States Parties from Asia gathered earlier this month to discuss potential adoption of national legislation regarding chemical weapons during a Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) forum held in The Hague in the Netherlands.
The Stakeholders Forum for States Parties in Asia on the Adoption of National Implementing Legislation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) provided an opportunity for States Parties that have not yet adopted legislation with all the initial measures – including Afghanistan, Bhutan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Samoa and Timor-Leste – to provide updates on their progress, discuss challenges, and formulate national roadmaps towards adoption.
Australia, Bangladesh, Japan, and Jordan, which had already adopted the legislation, shared their experiences and lessons learned during the political and legislative process.
Challenges discussed included competing national priorities, unfamiliarity with the CWC and low levels of involvement from stakeholders such as government leaders and the chemical industry. Enhancing regional cooperation, state-to-state support and facilitation by the OPCW Technical Secretariat were identified as potential methods of addressing these challenges.
In his opening remarks, Hamid Ali Rao, deputy director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said that “to effectively guarantee that chemicals are used only for peaceful purposes, all States Parties must work together to make sure that there are no gaps or lacunas in our laws that can be exploited for prohibited ends”.