ARTICLE–BY–ARTICLE ANALYSIS
OF THE CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION OF THE DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION, STOCKPILING
AND USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, also known as the Chemical Weapons Convention ("the Convention"), consists of the main Convention text and three Annexes:
Annex on Chemicals;
Annex on Implementation and Verification ("the Verification Annex"); and
Annex on the Protection of Confidential Information ("the Confidentiality Annex").
Each of these Annexes is an integral part of the Convention, and therefore has the same legally–binding status as the Articles.
PREAMBLE
The Preamble to the Convention provides a ten–paragraph overview of the States Parties' purposes in entering into the Convention and what they hope to achieve. The first preambular paragraph states the States Parties' determination to act with a view to achieving effective progress towards general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control, including the prohibition and elimination of all types of weapons of mass destruction. This exhortation reflects the U.S. long–term goal that all types of weapons of mass destruction must be eliminated. The elimination of all chemical weapons is an important step towards this goal.
The second preambular paragraph sets forth the States Parties' desire to contribute to the realization of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. These purposes and principles are stated in Chapter I of the Charter, and include, for example, the undertaking in paragraph 1 of Article I "to maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace...."
In the third preambular paragraph the States Parties recall that the General Assembly of the United Nations has repeatedly condemned all actions contrary to the principles and objectives of the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, signed at Geneva on 17 June 1925 ("the Geneva Protocol of 1925").
The fourth preambular paragraph recognizes that the Convention reaffirms the principles and objectives of, and obligations assumed under, the Geneva Protocol of 1925, and the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction, signed at Washington, London and Moscow on 10 April 1972 ("the Biological Weapons Convention"). The United States is a party to both the Geneva Protocol of 1925 and the Biological Weapons Convention. The Geneva Protocol of 1925, read together with the reservations made to it, amounts to a ban on the first use of chemical weapons insofar as it relates to the United States. The Biological Weapons Convention bans the development, production, stockpiling, acquisition and retention of: (1) microbial or other biological agents, or toxins whatever their origin or method of production, of types and in quantities that have no justification for prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes; and (2) weapons, equipment or means of delivery designed to use such agents or toxins for hostile purposes or in armed conflict.
The fifth preambular paragraph states that the States Parties enter into the Convention bearing in mind the objective contained in Article IX of the Biological Weapons Convention. Article IX of the Biological Weapons Convention affirms the objective of an effective prohibition of chemical weapons and the undertaking to continue negotiations to achieve such a prohibition.
The sixth preambular paragraph sets forth the States Parties' determination, for the sake of all mankind, to exclude completely the possibility of any use of chemical weapons, through the implementation of the provisions of the Convention, thereby complementing the obligations assumed under the Geneva Protocol of 1925. Note that the Convention, which expands the obligations contained in the Geneva Protocol of 1925, "complements" rather than replaces that Protocol. Thus, the Geneva Protocol of 1925 will continue to apply to all States Parties to it. (The specific relationship between the Geneva Protocol of 1925 and the Convention is discussed in detail in Article XIII.)
The seventh preambular paragraph, although not legally binding, nevertheless recognizes the prohibition, embodied in the pertinent agreements and relevant principles of international law, of the use of herbicides as a method of warfare. Thus, the Convention does not add any new constraints on the use of herbicides. The key source of this prohibition is embodied in the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques, signed at Geneva on 18 May 1977 ("the Enmod Convention"). The Second Review Conference of the parties to the Enmod Convention in September 1992 declared in the Final Declaration that:
The Conference confirms that the military or any other hostile use of herbicides as an environmental modification technique in the meaning of Article II [of the Enmod Convention] is a method of warfare prohibited by Article I [of the Enmod Convention] if such use of herbicides upsets the ecological balance of a region, thus causing widespread, long–lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage or injury to any other State Party [to the Enmod Convention].
It is the understanding of the United States that the uses of herbicides proscribed in Executive Order 11850 do not cause such effects and are allowed under international law.
In the eighth preambular paragraph the States Parties set forth their consideration that achievements in the field of chemistry should be used exclusively for the benefit of mankind.
The ninth preambular paragraph expresses the States Parties' desire to promote free trade in chemicals as well as international cooperation and exchange of scientific and technical information in the field of chemical activities for purposes not prohibited under the Convention in order to enhance the economic and technological development of all States Parties. In particular, this paragraph expresses the desire of many developing states to facilitate free trade and exchange of information relating to chemicals. Free trade and exchange of information relating to chemicals, however, are qualified in that they must be "for purposes not prohibited under [the] Convention." (Such purposes are defined in paragraph 9 of Article II of the Convention. The specific rights and obligations related to free trade and exchange of information are discussed in Article XI.)
The tenth and final preambular paragraph states that the States Parties are convinced that the complete and effective prohibition of the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer and use of chemical weapons, and their destruction, represents a necessary step towards the achievement of the common objectives listed in the preamble.