Register for Email Updates
 
 

Login/Logout

*
*  

"The Arms Control Association’s work is an important resource to legislators and policymakers when contemplating a new policy direction or decision."

– General John Shalikashvili
former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chemical Weapons
  • Abolishing Chemical Weapons: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities
    November 4, 2010

    From November 29 to December 3, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will host its 15th annual conference of states-parties in The Hague to review recent progress in the global elimination of chemical weapons. As the international implementing agency for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the OPCW has overseen the safe and verified demilitarization of more than 43,000 metric tons of deadly chemical agents in almost four million weapons and containers since the convention’s entry into force in April 1997.

  • U.S. Hikes Aid for Russian Chemical Destruction
    September 3, 2010

    The U.S. government has agreed to continue “technical assistance support” for work at Russia’s Shchuch’ye chemical weapons destruction plant until the munitions stockpile there “is completely destroyed,” a Department of State spokesman said in a June 30 e-mail to Arms Control Today.

  • Peaceful Use or Weaponization: The Lingering Threat of Biological and Chemical Weapons
    September 1, 2010
  • Russia Revises Chemical Arms Deadline
    July 2, 2010

    Russia has said that it will not meet the Chemical Weapons Convention’s April 2012 deadline for destroying its stockpile of chemical weapons, the head of the convention’s implementing body said June 29.

  • No time for complacency: tackling challenges to the Chemical Weapons Convention
    June 11, 2010

    Remarks by ACA International Representative Oliver Meier, June 8, 2010 during a "Perspectives from NGOs" panel at a conference on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

  • Russia, U.S. Lag on Chemical Arms Deadline
    July 2, 2009

    The likely failure of Russia and the United States, the holders of the world's largest stockpiles of chemical weapons, to meet a key treaty deadline for destroying their stocks is prompting varying responses from experts. In recent public statements and interviews, officials involved in the process emphasized the progress and commitment of the two countries, while independent experts expressed concern about the effect of the missed deadline on the nonproliferation regime. (Continue)

  • U.S., Russia Step Up Chemical Weapons Destruction
    December 4, 2008

    Russia and the United States have announced measures to step up destruction of their chemical weapons stockpiles. The Department of Defense plans to speed up construction of the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky and the Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado. The two facilities are key to meeting the congressionally mandated destruction deadline of 2017. The fiscal year 2009 defense budget provides $427.5 million to the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program, an increase of $20 million from last year. Three U.S. destruction facilities have already completed their task, with four more in Alabama, Arkansas, Oregon, and Utah expected to conclude between 2015 and 2017. Nonetheless, this plan would lead to U.S. chemical weapons stockpiles continuing to exist well beyond the 2012 destruction deadline for all chemical weapons mandated by the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The United States is a CWC state-party. (Continue)

  • Destruction Complete at U.S. Chemical Weapons Site
    October 6, 2008

    The United States has completed destruction of chemical weapons agents at Newport Chemical Depot in Newport, Ind. The milestone, announced by the Army Chemical Materials Agency Aug. 11, means that destruction has been completed at three of the seven sites that had housed such agents in 1997 when the United States joined the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). (Continue)

  • CWC Review Conference Avoids Difficult Issues
    June 11, 2008

    The second review conference for the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) only barely avoided failure. The meeting, which took place April 7-18 in The Hague, had to be suspended at midnight of the last day, and diplomats worked until the early morning of April 19 to reach agreement. (Continue)

  • UN Renews Committee on WMD
    June 9, 2008

    The UN Security Council April 25 adopted Resolution 1810 extending for an additional three years a council committee tasked with monitoring, facilitating, and promoting national efforts to prevent other states and terrorists from acquiring nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons. Resolution 1810 also provides for potentially enhancing the role of the committee in providing assistance to states to carry out their obligations not to contribute to illicit trafficking in weapons of mass destruction (WMD), related materials, and delivery systems. (Continue)

Pages