Introduction

The Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (CWC) came into force on 29 April 1997. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, OPCW, is responsible for implementing the Convention and is based in The Hague in the Netherlands.

At the beginning of 2001, the number of countries party to the convention was 141 - which includes all the EU member states, the USA, Canada, Japan, Russia, Iran, Australia, India, Pakistan, Jordan, South Korea, Latin and South American states such as Mexico, Brazil and Argentina and African states such as South Africa, Nigeria and a number of north African countries. Important states that are not yet party to the Convention include Israel, Egypt, Syria, North Korea, Libya and Iraq.

The organisation consists of:

• The Conference of States Parties, which comprises all states party to the Convention.
• The Executive Council, with its 41 members representing the various geographical regions.
• The Technical Secretariat, which has administrative responsibility.

The Inspectorate is a part of the Technical Secretariat and is responsible for ensuring that inspections of chemical weapons and chemical weapons production plants, their subsequent destruction and inspections of certain industrial facilities are carried out. The activities of TS are dictated by detailed rules governing the handling of confidential information. Declarations received by states party to the Convention and information from inspectorates constitute such information.

ISP is the national authority in Sweden responsible for these matters and is therefore the contact point for the OPCW and other party states. ISP is also responsible for the implementation of CWC.

CWC prohibits the use and possession of chemical weapons. CWC also includes rules for the destruction of chemical weapons and facilities used for their production. In addition, CWC involves controlling the chemical industry to prevent chemical weapons being produced again. This control is in the form of declarations submitted by certain chemical industry facilities, inspections and the export control of items to non-CWC states. Schedule 2 stipulates items, the export of which to non-CWC states is prohibited as from 2000.

For the Convention in full text, see: The Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (CWC) as a pdf document, or at the OPCW website.