Remarks by the Director-General of the OPCW, Fernando Arias, at 22nd International Chemical Weapons

Following the incident in Salisbury, the Government of the United Kingdom requested the OPCW to provide technical assistance to objectively verify and confirm the use of an unusual nerve agent. [...] The ability to detect the emergence of new chemicals and to establish their relevance to the Convention is critical. [...] The mandate of the JIM ended in November 2017, when the proposal to renew it was vetoed in the Security Council. [...] In June last year, the Conference of the States Parties authorised the OPCW to include in the results of its investigations information that would help identify the perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in Syria. [...] We all have to view the Chemical Weapons Convention as a future imperative; not as a historical chapter that closes with the elimination of the last of the declared chemical weapons.