CHEMICAL ARMS BAN ORGANIZATION TAKES STOCK OF GLOBAL ARSENAL DESTRUCTION

THE HAGUE, March 15 (RIA Novosti's Andrei Poskakukhin) - The Executive Council of the OPCW, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, opened its 40th session in The Hague today.

The Council has 41 member countries, Russia among them.

To last through March 18, the session analyzes the many aspects of implementing the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction. In particular, the conferees focus attention on how to make the convention a true global instrument, that is, how to convince all countries to join it.

The agenda includes interim terms of Albanian and Libyan chemical arsenal destruction. Both countries have pledged to finish their chemical arms destruction by April 29, 2007.

Russia, the USA and certain other countries have had their interim terms and deadlines of chemical arms destruction postponed. Now, they will report to the session about related efforts and achievements.

The conferees will discuss blueprints for chemical arsenal destruction, construction of relevant industrial facilities, and shifting many Russian-based plants that used to manufacture chemical arms to such produce as the convention does not prohibit.

OPCW countries are gathering for a 10th conference, November next. The organization presently has 167 members-countries that have signed and ratified the convention.

A total six countries have for now acknowledged possession of chemical arsenals. Russia and the USA have stockpiled the world's largest amounts-Russia 40,000 tons and the United States roughly 28,000 of a lump 71,000 tons of the world's declared chemical arms.

All chemical arsenals there are throughout the world are to be destroyed by April 29, 2012.

Though Russia ratified the convention in November 1997, financial and other problems prevent it from meeting the chemical arms destruction deadline, of April 29, 2007.

The Russian chemical arms destruction program is estimated at a lump 8.5 billion US dollars. It envisages arsenal destruction, with all the 24 industrial companies producing chemical arms liquidated or shifted to civil-oriented produce. Russia has concentrated its largest chemical arms works in the Volga country-Volgograd, Novocheboksarsk and Dzerzhinsk. A factory to destroy chemical arms has appeared also on the Volga-in the Gorny township, Saratov Region. It was built in compliance with the federal chemical arms destruction program.

Russian researchers have developed technologies for the safest and cleanest of hitherto available poisonous agent destruction methods. It does not need a temperature above 100 degrees centigrade, and guarantees only token air pollution.