Executive Council

Conference of States Parties ( All member states), yearly conference or as required, the Executive Council of 41 member states which meets regularly throughout the year and the Technical Secretariat of 506 staff members from 66 nationalities. The operating 2005 Budget is approx 76.5 million Euros. 

The Conference shall establish at its first session the voluntary fund for assistance in accordance with Article X (Article VIII, subparagraph 21(j)) The Executive Council shall conclude agreements with States Parties on behalf of the Organisation in connection with Article X and supervise the voluntary fund referred to in Article X (Article VIII, subparagraph 34 (b)) and the Technical Secretariat shall administer the voluntary fund referred to in Article X (Article VIII, subparagraph 39(c)). 

GEN.288. 1. Prigogine, A new page, Proceedings, International Forum 2000—World Expo Hanover, International Forum 2000 Executive Council, pp. 6-9. 

It was generally agreed that the Symposium was a success and thanks for this are due to the contributors, particularly those who undertook the tedious task of preparing the introductory papers Thanks are also due to the Board of Culture and the Executive Council for then aid, and to Prof P. Tuturidzie (Belgrade) who promoted the idea of the Symposium and secured the necessary support ... 

Such was the Committee 17 report. As its name suggests, this was a seventeen-member scientific review body convened by the EMS Executive Council to review research in mutagen detection and in population monitoring, assess the risk implications of the data derived from these testing and monitoring systems, and recommend directions for future research and for chemical regulatory policy. The committee s final report was published in Science in 1975 under... 

The mechanism of updating the OCAD (2) provides the regulatory framework for the processes of OCAD. The mechanism is consultative and enables approved validated spectra to be incorporated in the OCAD. The whole process entails sourcing the data, its validation by the VG, its approval by the Executive Council (EC), organization, management, distribution, and archiving of the OCAD. 

The OPCW is thus the implementing body of the Convention. The two bodies vested with the responsibility for making decisions on policy matters and disputes over interpretation or implementation are the Executive Council and the Conference of States Parties. The Executive Council, comprising representatives of 41 member states elected for two-year terms, meets four five times per year. The Conference of States Parties includes all CWC states, meets annually (or more often if required), and oversees the implementation of the Convention. The day-to-day administration and implementation, including inspections, is the responsibihty of the Technical Secretariat under the leadership of a Director-General appointed by the Conference of States Parties on the recommendation of the Executive Council. All three principal organs of the OPCW are... 

In May 2001, the sixth regular session of the CSP tasked the Executive Council with beginning preparations for the first RevCon. To this end, at its 26th session in September 2001, the Executive Council established an open-ended Working Group for the preparation of the Review Conference (WGRC). 

The Executive Council, which has oversight of the operations of the OPCW on behalf of the States Parties, has had substantial achievements since entry into force. However, there has been disappointment that the Executive Council has not been able to reach decisions on many important issues, including some dating back to the Paris Resolution (tasks that the Preparatory Commission was requested to resolve before entry into force) that are considered important for the effective operation of the OPCW. The unresolved issues include legal and technical ones related to industry declarations and verification. The Review Document expressed concern about these delays and urged the Executive Council to increase its momentum and strive to conclude all unresolved issues. ... 

A number of States Parties have used the informal bilateral consultations procedures, provided for in Article IX of the treaty, to consult and seek clarifications from a number of States Parties on the information provided in their declarations. For example, in its national statement, the United States stated that it has utilised the consultative provisions of Article IX on numerous occasions to address our compliance concerns often with great success . In its national statement, the United Kingdom also stated that it had made use of these clarification provisions. However, no State Party has yet utilized the formal consultation procedures involving the Executive Council. ... 

As discussed above, there were substantial reviews of relevant scientific and technological developments in a number of workshops during the 12 months prior to the formal two-week session of the RevCon, and a number of useful documents were prepared. The findings of the SAB were provided to the Executive Council for review. Unfortunately, apart from the half-day Open Forum, there was only limited opportunity to discuss these issues during the formal two-week RevCon session because of the priority given to concluding the drafting of the Political Declaration and the Review Document. " ... 

