    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
    [November 23, 1993]
    [Pages 2061-2063]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Congress Transmitting the Chemical Weapons Convention
    November 23, 1993

    To the Senate of the United States:
        I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate to
    ratification, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,
    Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their
    Destruction (the ``Chemical Weapons Convention'' or CWC). The Convention
    includes the following documents, which are integral parts thereof: the
    Annex on Chemicals, the Annex on Implementation and Verification, and
    the Annex on the Protection of Confidential Information. The Convention
    was opened for signature and was signed by the United States at Paris on
    January 13, 1993. I transmit also, for the information of the Senate,
    the Report of the Department of State on the Convention.
        In addition, I transmit herewith, for the information of the Senate,
    two documents relevant to, but not part of, the Convention: the
    Resolution Establishing the Preparatory Commission for the Organization
    for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the Text on the
    Establishment of a Preparatory Commission (with three Annexes), adopted
    by acclamation by Signatory States at Paris on January 13, 1993. These
    documents provide the basis for the Preparatory Commission for the
    Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (Preparatory
    Commission), which is responsible for preparing detailed procedures for
    implementing

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    the Convention and for laying the foundation for the international
    organization created by the Convention. In addition, the recommended
    legislation necessary to implement the Chemical Weapons Convention,
    environmental documentation related to the Convention, and an analysis
    of the verifiability of the Convention consistent with Section 37 of the
    Arms Control and Disarmament Act, as amended, will be submitted
    separately to the Senate for its information.
        The Chemical Weapons Convention is unprecedented in its scope. The
    Convention will require States Parties to destroy their chemical weapons
    and chemical weapons production facilities under the observation of
    international inspectors; subject States Parties' citizens and
    businesses and other nongovernmental entities to its obligations;
    subject States Parties' chemical industry to declarations and routine
    inspection; and subject any facility or location in the territory or any
    other place under the jurisdiction or control of a State Party to
    international inspection to address other States Parties' compliance
    concerns.
        The Chemical Weapons Convention is also unique in the number of
    countries involved in its development and committed from the outset to
    its nonproliferation objectives. This major arms control treaty was
    negotiated by the 39 countries in the Geneva-based Conference on
    Disarmament, with contributions from an equal number of observer
    countries, representing all areas of the world. To date, more than 150
    countries have signed the Convention since it was opened for signature
    in January of this year.
        The complexities of negotiating a universally applicable treaty were
    immense. Difficult issues such as the need to balance an adequate degree
    of intrusiveness, to address compliance concerns, with the need to
    protect sensitive nonchemical weapons related information and
    constitutional rights, were painstakingly negotiated. The international
    chemical industry, and U.S. chemical industry representatives, in
    particular, played a crucial role in the elaboration of landmark
    provisions for the protection of sensitive commercial and national
    security information.
        The implementation of the Convention will be conducted by the
    Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The OPCW
    will consist of the Conference of the States Parties, which will be the
    overall governing body composed of all States Parties, the 41-member
    Executive Council, and the Technical Secretariat, an international body
    responsible for conducting verification activities, including on-site
    inspections. The OPCW will provide a forum in and through which members
    can build regional and global stability and play a more responsible role
    in the international community.
        The Convention will enter into force 180 days after the deposit of
    the 65th instrument of ratification, but not earlier than 2 years after
    it was opened for signature. Thus, the Convention can enter into force
    on January 13, 1995, if 65 countries have deposited their instruments of
    ratification with the depositary for the Convention (the Secretary
    General of the United Nations) by July 1994. The 2-year delay before the
    earliest possible entry into force of the Convention was intended to
    allow Signatory States time to undertake the necessary national
    legislative and procedural preparations and to provide time for the
    Preparatory Commission to prepare for implementation of the Convention.
        The Convention is designed to exclude the possibility of the use or
    threat of use of chemical weapons, thus reflecting a significant step
    forward in reducing the threat of chemical warfare. To this end, the
    Convention prohibits the development, production, acquisition,
    stockpiling, retention, and, direct or indirect, transfer to anyone of
    chemical weapons; the use of chemical weapons against anyone, including
    retaliatory use; the engagement in any military preparations to use
    chemical weapons; and the assistance, encouragement, or inducement of
    anyone to engage in activities prohibited to States Parties. The
    Convention also requires all chemical weapons to be declared,
    declarations to be internationally confirmed, and all chemical weapons
    to be completely eliminated within 10 years after its entry into force
    (15 years in extraordinary cases), with storage and destruction
    monitored through on-site international inspection. The Convention
    further requires all chemical weapons production to cease within 30 days
    of the entry into force of the Convention for a State Party and all
    chemical weapons production facilities to be eliminated (or in
    exceptional cases of compelling need, and with the permission of the
    Conference of the States Parties, converted to peaceful purposes).
    Cessation of production, and destruction within 10 years after the entry
    into force of the Convention (or conversion and peaceful production),
    will be inter-

