Chemical Weapons Convention prohibited

This class of agents is not covered by the Chemical Weapons Convention. Because of the toxicity of the agents and lack of commercial application, carbamate nerve agents would be prohibited based on the Guidelines for Schedules of Chemicals. 

The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, shortly described as Convention on general and comprehensive prohibition of chemical weapons, or Chemical Weapons Convention, abbreviated as CWC, was adopted in 1992 after complex negotiations on the basis of The Conference on Disarmament (and previous multilateral negotiating fora in Geneva), lasting nearly a quarter of a century mainly due to the worldwide spread of chemical industry and relatively easy... 

Weapons Convention is facilitated by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the assistance received through the contributions of member states and the utilisation of experts within and external to the OPCW. It also involves the coordination and delivery of specialised services from national agencies and other international organisations involved in providing emergency humanitarian assistance. The OPCW will continue its work on the cooperative efforts with many member states to maintain the effort to development, implement and train for an effective delivery of assistance in accordance with the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention. 

The Chemical Weapons Convention of the 13.01.1993 is disarmament and arms control treaty whose aims are the prohibition of... 

The Convention on the prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and of their destruction (the Chemical Weapons Convention, CWC) was signed on January 13, 1993, and entered into force on April 29, 1997. The CWC includes 24 Articles, the Annex on Chemicals, the Annex on Implementation and Verification (so-called Verification Annex), and the Confidentiality Annex. The Verification Annex, which by the length occupies the majority of the CWC, is written in 11 parts. Article I lists the general obligations of the CWC as shown in Figure 1. 

Sampling and analysis (S A) during inspections is one of the verification tools provided for by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) (1). Chemical analysis of a sample is the only direct and scientific (and not only circumstantial) tool to confirm the presence of a chemical substance. The presence of a declared chemical in a declared place at a declared time and in declared quantities confirms the declaration provided by a State Party to the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons). The actual or past presence of a chemical, which should not be at the inspected site according to the declarations, or, which has... 

The OPCW Central Analytical Database (OCAD) is compiled and maintained by the OPCW Laboratory and contains analytical data of the chemicals that fall under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) (1). States Parties (SPs) of the CWC and the OPCW (Organization for Prohibition of the Chemical Weapons) Laboratory submit analytical data for inclusion to the OCAD. These analytical data are peer reviewed by experts. Before the analytical data are included into the OCAD, they undergo a technical and political approval process. 

Seventeen States Parties (SP) have volunteered to provide services of their high-level chemical analytical laboratories to the Organization for prohibition of the Chemical Weapons (OPCW). From these SPs, 18 laboratories (2004) have been designated by the Director-General (DG) of the OPCW to perform analyses as part of the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) (1). For the purpose of effective implementation, for example, analysis of samples taken during inspections or... 

Verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention (VERIFIN). The spectra are presented in their original form (size reduced from A4) to show layout and format of library spectra that have been acceptable to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Central Analytical Database (OCAD). The experimental conditions shown are the standard conditions used by the laboratory for the particular experiment. 

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force in April 1997, contains provisions for chemical analysis of samples in both on-site and off-site laboratories. On-site laboratories will be manned by the inspectors of the Organization for the Prohibition of the Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and equipped with the analytical equipment... 

The States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) have established the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in order to achieve the object and purpose of the Convention. It aims to ensure the implementation of the CWC s provisions, including those for international verification of compliance with it, and to provide a forum for consultation and cooperation among States Parties. The aim of this book is to give a comprehensive view of how to internationally verify compliance with the CWC, in principle, using analytical chemistry and related strategies and methods. 

Statement by Ambassador Noor Farida Ariffin, Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on Behalf of the States Parties of the Non-Aligned Movement to the Chemical Weapons Convention and China, The Hague, 30 April 2003, p. 5. 

In this chapter, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is the object of examination. The CWC was the first disarmament treaty that totally prohibited and completely eliminated one whole category of weapons of mass destruction with an extremely extensive and intrusive verification system. The Convention has also become a model for subsequent disarmament treaties. It was no surprise that, when the CWC was opened for signature on 13 January 1993, the international community enthusiastically welcomed it as a truly epoch-making treaty. 

The national implementation of international chemical disarmament and non-proliferation obligations has been a key focus of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). During the 2003 Review Conference for the CWC, a number of States Parties presented papers emphasizing the need for comprehensive national laws to control prohibited activities. The need for national implementation was also a central tenet of the Political Declaration of the CWC Review Conference, and was further elaborated in its Report. ... 

What is the significance of the universality of the only international agreement to provide for the elimination of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction The members of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) already represent nearly 95 per cent of the earth s population and landmass and 98 per cent of global chemical industry. These are, of course, only raw statistics. But the issue of universality of instruments such as the Chemical Weapons Convention unearths a number of other, sometimes contentious, issues. 

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Chemical Weapon Convention (http //www.opcw.org, July 29, 2005). 

There are essentially millions of chemical compounds known to humanity, but only a limited number are weaponized by conventional militaries. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the 184-member watchdog agency enforcing the guidelines of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), has identified 55 chemical agents and their precursors that can be used as weapons (OPCW, 2005). Although some of the chemicals are well known (e.g. sarin, soman, VX, mustard), other less obvious choices for chemical terrorism include industrial chemicals such as chlorine and toxic precursors, which are considered weapons of opportunity . 

The use of chemical weapons is prohibited by a number of international treaties or conventions. This illegality is said to confirm and codify a customary prohibition based on concepts... 

This chapter examines the prohibitions in the relevant treaties - the Geneva Protocol of 1925, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention - and concludes that chemical weapons are totally prohibited. Consideration is given to the risk of use of chemical weapons posed in the 21st Century, both by states and by other organizations and individuals, such as terrorists, and to how these risks can be countered by the effective implementation of the treaties. 

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Political Declaration as Approved by the First Special Session of the Conference of the States Parties to Review the Operation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, Conference of the States Parties, First Review Conference 28 April -9 May 2003 (available at http //www.opcw.org). 

As this book is focused on chemical warfare agents, it is necessary to consider the implementation of the prohibitions enshrined in the Chemical Weapons Convention (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 . 

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. 

From a scientific and technical point of view the major problem with so-called NLW lies in the fact that they are not non-lethal, as the Moscow theatre situation has clearly demonstrated here about 130 of the 830 hostages present in the theatre died of the effects of the gas used. This represents a percentage of approximately 16 per cent. Compared with the lethality of conventional, commonly assumed to be lethal weapons there is no significant difference the use of firearms in combat have resulted in 35 per cent fatalities, mines 20 per cent and grenades around 10 per cent.54 World War I chemical warfare agents like chlorine, phosgene and mustard gas, which are prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention, have an even lower lethality of around 7 per cent.55... 

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