From the perspective of one who has been involved in the negotiation and the various phases of implementation of the CWC for the past 20 years, one of the most interesting aspects of the RevCon was how a number of issues that were considered to be potential treaty stoppers in the end-game of the negotiations of the CWC in 1992, and that at that time might have been expected to feature very prominently at the first RevCon, did not cause major concerns. These issues included the declaration and routine verification of other chemical production facilities the composition of the Executive Council the initiation and conduct of challenge inspections the destruction of CW stockpiles and former CW production facilities and export controls on CW dual-use items. ... 

The composition of the Executive Council caused a major headache in 1992. There were concerns among a number of negotiators and future States Parties that, based on the composition formula that was being developed, they would not receive a reasonable opportunity to participate in the deliberations of the Executive Council. However, as a result of the liberal use of Executive Council Rule of Procedure 22, any State Party can actively participate in the various issues being considered by the Executive Council, including the presentation of national papers, which has resulted in a reasonably high level of satisfaction with the operation of the Executive Council. ... 

The seventh regular session of the CSP in October 2002 approved the recommendation of the Executive Council that the first CWC RevCon commence on 28 April 2003, in accordance with CWC Article Vlll, para. 22, and would have a duration of two weeks. (Note that the RevCon commenced one day short of six years after entry into force -just making the specified Convention timeline.)... 

Statement by the Russian Federation at the First Session of the Conference to Review the Functioning of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The 1 per cent destruction represents the target for the first intermediate destruction deadline, which, according to Part IV(A) of the CWC s Verification Annex, should have been met three years after entry into force. Russia was granted an extension to this deadline by the Executive Council in 2000. 

One of these exercises simulated the entire challenge inspection process from the submission of the request, the convening of a special session of the Executive Council to consider the request, through to the preparation of a final report. These practice inspections are seen as valuable experience for the Executive Council, the Technical Secretariat and States Parties in preparing for the possibility of a real challenge inspection. 

Perhaps most notable in this respect was the key role taken by Canada, while an observer in the Executive Council in 1997-1998, in the consideration of transfers of small quantities of Saxitoxin (a Schedule 1 chemical used in many countries for medical and diagnostic purposes). The first use of the simplified amendment procedure for administrative or technical purposes (Article XV, paras 4 and 5) resulted in a new provision for transfers of very small quantities of Saxitoxin (para. 5bis in Part VI of the Verification Annex). 

According to the challenge inspection procedure in the CWC, the requesting State Party is first required to submit an inspection request to the Executive Council of the OPCW (where the decision on the challenge inspection would be made) as well as to the Director-General of the Technical Secretariat. The request must contain, at least, the following information (a) the State Party to be inspected, (b) the point of entry into the inspected State Party, (c) the size and type of the inspection site,... 

It should also be pointed out that the three-quarter blocking majority is quite difficult to obtain in the first place. In addition, it is three-quarters not of those present and voting but of all members of the Executive Council. That means that members that are absent for unknown or unrelated reasons as well as those that abstain from voting will in effect be treated as being in favour of carrying out the inspection. 

Summary 35th Session of the Executive Council , Chemical Disarmament 2 1 (2004), pp. 12-14. 

On 24 October 2003, acting upon a recommendation of the First CWC Review Conference held earlier in 2003, the OPCW s Executive Council... 

International cooperation, between States Parties, the OPCW Technical Secretariat and other organizations and bodies active in relevant fields, to advance the issue of CWC adherence through these stages will be crucial. Without it, universality within foreseeable time frames will not be achievable, particularly in view of the fact that the Executive Council, in adopting its Action Plan, was inspired by the objective of achieving universal adherence to the Convention ten years after its entry into force (i.e. by April 2007). 

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