Multilateral : Organización para la Prohibición de Armas Químicas (OPAQ)

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC or Convention). The OPCW is given the mandate to achieve the object and purpose of the Convention, to ensure the implementation of its provisions, including those for international verification of compliance with it, and to provide a forum for consultation and cooperation among States Parties.

The Technical Secretariat of the OPCW is responsible for the day-to-day administration and implementation of the Convention, including inspections, while the Executive Council and the Conference of the States Parties are decision-making organs designed primarily to determine questions of policy and resolve matters arising between the States Parties on technical issues or on interpretations of the Convention. The chairs of the Executive Council and the Conference are appointed by each body's membership. The Technical Secretariat is headed by a Director-General, who is appointed by the Conference on the recommendation of the Council.

The OPCW States Parties already represent about 98 percent of the global population and landmass, as well as 98 percent of the worldwide chemical industry.
For more information: Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) http://www.opcw.org

Ecuador in the OPCW

Ecuador signed onto the “Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction (Chemical Weapons Convention)” on 14 January, 1993, ratifying it on 6 September, 1995.  It entered into force in the country on 29 April, 1997.

As it is not a possessor State, Ecuador complies with its responsibility of disarmament and world peace.  The role of Ecuador in the OPCW can be summarized in the following ways:

• After an absence of ten years, Ecuador returned to the Executive Council of the OPCW for the period from May 2010 to May 2012.  Ecuador is one of the 41 member countries of the Council, seven of which are from GRULAC countries.
• In November, 2011, during the Conference of States Parties, Ecuador was re-elected for the period May 2012 to May 2014.
• Since 2 May, 2012, Ecuador occupies the region’s Vice-Presidency in the Executive Council.  As Vice-President of the Executive Council, the Ambassador of Ecuador coordinates the informal consultations of Article X regarding Assistance and Protection.

From 26 to 30 November, 2012, Ecuador participated in the last (17th) Conference of States Parties of the OPCW.