1. Chemical Weapons Convention
Chemical Weapons Convention
Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,
Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical
Weapons and on their Destruction
Drafted September 3, 1992[1]
Signed January 13, 1993[1]
Location Paris and New York[1]
Effective April 29, 1997[1]
Condition Ratification by 65 states[2]
Signatories 165[1]
188 (as of May 2012)[1]
Complete List
Parties
8 states are not party: Angola, Burma, Egypt, Israel, North
Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria
Depositary UN Secretary-General[3]
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian
Languages
and Spanish[4]
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The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is an arms control agreement which outlaws
the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons. Its full name is the Convention on

2. the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical
Weapons and on their Destruction. The agreement is administered by the Organisation for
the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is an independent organization based
in The Hague, Netherlands.
The main obligation under the convention is the prohibition of use and production of
chemical weapons, as well as the destruction of all chemical weapons. The destruction
activities are verified by the OPCW. As of November 2011, around 71% of the (declared)
stockpile of chemical weapons has thus been destroyed.[5][6] The convention also has
provisions for systematic evaluation of chemical and military plants, as well as for
investigations of allegations of use and production of chemical weapons based on intelligence
of other state parties.
As of August 2010, 188 states are party to the CWC, and another two countries have signed
but not yet ratified the convention.[1]
History
Intergovernmental consideration of a chemical and biological weapons ban was initiated in
1968 within the 18-nation Disarmament Committee, which, after numerous changes of name
and composition, became the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in 1984.[7] On September 3,
1992 the Conference on Disarmament submitted to the U.N. General Assembly its annual
report, which contained the text of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The General
Assembly approved the Convention on November 30, 1992, and The U.N. Secretary-General
then opened the Convention for signature in Paris on January 13, 1993. The CWC remained
open for signature until its entry into force on April 29, 1997, 180 days after the deposit of
the 65th instrument of ratification (by Hungary). The convention augments the Geneva
Protocol of 1925 for chemical weapons and includes extensive verification measures such as
on-site inspections. It does not, however, cover biological weapons.
Key points of the Convention
Prohibition of production and use of chemical weapons
Destruction (or monitored conversion to other functions) of chemical weapons production
facilities
Destruction of all chemical weapons (including chemical weapons abandoned outside the
state parties territory)
Assistance between State Parties and the OPCW in the case of use of chemical weapons
An OPCW inspection regime for the production of chemicals which might be converted to
chemical weapons
International cooperation in the peaceful use of chemistry in relevant areas

3. Member states
Almost all countries in the world have joined the Chemical Weapons Convention. Currently
188 of the 196 states recognized by the United Nations are party to the CWC.[1] Of the eight
states that are not, two have signed but not yet ratified the treaty (Burma and Israel) and six
states have not signed the treaty (Angola, North Korea, Egypt, Somalia, South Sudan and
Syria