    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 17 (Monday, April 28, 1997)]
    [Pages 582-584]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    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 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

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          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, as provided under Part IV(A) of the
          Annex on Implementation and Verification to the Convention, if, as
          a result of the pro

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          gram 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.