technical, expert, facility as well as other resources. The Territorial State Party shall provide appropriate cooperation. 

Subject to paragraphs 8 to 16, Article IV and Part IV (A) of this Annex shall also apply to the destruction of abandoned chemical weapons. In the case of abandoned chemical weapons which also meet the definition of old chemical weapons in Article II, paragraph 5 (b), the Executive Council, upon the request of the Territorial State Party, individually or together with the Abandoning State Party, may modify or in exceptional cases suspend the application of provisions on destruction, if it determines that doing so would not pose a risk to the object and purpose of this Convention. In the case of abandoned chemical weapons which do not meet the definition of old chemical weapons in Article II, paragraph 5 (b), the Execu-... 

The States Parties, furthermore, attached importance to the destruction of abandoned chemical weapons and to the cooperation that has developed between the Territorial and Abandoning States Parties. Such cooperation would also be necessary in regard to any abandoned chemical weapons discovered in the future. 

The Second Review Conference reaffirmed the undertaking of each State Party to destroy all chemical weapons it abandoned on the territory of another State Party in accordance with the provisions of the Convention. It welcomed the existing cooperation between territorial and abandoning States Parties, and noted with concern that a large amount of abandoned chemical weapons remain to be destroyed. The Second Review Conference called upon abandoning States Parties to make the fullest possible efforts to complete destruction as soon as possible with the appropriate cooperation provided by the territorial States Parties. It commended the active and positive role that has been played by the Secretariat in this process, and encouraged it to continue to play such a role in future. 

Special rules apply to chemical weapons that were produced by one State Party and abandoned on the territory of another State Party. Both States Parties are required to declare details of such weapons to the extent possible. Where the abandoning State Party is known or can be subsequently identified, it is responsible for the recovery and destruction of the weapons. In situations where it is not possible to identify the abandoning State Party, the responsibility for the recovery and destruction of the weapons falls on the State Party on whose territory the weapons have been abandoned. In this situation, however, the State Party may seek assistance from the OPCW. 

Each State Party undertakes to destroy all chemical weapons it abandoned on the territory of another State Party, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention. 

The destruction of these declared stockpiles has made considerable progress. There have been difficulties and delays, but there is no doubting the full commitment of all possessor States Parties to complete the destruction of all their chemical weapons within the time frames established by the Convention. Furthermore, facilities that were used in the past to produce chemical weapons are being destroyed or converted for legitimate purposes. Destruction as well as conversion operations are subject to systematic verification by the OPCW, which has conducted more than 1,800 inspections, in 65 States Parties, since the beginning of inspections in 1997. More than 1,000 of these inspections were conducted at CW facilities (CW storage facilities, former CW production facilities, destruction operations, and locations where old and/or abandoned chemical weapons are being recovered and destroyed). Some... 

Nevertheless, the hard fact stiU remains that non-State Party B is a state that has chosen not to join the CWC and, as such, seems to be not in favour in the provisions of the CWC. It is almost inconceivable that non-State Party B would voluntarily accept an on-site challenge inspection carried out on its territory, even if it were limited to the military bases of State Party A. And yet one cannot easily abandon the possibility of conducting inspections in non-State Party B without making any effort, recalling the possible loophole mentioned above. Thus, the CWC has introduced the following paragraph in its Verification Annex, Part II ... 

Article I of the CWC obliges states parties to destroy any chemical weapon stockpiles in its possession or which it has abandoned on the territory of another state party. As well, a state party must destroy its chemical weapons production facilities (CWPFs) or convert them for peaceful purposes not prohibited under the Convention. A state party is required within 30 days of ratifying or acceding to the Convention to declare to the Technical Secretariat whether or not it possesses any chemical weapons or has possessed or produced them in the past. Likewise, old chemical weapons (OCW), both those produced before 1925, and those produced between 1925 and 1946, have to be declared. A state party must also notify the OPCW if it has... 

Six states parties - the United States, Russia, India and South Korea immediately after the CWC s entry into force64 plus Albania after it had discovered CW on its territory and Libya after its accession to the CWC in January 2004 - have declared the possession of chemical weapons stockpiles. These countries have declared a total of around 70,000 metric tons of chemical agents and about 8.6 Mill, munitions and containers.65 Eleven states parties have declared a total of 61 current or past CWPFs,66 nine states parties have declared possessing old CW,67 and three have declared the existence of abandoned chemical weapons on their territory.68 Japan has declared that it had abandoned CW on Chinese territory.69... 

This is the most challenging and, at the same time, the most uncertain category. As noted, the Army has identified potential NSCWM burial sites in 31 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In addition, potential overseas chemical weapons burial sites have been identified, but their locations are classified. Under the CWC, a state-party that has abandoned chemical weapons on the territory of another state-party has the responsibility for their removal and disposal (U.S. Army, 1996). 

The provisions of this Article and the detailed procedures for its implementation shall apply to all chemical weapons owned or possessed by a State Party, or that are located in any place under its jurisdiction or control, except old chemical weapons and abandoned chemical weapons to which Part IV (B) of the Verification Annex apphes. 

A State Party which discovers abandoned chemical weapons after this Convention enters... 

If the Abandoning State cannot be identified or is not a State Party, the Territorial State Party, in order to ensure the destruction of these abandoned chemical weapons, may request the Organization and other States Parties to provide assistance in the destruction of these abandoned chemical weapons. 

III. States Parties that have abandoned chemical weapons on the territories of other States Parties should implement in earnest the relevant provisions of the Convention and undertake the obligation to destroy the abandoned chemical weapons. 

C-IV/DEC.5 adopted by the Conference of the States Parties at its Fourth Session on 29 June 1999 and entitled Costs of inspections of abandoned chemicai weapons ... 

Recalling that the Executive Council had been requested by the Conference of the States Parties at its Third Session to continue addressing the issue of the attribution of the costs related to inspections of old and abandoned chemical weapons, with a view to making appropriate recommendations for a decision to be taken on these matters by the Conference at its Fourth Session ... 

If any chemical weapon, or old or abandoned chemical weapon is found in any place under the jurisdiction of [State Party], the weapon—... 

The Second Review Conference reaffirmed the obligation to destroy or otherwise dispose of old chemical weapons in accordance with the Convention, and requested the Council, assisted by the Secretariat, to address the issue of new discoveries of old chemical weapons. It encouraged close cooperation among those States Parties concerned in relation to future discoveries of old or abandoned chemical weapons including over any necessary research and development to ensure the safe recovery and destruction of such weapons. 

The international eommunity has undertaken great efforts to abandon chemieal weapons. This endeavour resulted in an agreement, the Chemieal Weapons Convention, whieh entered into foree on 29th April 1997 and has been ratified and implemented by, at present, 192 state parties. This eonven-tion bans the produetion, stoekpiling and use of chemical weapons, and up to now more than 90% of the declared stockpiles have been destroyed. 

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