Chemical Weapons Convention General Purpose Criterion

The reach of this provision is extensive and is made more so by the so-called general purpose criterion set out in Article II of the CWC. This defines chemical weapons to mean, inter alia, [tjoxic chemicals and their precursors, except where intended for purposes not prohibited under this Convention as long as the types and quantities are consistent with such purposes . In essence, this definition means that the Article I obligations undertaken by States Parties apply to all toxic chemicals and their precursors. These obligations are not limited to the chemicals that are subject to verification under the CWC. ... 

As already noted, a central provision of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is the general purpose criterion which prohibits Toxic chemicals and their precursors, except where intended for purposes not prohibited under this Convention, as long as types and quantities are consistent with such purposes . The implementation of this general purpose criterion is placed by Article VI on each State Party which shall adopt the necessary measures to ensure that toxic chemicals and their precursors are only developed, produced, otherwise acquired, retained, transferred, or used within its territory or in any other place under its jurisdiction or control for purposes not prohibited under this Convention . 

As the General Purpose Criterion is a central provision in the CWC, it is important that both the fact and the method of its implementation is made generally known. It would be important for National Authorities to report to the OPCW, as well as nationally both what action they have taken and the nature of this action to implement the General Purpose Convention, thereby strengthening the implementation of the CWC and ensuring its continued health and effectiveness in totally preventing chemical weapons. 

Chemical weapons are totally prohibited under the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The General Purpose Criterion ensures that all toxic chemicals, past, present and future, are prohibited unless they are for purposes not prohibited under the Convention. The regime against chemical weapons will become more effective as the Chemical Weapons Convention approaches universality and international initiatives in regard to toxic chemicals become more widely applied throughout the world. National measures to ensure that toxic chemicals do not present a risk to health and safety can and should be harnessed to ensure effective implementation of the obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention to ensure that such chemicals are only used for purposes permitted under the Convention. 

The CWC contains a general purpose criterion (GPC) that bans the production and use of all toxic chemicals except where they are to be used for peaceful purposes, such as would be the case for a commercial pesticide. The GPC is the principal mechanism by which technological and scientific developments can be taken into account by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the organization that implements the CWC. The definition in the CWC is phrased to ensure that bulk CW storage containers and binary chemical weapon or other multicomponent systems are covered by the convention. See also BIOLOGICAL... 

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