Chemical Weapons Convention: Issues for Congress
Abstract
More than 100 years of international efforts to ban chemical weapons culminated January 13, 1993, in the signing of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The Convention entered into force April 29, 1997, and 153 of the 178 signatories have ratified it. On April 24, 1997, the Senate passed the CWC resolution of ratification (S.Res. 75, 105th Congress) by a vote of 74-26. President Clinton signed the resolution and the United States became the 75th nation to ratify the Convention. The CWC bans the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons by signatories. It also requires the destruction of all chemical weapons stockpiles and production facilities. Neither the United States nor Russia will be able to meet the original CWC's deadlines for destruction of their CW stockpiles, and have been granted extensions. The Convention provides the most extensive and intrusive verification regime of any arms control treaty, covering government and civilian facilities. The Convention also requires export controls and reporting requirements on chemicals that can be used as warfare agents and their precursors. The CWC establishes the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to oversee the Convention's implementation. Chemical Weapons Convention implementing legislation (P.L. 105-277) provides the statutory authority for domestic compliance with the Convention's provisions. It sets criminal and civil penalties for the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, transfer, possession, or use of chemical weapons. It also establishes the following: (1) procedures for seizure, forfeiture, and destruction of contraband chemical weapons; (2) statutory authority for recordkeeping and reporting requirements relevant to the CWC; (3) various restrictions on certain chemicals, depending on their likelihood of being used to produce chemical weapons; and (4) a protective regime for confidential business information gathered from private corporations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 14, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA477991
Entities
People
- S. R. Bowman
Organizations
- Library of Congress