Progress in eliminating chemical weapons stockpiles and the appointment of a new director general will highlight the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) upcoming 22nd Conference of the States Parties (CSP-22) scheduled from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1.
Hamid Ali Rao, the deputy director-general of OPCW, outlined the CPS-22 agenda for non-residential Permanent Representatives to the OPCW in a briefing held in the Netherlands on Friday.
In October, the OPCW Executive Council recommended Ambassador Fernando Arias, Spain’s permanent representative to OPCW, to serve as the next director-general. The recommendation will be acted on during CSP-22, and the next director-general’s term will commence on July 25.
Additional topics that will be covered at CSP-22 include threats posed by non-state actors, the capacity of OPCW’s Africa Programme, international cooperation to advance the peaceful use of chemistry, and an update on a fact-finding mission regarding Syria’s alleged use of chemical weapons.
“The secretariat has engaged with the Syrian Arab Republic in order to clarify all the outstanding issues identified in relation to its initial declaration and related submissions,” Rao said. “Despite the high-level consultations with the Syrian authorities, the Secretariat has not been able to resolve the identified gaps, inconsistencies and discrepancies in the declaration of the Syrian Arab Republic.”
During the briefing, Rao also provided an update on the progress of chemical demilitarization. He reported that 69,628 metric tonnes (MT) of chemical weapons had been destroyed under international verification, which represents 96.3 percent of all stocks declared to OPCW.