The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force on 29 April 1997, is the first arms control treaty which seeks to introduce a verifiable ban on an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. It is administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is based in The Hague. As of 25th March 2006 the OPCW had 178 State Parties.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), as the UK National Authority, is responsible for the implementation of the CWC in the UK. The powers to implement the declaration and verification provisions in the CWC are contained in the Chemical Weapons Act 1996.

There are three main elements to implementation of the CWC which have a direct impact on government facilities, industry and academia: declarations; inspections; and trade controls. Under the CWC, a State Party must submit detailed declarations on certain activities involving certain chemicals. These declarations are subject to verification by inspectors from the OPCW. Trade in chemicals covered by the CWC is controlled through the United Kingdom's export and import licensing procedures.

The Act requires the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to prepare a report on its operation in each calendar year, and to lay a copy of the report before each House of Parliament. The reports for the years 2000 - 2004 are available in PDF format by clicking the Related Documents links to the right of this page.          

The Secretary of State is also responsible for the appointment of the CWC National Authority Advisory Committee (NAAC) which was created in 1997 to advise Ministers on the actions taken by the National Authority to ensure compliance with the CWC and the Act.

Declarations - this DTI leaflet is currently undergoing revision and will be available again shortly. If you have any urgent queries regarding declarations please contact the National Authority. Contact details can be found by following the link to the left of this page. Guidance notes and forms for the current declaration round for the Annual Anticipated Declaration for 2006 to the OPCW can be found by following the links to the right of this page. The declaration rounds for Annual Past and Aggregate National Data for 2004 have now closed.  The guidance and forms will be revised for the 2005 round but remain on the website for information on the procedures involved.