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    nationally monitored through on-site inspection.
        In addition, the Convention prohibits the use of riot control agents
    as a method of warfare, reaffirms the prohibition in international law
    on the use of herbicides as a method of warfare, and provides for the
    possibility for protection against and assistance in the event of use or
    threat of use of chemical weapons against a State Party. The
    Administration is reviewing the impact of the Convention's prohibition
    on the use of riot control agents as a method of warfare on Executive
    Order No. 11850, which specifies the current policy of the United States
    with regard to the use of riot control agents in war. The results of the
    review will be submitted separately to the Senate.
        The Convention contains a number of provisions that make a major
    contribution to our nonproliferation objectives. In addition to
    verification of the destruction of chemical weapons, the Convention
    provides a regime for monitoring relevant civilian chemical industry
    facilities through declaration and inspection requirements. States
    Parties are also prohibited from providing any assistance to anyone to
    engage in activities, such as the acquisition of chemical weapons,
    prohibited by the Convention. Exports to non-States Parties of chemicals
    listed in the Convention are prohibited in some instances and subject to
    end-user assurances in others. Imports of some chemicals from non-States
    Parties are also banned. These restrictions will also serve to provide
    an incentive for countries to become parties as soon as possible.
    Finally, each State Party is required to pass penal legislation
    prohibiting individuals and businesses and other nongovernmental
    entities from engaging in activities on its territory or any other place
    under its jurisdiction that are prohibited to States Parties. Such penal
    legislation must also apply to the activities of each State Party's
    citizens, wherever the activities occur. Through these provisions, the
    Convention furthers the important goal of preventing the proliferation
    of chemical weapons, while holding out the promise of their eventual
    worldwide elimination.
        The Convention contains two verification regimes to enhance the
    security of States Parties to the Convention and limit the possibility
    of clandestine chemical weapons production, storage, and use. The first
    regime provides for a routine monitoring regime involving declarations,
    initial visits, systematic inspections of declared chemical weapons
    storage, production and destruction facilities, and routine inspections
    of the relevant civilian chemical industry facilities. The second
    regime, challenge inspections, allows a State Party to have an
    international inspection conducted of any facility or location in the
    territory or any other place under the jurisdiction or control of
    another State Party in order to clarify and resolve questions of
    possible noncompliance. The Convention obligates the challenged State
    Party to accept the inspection and to make every reasonable effort to
    satisfy the compliance concern. At the same time, the Convention
    provides a system for the inspected State Party to manage access to a
    challenged site in a manner that allows for protection in its national
    security, proprietary, and constitutional concerns. In addition, the
    Convention contains requirements for the protection of confidential
    information obtained by the OPCW.
        The Convention prohibits reservations to the Articles. However, the
    CWC allows reservations to the Annexes so long as they are compatible
    with the object and purpose of the Convention. This structure prevents
    States Parties from modifying their fundamental obligations, as some
    countries, including the United States, did with regard to the Geneva
    Protocol of 1925 when they attached reservations preserving the right to
    retaliate with chemical weapons. At the same time, it allows States
    Parties some flexibility with regard to the specifics of their
    implementation of the Convention.
        Beyond the elimination of chemical weapons, the Chemical Weapons
    Convention is of major importance in providing a foundation for
    enhancing regional and global stability, a forum for promoting
    international cooperation and responsibility, and a system for
    resolution of national concerns.
        I believe that the Chemical Weapons Convention is in the best
    interests of the United States. Its provisions will significantly
    strengthen United States, allied and international security, and enhance
    global and regional stability. Therefore, I urge the Senate to give
    early and favorable consideration to the Convention, and to give advice
    and consent to its ratification as soon as possible in 1994.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,
    November 23, 1993.