NTI - Global Security Newswire, 21 Jan 2011.

A leading international arms control official said it was essential that Russia and the United States continue to expedite disposal of their chemical weapons stockpiles to ensure international trust in the chemical arms control regime does not falter, The Hindu reported on Monday.

"For me this is a priority. I don't underestimate the seriousness of the problem in order to preserve the credibility and integrity of the CWC regime," Ahmet Üzümcü, director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, told the Indian newspaper.

The United States by February 2012 should have eliminated 90 percent of the roughly 27,000 metric tons of chemical warfare materials it held when the pact entered into force in 1997, Üzümcü said. Russia at that point should reach the 75-percent mark for elimination of its declared 40,000 metric-ton stockpile.

The two countries possessed 90 percent of the planet's known chemical weapons and have said they would not meet the April 2012 destruction deadline set by the Chemical Weapons Convention. The United States does not anticipate disposal operations wrapping up before 2021 and Moscow has acknowledged it would need until 2015 to completely destroy its chemical weapons.

Member nations to the convention "obviously want them to do it as early as possible. The deadline for the remaining destruction is being discussed in an informal setting at the moment," said the Turkish diplomat, who became OPCW chief last July. "I hope there will be a satisfactory solution at an early stage so that it doesn't become a political issue."

The director general said he has plans to tour a U.S. chemical weapon disarmament site next month and make a similar trip later to Russia. Üzümcü visited disposal plants in both countries last year.

The only two other CWC member states still possessing chemical warfare materials are Libya and Iraq. Albania, India and South Korea have finished their mandated chemical disarmament activities.

As chemical destruction activities wind down, Üzümcü's organization is looking to its future in which operations are likely to focus more on nonproliferation.

"While making progress in disarmament, we've to think of future priorities. These are being discussed by an advisory panel that consists of retired ambassadors, (representatives of) the chemical industry and scientists," he said, adding that the advisory panel is to issue a report on the matter.

"Hopefully this document will constitute a basis for extensive debate to identify future priorities. So far the main focus has been on disarmament and destruction. We've also been verifying. But the question is whether with the decline in some activities, do we use the resources for other purposes? I hope there'll be some decision at the Conference of State Parties by the year-end."

In two years, Üzümcü said he anticipates a "new, adapted Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and Chemical Weapons Convention regime."

"I don't think the CWC is being changed. We've to operate within parameters, but the changes could help us address different concerns and parameters," he said.

To nations that do not think the Hague-based organization's role needs to be expanded, the OPCW head said, "I don't suggest that we review the mandate or create new tasks. The only question is whether the state parties would agree to refocus our activities in certain areas.

"By that I mean developing, increasing respect internationally for the convention, assisting in protecting chemicals and implementing national legislations," Üzümcü said. "We've to build the capacities of some state parties. Then there are export controls and the training of customs officers."

Üzümcü said he would continue to pursue universal participation in the Chemical Weapons Convention. Angola, Egypt, North Korea, Somalia and Syria have yet to sign the pact while Israel and Myanmar have signed on but not yet ratified.

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