Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of  Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction 

Brief Background

After 12 years of negotiations, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was adopted by the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on 3 September 1992. The CWC contains a mechanism for verifying compliance by States with the provisions of the Convention that is unprecedented in scope and in the stringency of its verification regime. The CWC opened for signature in Paris on 13 January 1993 and entered into force on 29 April 1997. The CWC is the first disarmament agreement negotiated within a multilateral framework that provides for the elimination of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction under universally applied international control.

In order to prepare for the entry-into-force of the CWC, a Preparatory Commission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was established with the responsibility to prepare detailed operation procedures and to put into place the necessary infrastructure for the permanent implementing agency provided for in the Convention. Headquarters for this organization were established in The Hague, The Netherlands. The CWC entered into force on 29 April 1997, 180 days after deposit of the 65th instrument of ratification. With the entry-into-force of the Convention, the OPCW was formally established.