Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)

Definition

A multilateral disarmament treaty that prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical weapons and requires their destruction.

Key points

• It was opened for signature in 1993 and entered into force in 1997; it is one of the most widely adhered-to disarmament treaties.
• It is implemented and verified by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), based in The Hague, Netherlands, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013.
• India is an original signatory and a party to the convention and has declared and destroyed its chemical-weapons stockpile under OPCW verification; India enacted the Chemical Weapons Convention Act, 2000, to give it domestic effect.
• It is distinct from, but complementary to, the Biological Weapons Convention (1972), which bans biological and toxin weapons.
• The Australia Group export-control regime supports the CWC by controlling exports of chemical-weapon precursors.

Why it matters for CAPF

Disarmament treaties and India's compliance are international-relations and security current-affairs themes; the CWC's 1997 entry into force, the OPCW, and India's CWC Act, 2000, are testable facts.

Common confusion

The CWC bans chemical weapons and is verified by the OPCW; the Biological Weapons Convention (1972) bans biological weapons and lacks a comparable verification body. The Australia Group is an export-control regime that supports both, not a treaty.

Related concepts

concept australia group, concept nuclear non proliferation treaty, concept comprehensive test ban treaty, concept geneva conventions

Parent note

international organisations and india