Weapons of Mass Destruction
Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, Director of Chemical Weapons Convention to Speak on Capitol Hill
Washington D.C. - April 1 2008 - Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, the Director General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, will speak on Wednesday, April 2, 2008, at 11 AM in the US House of Representatives (1116 Longworth HOB) on the status of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, which mandates the elimination of over 70,000 tons of deadly chemical agents in six declared possessor states.
His presentation, “Chemical Weapons and Global Security: Implementing the International Chemical Weapons Convention,” is organized by Global Green USA, the US affiliate of Mikhail Gorbachev’s Green Cross International, and hosted by Cong. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Cong. Chris Shays (R-CT) as co-chairs of the Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation.
Ambassador Pfirter will address the successes of the historic disarmament regime to date:
• Safe destruction of over 27,000 tons of chemical agents in almost 3 million weapons and containers
in six possessor states
• Over 3,000 OPCW inspections of CW stockpiles, destruction facilities, former production facilities,
and chemical industry facilities in 80 States Parties
• Expansion of the CWC regime to 183 States Parties
Over a decade of treaty implementation to establish a global regime to completely ban a whole class of weapons of mass destruction
He will also address the many challenges for the treaty regime, and what can be done to address them, including:
• Almost 50,000 tons of chemical agents remaining to be destroyed in five possessor states,
primarily the United States and Russia
• Inclusion of the twelve countries remaining outside of the treaty regime including at least four –
Egypt, Israel, North Korea, and Syria – suspected of harboring chemical weapon stockpiles
• Some 5,000 commercial chemical industry facilities, many of which are capable of producing both
commercial and military chemicals, in need of inspection
The final treaty deadline of April 2012 for 100% CW destruction and the difficulties of both the United States and Russia in meeting this deadline
Global Green USA, the U.S. affiliate of Green Cross International, has over ten years of experience facilitating meetings and dialogues among all stakeholders in the ongoing threat reduction and nonproliferation process for weapons of mass destruction and related issues. The Green Cross/Global Green Legacy of the Cold War Program regularly facilitates high-level discussions and “Track II” diplomatic initiatives in Moscow, Geneva, Washington DC, and elsewhere to promote global threat reduction. For more info: Cristian Ion, 202-222-0700, cion@globalgreen.org
