[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[April 25, 1997]
[Pages 495-497]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Message to the Congress on the Chemical Weapons Convention
April 25, 1997

To the Congress of the United States:
    In accordance with the resolution of advice and consent to 
ratification of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, 
Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their 
Destruction, adopted by the Senate of the United States on April 24, 
1997, I hereby certify that:
        In connection with Condition (1), Effect of Article XXII, the 
        United States has informed all other States Parties to the 
        Convention that the Senate reserves the right, pursuant to the 
        Constitution of the United States, to give its advice and 
        consent to ratification of the Convention subject to 
        reservations, notwithstanding Article XXII of the Convention.
        In connection with Condition (7), Continuing Vitality of the 
        Australia Group and National Export Controls: (i) nothing in the 
        Convention obligates the United States to accept any 
        modification, change in scope, or weakening of its national 
        export controls; (ii) the United States understands that the 
        maintenance of national restrictions on trade in chemicals and 
        chemical production

[[Page 496]]

        technology is fully compatible with the provisions of the 
        Convention, including Article XI(2), and solely within the 
        sovereign jurisdiction of the United States; (iii) the 
        Convention preserves the right of State Parties, unilaterally or 
        collectively, to maintain or impose export controls on chemicals 
        and related chemical production technology for foreign policy or 
        national security reasons, notwithstanding Article XI(2); and 
        (iv) each Australia Group member, at the highest diplomatic 
        levels, has officially communicated to the United States 
        Government its understanding and agreement that export control 
        and nonproliferation measures which the Australia Group has 
        undertaken are fully compatible with the provisions of the 
        Convention, including Article XI(2), and its commitment to 
        maintain in the future such export controls and nonproliferation 
        measures against non-Australia Group members.
        In connection with Condition (9), Protection of Advanced 
        Biotechnology, the legitimate commercial activities and 
        interests of chemical, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical firms 
        in the United States are not being significantly harmed by the 
        limitations of the Convention on access to, and production of, 
        those chemicals and toxins listed in Schedule 1 of the Annex on 
        chemicals.
        In connection with Condition (15), Assistance Under Article X, 
        the United States shall not provide assistance under paragraph 
        7(a) of Article X, and, for any State Party the government of 
        which is not eligible for assistance under chapter 2 of part II 
        (relating to military assistance) or chapter 4 of part II 
        (relating to economic support assistance) of the Foreign 
        Assistance Act of 1961: (i) no assistance under paragraph 7(b) 
        of Article X will be provided to the State Party; and (ii) no 
        assistance under paragraph 7(c) of Article X other than medical 
        antidotes and treatment will be provided to the State Party.
        In connection with Condition (18), Laboratory Sample Analysis, 
        no sample collected in the United States pursuant to the 
        Convention will be transferred for analysis to any laboratory 
        outside the territory of the United States.
        In connection with Condition (26), Riot Control Agents, the 
        United States is not restricted by the Convention in its use of 
        riot control agents, including the use against combatants who 
        are parties to a conflict, in any of the following cases: (i) 
        the conduct of peacetime military operations within an area of 
        ongoing armed conflict when the United States is not a party to 
        the conflict (such as recent use of the United States Armed 
        Forces in Somalia, Bosnia, and Rwanda); (ii) consensual 
        peacekeeping operations when the use of force is authorized by 
        the receiving state, including operations pursuant to Chapter VI 
        of the United Nations Charter; and (iii) peacekeeping operations 
        when force is authorized by the Security Council under Chapter 
        VII of the United Nations Charter.
        In connection with Condition (27), Chemical Weapons Destruction, 
        all the following conditions are satisfied: (A) I have agreed to 
        explore alternative technologies for the destruction of the 
        United States stockpile of chemical weapons in order to ensure 
        that the United States has the safest, most effective and 
        environmentally sound plans and programs for meeting its 
        obligations under the convention for the destruction of chemical 
        weapons; (B) the requirement in section 1412 of Public Law 99-
        145 (50 U.S.C. 1521) for completion of the destruction of the 
        United States stockpile of chemical weapons by December 31, 
        2004, will be superseded upon the date the Convention enters 
        into force with respect to the United States by the deadline 
        required by the Convention of April 29, 2007; (C) the 
        requirement in Article III(1)(a)(v) of the Convention for a 
        declaration by each State Party not later than 30 days after the 
        date the Convention enters into force with respect to that 
        Party, on general plans of the State Party for destruction of 
        this chemical weapons does not preclude in any way the United 
        States from deciding in the future to employ a technology for 
        the destruction of chemical weapons different than that declared 
        under that Article; and (D) I will consult with the Congress on 
        whether to submit a request to the Executive Council of the 
        Organization for an extension of the deadline for the 
        destruction of chemical weapons under the Convention,

[[Page 497]]

        as provided under Part IV(A) of the Annex on Implementation and 
        Verification to the Convention, if, as a result of the program 
        of alternative technologies for the destruction of chemical 
        munitions carried out under section 8065 of the Department of 
        Defense Appropriations Act of 1997 (as contained in Public Law 
        104-208), I determine that alternatives to the incineration of 
        chemical weapons are available that are safer and more 
        environmentally sound but whose use would preclude the United 
        States from meeting the deadlines of the Convention.
        In connection with Condition (28), Constitutional Protection 
        Against Unreasonable Search and Seizure: (i) for any challenge 
        inspection conducted on the territory of the United States 
        pursuant to Article IX, where consent has been withheld, the 
        United States National Authority will first obtain a criminal 
        search warrant based upon probable cause, supported by oath or 
        affirmation, and describing with particularity the place to be 
        searched and the persons or things to be seized; and (ii) for 
        any routine inspection of a declared facility under the 
        Convention that is conducted on an involuntary basis on the 
        territory of the United States, the United States National 
        Authority first will obtain an administrative search warrant 
        from a United States magistrate judge.
    In accordance with Condition (26) on Riot Control Agents, I have 
certified that the United States is not restricted by the Convention in 
its use of riot control agents in various peacetime and peacekeeping 
operations. These are situations in which the United States is not 
engaged in a use of force of a scope, duration and intensity that would 
trigger the laws of war with respect to U.S. forces.
    In connection with Condition (4)(A), Cost Sharing Arrangements, 
which calls for a report identifying all cost-sharing arrangements with 
the Organization, I hereby report that because the Organization is not 
yet established and will not be until after entry into force of the 
Convention, as of this date there are no cost-sharing arrangements 
between the United States and the Organization to identify. However, we 
will be working with the Organization upon its establishment to develop 
such arrangements with it and will provide additional information to the 
Congress in the annual reports contemplated by this Condition.

                                                      William J. Clinton

The White House,

April 25, 1997.