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OPCW Extends National Implementation Deadline By Chris Schneidmiller WASHINGTON — Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention last week gave their fellow member countries an additional year to enact the domestic legislative and administrative measures required to implement the treaty (see GSN, Nov. 4). Libya also received extra time to eliminate its chemical weapons. Friday — the last day of the 10th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons — had been the deadline for nations to meet their obligations under treaty Article 7. While a specific number was not available, dozens of the 175 treaty members have yet to reach full compliance. “We would have preferred to have greater results accomplished, but the end result was that they weren’t done,” said a U.S. State Department official. The United States and other member nations were left with the option this year of penalizing their counterparts or putting together a schedule under which the remaining countries could take the required measures, the official said. There was no clear sign that a consensus decision could have been reached on measures to take against noncomplying nations, the official said. Organizing a vote on the matter would have meant trying to persuade a significant number of countries to vote against themselves. “That’s not usually one of the things countries are inclined to do,” the official said. In a consensus decision, delegates pushed the deadline back to the next states parties conference in December 2006. The extension was a demonstration of “goodwill on the part of everyone” toward countries that need additional time or assistance to implement national measures, said OPCW spokesman Peter Kaiser. At least 20 nations joined the pact after the deadline was set in May 2003 — most recently Vanuatu in September. There are signs of movement by the noncomplying nations, said John Gilbert, senior science fellow at the Washington-based Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, who attended the conference. An addendum to the main conference report on national implementation indicated that 25 countries — including Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro and Venezuela — had taken some sort of action between mid-October and the beginning of the meeting. That mostly involved submitting required draft legislation to the organization or to lawmakers for consideration, Gilbert said. “One thing that did come through was that a number of countries have taken this seriously,” he said. Noncomplying nations next year will be required to submit reports to the quarterly OPCW Executive Council meetings on their efforts — which include enacting laws against acts barred by the treaty, designating a national authority to oversee peaceful chemical activity within the country, and establishing controls on the import and export of dual-use materials. The reports will enable OPCW officials to track progress to determine which nations need the most support from the organization and other member states, the State Department official said. He said he hoped the OPCW Technical Secretariat would also develop milestones that countries would be required to meet each quarter. Selection of measures that could be taken against countries that remain in violation of Article 7 will be “a decision that will be left for the Conference of States Parties a year from now,” the official said. He said he expects there will be no more than a “handful of bad actors” left then that have no intention of finishing their work. Having only three or five nations to deal with will make it easier for the treaty states to apply some form of penalty, the official said. Gilbert was less optimistic, putting the figure at possibly more than 20 countries either not interested or not able to meet their obligations. There was similar disagreement on the severity of measures that could be taken a year from now. The State Department official said he would not expect steep fines or restrictions on chemical trade, while Gilbert included those in a menu of options that also included restrictions on OPCW employment for nationals of treaty-violating countries. Sanctions could actually deter frustrated leaders from trying to address their Article 7 requirements, Kaiser said. He noted withdrawal of voting rights at the conference as one option that could be considered for treaty nations that have not addressed Article 7. Over the next year the organization and its members will maintain assistance programs for countries developing their national measures, Kaiser said. The U.S. government has personnel from various agencies able to support other treaty states, the State Department official said. Commerce Department officials can provide guidance on organizing chemical industry regulations, while Defense personnel have expertise in security and the State Department can draw on its background as the national authority for the United States. “We are very optimistic that a year from now that we will see a very marked improvement,” the official said. The Libyan ExtensionAt last week’s meeting, treaty parties agreed by consensus to approve an extension for Libya to eliminate its chemical weapons stockpile. Tripoli previously was to have destroyed 23 metric tons of mustard gas and 1,300 tons of precursor chemicals by July 2006, according to another U.S. official. While a new deadline has not yet been set, Kaiser noted that the convention requires all members to eliminate their chemical stockpiles by April 2007. Treaty states can request an extension to 2012. Since signing the treaty in 2004, Libya has moved all chemical agents to one site and is reviewing plans for two incinerators to be built there, the State Department official said. However, getting the facility on line has proven more complicated than anticipated. “Libya has been working very hard on it,” the State Department official said. Gilbert called the delay “a fact-of-life recognition.” He said the consideration shown to Libya could help persuade nontreaty states suspected of possessing chemical weapons to sign on to the pact. Also at the conference, treaty states approved the OPCW budget for 2006. The $88 million budget will be split between the organization’s treaty verification duties and costs for administrative and other programs. With inflation, the budget is slightly smaller than the organization’s spending plan for 2005, Kaiser said.
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