Chemical Weapons Convention importance

The history of chemical warfare is important so we can learn lessons for the future. Dr Coleman has provided a well-referenced account of the history. Readers should form their own judgements on the threat chemical weapons pose - whether they really are weapons of mass destruction, their attractiveness to terrorists and the strengths and weaknesses of the Chemical Weapons Convention. 

The ability to monitor compounds related to the Chemical Weapons Convention has become an increasingly important issue in recent years. Sensitive analytical techniques are required for identifying chemical weapons at suspected attack sites and for monitoring alleged production facilities. Most chemical warfare (CW) agents degrade after... 

Such developments have been assisted by other relevant regional initiatives, including the adoption in June 2004 by the General Assembly of the OAS of a resolution on the establishment of the Americas as a Biological- and Chemical-Weapons-Free Region, which underscores the importance of universal participation by all member states in, inter alia, the Chemical Weapons Convention. A total of 29 of the 35 members of the OAS are currently States Parties to the Convention. 

One of the important lessons learned from the preparation for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was the necessity of at least two different spectrometric techniques to absolutely determine compound identification. Additionally, expert interpretation of the results is necessary. 

It is generally agreed that the community of practising chemists and their professional societies played an important positive role in the negotiation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. This positive role has continued, with the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) making a major contribution on scientific developments for the 2003 First Review Conference of the CWC. More recently, IUPAC had joined with the OPCW in its efforts to develop new educational aids to inform the profession of the importance of the CWC. 

One of the more important U.S. Army programs is the destruction of chemical weapons. It is not only necessary from the standpoint of domestic concerns, but will be required under the bilateral agreements with Russia, and with the Chemical Weapons Convention when ratified by 65 countries. 

The analysis of chemical munitions, including their precursors and degradation products, is an important element of verification used to enforce the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The CWC that entered into force in 1997 prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons including sulfur compounds such as mustard gas. 

Certain types of weapons have been considered so horrendous that their use has been proscribed by international law. Important examples of such restrictions include the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (1972), the Chemical Weapons Convention (1993) and the recent Convention on Cluster Munitions (2010). These conventions have made valuable contributions to the protection of life. However, they also have limitations. For example, major producers and users of cluster munitions, including Israel, Russia and the United States, have not signed the CCM. Furthermore, there are always temptations to find ways around such legislation or to develop entirely new types of weapons. Two of the many such possibilities will be noted here the use of drugs as weapons and the use of drones (unmanned aerial vehicles). 

The rapid preparation and accurate analysis in the field of suspect samples is most important for on-site investigations relevant to the planned Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) inspections. Sample preparation becomes the limiting factor and one of the most critical aspects of the challenge inspection. The primary aim of the analysis is to detect the presence of undeclared chemicals subject to control by the Convention. 

It stands to reason that consideration of response characteristics that have been generated for protection of military combatants against chemical warfare agents can be extended to protection of Chemical Weapons Convention inspectors against exposure to toxic chemicals. An inspector must be protected from both chronic exposures (long term, low concentrations) and acute exposures (short term, higher concentrations). Because of the fact that the inspector has a large number of important tasks to accomplish, the detector or safety device should be of such a size that the device would not be an encumbrance to the inspector. 

Recalling that the First Special Session of the Conference of the States Parties to Review the Operation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (hereinafter the First Review Conference ) reaffirmed the continuing relevance and importance of the provisions of Article X of the Convention, and of the activities of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (hereinafter the Organisation ) in relation to assistance and protection against chemical weapons and that these provisions and activities have gained additional relevance in today s security context (paragraph 7.92 of RC-1/5, dated 9 May 2003) ... 

Emphasising the importance of the provisions of Article XI of the Chemical Weapons Convention (hereinafter the Convention ) on the economic and technological development of States Parties and recalling that the full, effective and non-discriminatory implementation of Article XI is essential for the realisation of the object and purpose of the Convention ... 

The terrorist CW threat differs fundamentally from the military CW threats of the past. Essentially, it is driven by accessibility of the material. On the one hand, there has to be concern about the security of existing CW stockpiles. But it is equally important to ensure that terrorist organizations cannot get access to relevant precursor materials or toxic industrial chemicals to produce their own make-shift chemical weapons. A related concern is the presence of toxic industrial chemicals in manufacturing, storage and transport, and the danger of deliberate releases of these chemicals by attacks with conventional explosives. 

On the preventive side, there is first the need to make the regime against chemical weapons truly universal. This has two aspects the need to attract all states into the CWC regime, and the need to ensure that all States Parties fully implement the treaty. Of particular importance is that States Parties enact and enforce the prohibition of chemical weapons in their penal codes so as to ensure that the international ban on chemical weapons finds expression in national laws and that any violator can be apprehended, prosecuted and punished no matter where an offence is committed. This important relationship between quantitative and qualitative factors in relation to universahty was clearly recognized by the First Review Conference, which called for two Action Plans one on universality and one to ensure full national implementation of the Convention by aU States Parties. ... 

Cholinesterases (ChE) are well-known targets for organophosphates (OPs), and RVX is no exception. Much less information is available about other enzymes that could be primary targets upon exposure to low doses of OP, and on biochemical markers of possible delayed effects of OP intoxication when the level of ChE activities is the same as the control. However, this problem is very important due to various reasons, among which is fulfillment of chemical weapon agents (CWAs) nonproliferation conventional programs and inherent possibility of accidental exposure of... 

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. 

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