Council Decision 2012/166/CFSPShow full title

Project I: National Implementation, Verification and Universality U.K.

Objective: U.K.

To enhance the capacity of States Parties in fulfilling their obligations under the CWC and to encourage States not Party to the CWC to better understand the benefits of joining the CWC and in getting more involved in OPCW activities.

Purposes: U.K.

• Purpose 1 — States Parties make progress towards:

  • fulfilling national implementation requirements under Article VII of the CWC,

  • complying with their declarations and inspection declarations requirements under Article VI of the CWC,

  • running more efficiently their national authorities,

  • facilitating the basic training of national authorities,

  • being prepared for investigations of alleged use under Articles IX and X of the CWC.

• Purpose 2 — States not Party to the CWC get more involved in OPCW activities and increase their understanding of the CWC and its benefits.

Results: U.K.

• Result 1

  • National authorities have enhanced their capacity to draft national implementing legislation and are in a position to submit legislation for adoption.

  • Customs officials have enhanced their capacity to identify chemicals relevant to the CWC and to submit accurate transfers of scheduled chemicals data to national authorities.

  • National authorities have enhanced their capacity to communicate with and deliver documentation and declarations to OPCW.

  • National authorities personnel have enhanced their capacity to understand and implement the basic principles of the CWC and make more cost effective use of face-to-face training opportunities.

  • States Parties have a better knowledge of investigations of alleged use and challenge inspections, as fundamental tools at their disposal to provide assistance and/or to clarify possible non-compliance with the CWC.

  • States Parties receive assurances on the readiness of the Technical Secretariat to conduct investigations of alleged use and challenge inspections.

• Result 2

  • States not Party to the CWC are more involved in OPCW activities and have obtained a better understanding of the benefits of joining the CWC.

Activities: U.K.

• Bilateral technical assistance visits: Support to States Parties will be provided through technical assistance visits that will be designed on a case-by-case basis and conducted to provide focused assistance to meet the requirements of the requests made by the States Parties. The nature of this support will include sensitisation and outreach efforts through national awareness workshops, specialised training courses, assistance for drafting national implementing legislation and related measures, and Article VI of the CWC industry-related topics. Depending on their objective, these visits will entail coordinated work involving, as appropriate, the Technical Secretariat’s Implementation Support Branch, the Office of the Legal Adviser, the Declarations Branch and the Industry Verification Branch.

• Training of customs officials on the technical aspects of the CWC’s transfers’ regime: Support to customs officials has been provided under Joint Action 2005/913/CFSP, Joint Action 2007/185/CFSP and Decision 2009/569/CFSP. On the basis of experience gained, outreach to customs officials through training courses will be undertaken with a view to improving the collection and transmission of data on imports and exports of scheduled chemicals to national authorities. Regional and sub-regional training courses undertaken will offer practical hands-on demonstrations and exercises. One regional course will be held in the Latin American and Caribbean region and one sub-regional course will be held in the Asian region. The courses will be carried out by the Technical Secretariat’s Implementation Support Branch with the technical expertise from the Declarations Branch.

• Grants to national authorities: National authorities in developing States Parties are often hindered in their ability to fully implement the obligations under the CWC by a lack of basic equipment (desktop computers, printers, software, copiers etc). By providing basic office equipment to national authorities, they have the opportunity to develop a higher degree of efficiency and professionalism in their efforts to implement the CWC. The availability of such equipment will also be used as an incentive to national authorities to engage more actively in their efforts to implement the CWC, particularly if the making available of such equipment is made contingent upon achieving certain predefined targets.

  Such targets will be defined on a case-by-case basis and in consultation with the States Parties concerned.

• E-learning tool for national authorities/associated stakeholders: In order to maximise face to face training opportunities, the basic and generic elements of OPCW national authority training will be made available to States Parties in an electronic format, and translated in all OPCW official languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, and Russian). Accordingly, five e-learning modules, based on existing materials within the Technical Secretariat, will be developed using the services of a commercial provider. The presentations currently being used that would be converted to e-learning tools are the following:

  • an overview of the CWC,

  • an introduction to the OPCW,

  • the CWC article by article,

  • the CWC — schedules 1, 2 and 3,

  • the effective running of a national authority.

• Outreach to States not Party to the CWC: Representatives of States not Party to the CWC who are in a position to influence national actions relating to accession/ratification and those directly involved in issues of relevance to the CWC will be sponsored to attend different programmes organised by the International Cooperation and Assistance Division (ICA). These programmes will include regional workshops for national authorities of States Parties and regional workshops for customs authorities. Where necessary, staff members from the External Relations Division of the Technical Secretariat will also be sponsored to attend these meetings in order to undertake necessary contacts and interaction with the sponsored participants from the States not Party to the CWC. In addition, and as may be necessary, tailor-made visits and arrangements involving States not Party to the CWC are also envisaged within this scheme of support to States not Party to the CWC.

• Investigation of alleged use exercises: Since entry into force of the CWC, the Technical Secretariat, often in cooperation with States Parties, has conducted a number of exercises related to Articles IX and X of the CWC, including both investigations of alleged use (IAU) and challenge inspections (CI). Although many lessons learned in relation to CI exercises apply to IAU, and vice-versa, a comprehensive review has never been undertaken. In such a comprehensive review, previous lessons learned and evaluation reports from IAU and CI exercises (both table-top and field) will be analysed, and a workshop will be held to bring together experts involved in such exercises in order to share best practice, and to inform future exercises, especially in relation to investigations of alleged use.