Converted chemical weapons production facilities

Converted chemical weapons production facilities shall be destroyed not later than 10 years after entry into force of this Convention. 

During destruction operations the inspectors shall have access to all portions of the temporarily converted chemical weapons production facilities, including those that are not directly involved with the destruction of chemical weapons. 

The States Parties reaffirmed the obligation to destroy chemical weapons and to destroy or convert chemical weapons production facilities within the time limits provided for by the Convention. The possessor States Parties are fully committed to meeting their destruction obligations and the verification costs as required by the Convention. There has been progress in chemical weapons disarmament. However, there have been difficulties in the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles, and the Conference has taken action on delays in some States Parties and granted extensions of destruction time limits, as provided for by the Convention. 

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... 

First, the CWC prohibited the development, production, acquisition, retention, stockpiling, transfer and use of all chemical weapons Furthermore, states that signed and ratified the agreement were required to declare any and all CW stockpiles. They were also required to destroy their chemical weapons within a reasonable amount of time— in anywhere from five to ten years—depending on their specific circumstances. States were also held responsible for the clean-up of any chemical weapons that had been abandoned in another state s territory. In addition, CWC members agreed to destroy or convert to peaceful use any chemical-weapons production facilities operated since 1946 under their jurisdictions. 

Chemical weapons production facilities specified in paragraph 1 may be temporarily converted for destruction of chemical weapons in accordance with Part V, paragraphs 18 to 25, of the Verification Annex. Such a converted facility must be destroyed as soon as it is no longer in use for destruction of chemical weapons but, in any case, not later than 10 years after entry into force of this Convention. 

The chemical weapons production facility shall be converted in such a manner that the converted facility is not more capable of being reconverted into a chemical weapons production facility than any other facility used for industrial, agricultural, research, medical, pharmaceutical or other peaceful purposes not involving chemicals listed in Schedule 1. 

For each chemical weapons production facility that a State Party intends to convert temporarily into a chemical weapons destruction facility, the State Party shall supply the following information ... 

Measures pertaining to the temporary conversion of chemical weapons production facilities into chemical weapons destruction facdities shall ensure that the regime for the temporarily converted facilities is at least as stringent as the regime for chemical weapons production facilities that have not been converted... 

A facility converted for the destruction of chemical weapons shall not be more fit for resuming chemical weapons production than a chemical weapons production facility which has been closed and is under maintenance. Its reactivation shall require no less time than that required for a chemical weapons production facility that has been closed and is under maintenance. 

The set of measures carried out for the purpose of converting a chemical weapons production facility into a chemical weapons destruction facility shall not be less than that which is provided for the disabling of other chemical weapons production facilities to be carried out not later than 90 days after this Convention enters into force for the State Party. 

Provide a site diagram indicating all stmctures and areas that will be involved in the destmction of chemical weapons and also identify all structures of the chemical weapons production facility that are to be temporarily converted ... 

Before the commencement of work at the facility to convert it temporarily for chemical weapons destruction purposes and after the facility has ceased to function as a facility for chemical weapons destruction, the facility shall be subject to the provisions of this Part applicable to chemical weapons production facilities. 

For a chemical weapons production facility that is not being used for purposes not prohibited under this Convention when this Convention enters into force for the State Party, the request shall be submitted to the Director-General not later than 30 days after the decision to convert, but in no case later than four years after this Convention enters into force for the State Party. The request shall contain the following information ... 

No later than 90 days after receiving the initial notification of the intent to convert temporarily a chemical weapons production facility, the Technical Secretariat shall have the right to visit the facility to familiarise itself with the proposed temporary conversion and to study possible inspection measures that will be required during the conversion. 

The six countries to have declared chemical weapons are required to destroy some 8.5 million items, including munitions and containers. As of April 2005,167 countries had joined the OPCW. ° All declared chemical weapons production capacity had been inactivated, with two-thirds of the declared facilities either verifiably destroyed or converted for peaceful purposes. With respect to chemical weapons, the inventory of all declared stockpiles had been completed and verified, but less than one-quarter of the declared 8.5 million chemical weapon munitions had been verifiably destroyed. Of the 70,000 tonnes of declared chemical weapons agents, only about 15 per cent had been verifiably destroyed just a tiny drop of nerve agent the size of a pin head can kill an adult within minutes of exposure. Almost 5,000 industrial facilities around the world are liable for inspection the OPCW had conducted almost 2,000 inspections at 170 military and 600 industrial sites in 68 countries. 

Should a State Party have the need to convert to a chemical weapons destruction facility an additional chemical weapons production facdity that had been closed after this Convention entered into force for it, it shall inform the Technical Secretariat thereof not less than 150 days before conversion. The Technical Secretariat, in conjimction with the State Party, shall make sure that the necessary measures are taken to render that facility, after its conversion, inoperable as a chemical weapons production facdity. 

The First Review Conference reviewed the progress made in the field of conversion of former CW production facilities for purposes not prohibited by the Convention. The First Review Conference confirmed the States Parties commitment to complete conversion as early as possible and to keep the Secretariat and the Council informed about the progress being made. The First Review Conference noted the intention of the Secretariat to inspect, soon after 29 April 2003, all chemical weapons production facihties that are subject to conversion for purposes not prohibited by the Convention, but that have not yet been certified as completely converted, and to report to the Coimcil about the conversion status of each of these facilities. 

The CWC prohibits the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer, or use of chemical weapons. Article IV requires that signatories destroy chemical weapons and any special facilities for their manufacture within 10 years (by April 29, 2007). Destruction of chemical weapons is defined as a process by which chemicals are converted in an essentially irreversible way to a form unsuitable for production of chemical weapons, and which, in an irreversible manner, renders munitions and other devices unusable as such (Smithson, 1993). The method of destruction is determined by each country, but the manner of destruction must ensure public safety and protection of the environment. 

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... 

Major steps have been taken towards eliminating CWPFs. The last remaining former CWPFs are currently undergoing conversion, one is temporarily used for chemical weapons destruction and will be destroyed thereafter. The verification measures applied by the OPCW are tailored to ensure that these production capacities are either rendered for peaceful purposes or destroyed in accordance with the Convention s requirements. All converted facilities remain under systematic verification. An issue that needs to be addressed is the scope of the verification measures to be applied past the 10-year period after former CWPFs have been certified by the OPCW as converted. 

In 2004 Libya declared to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) 3,563 empty chemical weapons (CW) airborne bombs and 23.62 metric tons of sulfur mustard and other chemicals that could be used in the production of CW. Libya stated that it had never transferred CW. In March 2004 Libya completed the destruction of the bombs. That December, the OPCW approved Libya s request to convert a former sulfur mustard production facility at Rabta into a pharmaceutical production facility to produce drugs to treat acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), malaria, and tuberculosis. While it is evident that Libya stockpiled air-droppable CW and sulfur mustard, the exact nature of its work with other agents is less clear. For example, Libya reportedly carried out some experimental work with sarin and soman. 

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