The 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) entered into force on 29 April 1997. It ‘prohibits the development, production, acquisition, retention, stockpiling, transfer and use of chemical weapons. It requires each State Party to destroy chemical weapons and chemical weapons production facilities (CWPFs) under its jurisdiction or control, as well as any chemical weapons it abandoned on the territory of other States Parties. All
States Parties are prohibited from engaging in military preparations to use chemical weapons, from assisting or encouraging other states to engage in activities prohibited by the CWC and from using riot control agents such as tear gas “as a method of warfare”.’ (See: www.opcw.org)
As of August 2007, the treaty has 182 states parties and 6 signatory states. The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the treaty depositary; the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is the treaty secretariat.
As noted in the Convention’s Preamble, the 1925 Geneva Protocol (prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons in war) and the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) (outlawing biological and toxin weapons and requiring their destruction) are both multilateral instruments pertinent to the CWC. See Reference:treaty/resolutions: biological weapons for documentation relevant to the Geneva Protocol and the BWC.
Text of the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)
Decision: Follow-up on the Plan of Action regarding the Implementation of Article VII Obligations (C-10/Dec.16, 11 Nov 2005)
Decision: Plan of Action regarding the Implementation of Article VII Obligations
(C-8/DEC.16, 24 Oct 2003)
Report of the First Review Conference: see Agenda item 7(c)(v): national implementation measures (RC-1/5, 09 May 2003)
Decision: National Implementation Measures (C-V/DEC.20, 19 May 2000)
Guidelines regarding declarations of aggregate national data for Schedule 2 chemical production, processing, consumption, import and export and Schedule 3 import and export (C-7/DEC.14, 10 Oct 2002)
Provisions on transfers of Schedule 3 chemicals to States not party to the Convention (C-VI/DEC.10, 17 May 2001)
Guidelines regarding low concentration limits for declarations of Schedule 2 and 3 chemicals (C-V/DEC.19, 19 May 2000)
Implementation of Restrictions on Transfers of Schedules 2 and 3 Chemicals to and from States not party to the Convention (C-V/DEC.16, 17 May 2000)
Depositary Notification on Saxitoxin (C.N.157.2000, Treaties-1, 13 March 2004)
OPCW National Legislation Implementation Kit (LAO-March 2006)
CWC National Implementation Measures: OPCW checklist for the legislator
See NIM tools: legislative assistance for information on what assistance is available to states through the OPCW and other providers to help states implement the CWC at the national level
See Reference: legislative databases for the OPCW Legislation Database.
General Obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and Related Tasks - Prioritised Checklist for Non-possessor States Parties (S/396/2004, 22 January 2004)
General Obligations under the CWC and Related Tasks (S/345/2003, 31 March 2003)
Australia: Australia's Experience in Tracking System for International Trade in Chemicals Listed in the Chemical Weapons Convention's Schedules of Chemicals (RC-1/NAT.29—09 May 2003)
World Customs Organisation (WCO) Recommendation on the Insertion in National Statistical Nomenclatures of Subheadings for Substances Controlled by the CWC, as amended 25 June 1999 (PC-XV/B/2—25 June 1999)
World Customs Organisation (WCO) Recommendation on the Insertion in National Statistical Nomenclatures of Subheadings for Substances Controlled by the CWC (PC-XV/B/2—02 Aug 1996)
Resolution No. 52 (Cuba, 1997) (regarding ‘Modifications to the Nomenclature of the Harmonised System of Commodity Description (SACLAP’)
See NIM tools: guides, handbooks and checklists for practical resources to help states understand and draft effective national implementation measures.
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