U.S., Partners to Offer New Program of CWC Support

By Chris Schneidmiller
Global Security Newswire

THE HAGUE — The United States plans next year to intensify its efforts to help countries take steps to prevent the misuse of potentially dangerous materials produced by their chemical industries, a senior U.S. official said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 1).

The “Twenty in Ten” program would offer international support to an estimated 20 nations on the year of the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

“This is an important nonproliferation aspect of the Chemical Weapons Convention and it’s an area that we in the United States think deserves an increased level of attention,” said Christopher Padilla, assistant commerce secretary for export administration.

Member nations are allowed to use toxic chemicals in activities not banned by the treaty.  Article 6 mandates that they provide annual accounting of relevant materials and facilities, and open plants for inspection by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Article 7 sets another seven directives on member states for national implementation of the treaty.  At the top of the list is enactment of legislation and other domestic measures to prevent actions that violate the terms of the treaty banning development, production, possession and stockpiling of chemical agents for weapons purposes.

Roughly 40 percent of the 181 CWC states parties have implemented all the treaty provisions.  Nations that conduct 90 percent of the world’s chemical production and trade have met all their requirements, Padilla said in a press conference prior to speaking at the 11th Conference of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention. 

“What I will be calling for in my remarks later and what I’ve been meeting with delegations about is an effort to make that number 100 percent in time for the 10th anniversary here of the CWC in 2007,” he said.

Padilla said there are roughly 20 chemical-producing treaty nations that have yet to fulfill their obligations.  Most are medium-income developing countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America, he said.

The United States would work with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the governments that now provide the greatest amount of technical assistance for treaty members — including Japan, Singapore, Australia and the European Union — to finalize a list of nations to support.

This group would then help guide the nations through the legal and administrative steps of meeting their treaty obligations.

The OPCW Technical Secretariat and treaty states already offer financial support and expertise to countries struggling to meet their commitments.  They have conducted bilateral visits and organized training workshops and conferences.

Padilla displayed two U.S. booklets that provide information on national implementation of CWC measures.  One contains “basically everything a country would need, from draft legislation to how to do a declaration,” he said.  A smaller document, issued yesterday, is designed to help companies prepare for inspections and declarations of chemicals under the treaty.

The assistance to be offered in the program is not new, Padilla said.  The difference comes from the planned focus on a specific set of countries.

“We should not turn people away, but I think we do need to set some priorities.  In the scarce resources that we and others have, I think we should focus first on those countries that have chemical production,” he said.

Padilla said he would like to pursue “industry to industry dialogues,” to allow U.S. chemical firms to tell counterparts in other nations about their experiences with the treaty, hopefully allaying concerns overseas.

“We welcome all the support from member states that we can acquire to enhance the verification, to enhance national implementation,” said OPCW spokesman Peter Kaiser.  “It’s often a complex, difficult task.  There is always a need for technical support.”

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