[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 36 (Monday, September 9, 2002)]
[Pages 1487-1488]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Reporting a Certification Required by the 
Ratification Resolution of the Chemical Weapons Convention

September 4, 2002

To the Congress of the United States:

    Consistent 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 pursuant to Condition 7(C)(i), Effectiveness of the Australia 
Group, that:
    Australia Group members continue to maintain equally effective or 
      more comprehensive controls over the export of: toxic chemicals 
      and their precursors; dual-use processing equipment; human, 
      animal, and plant pathogens and toxins with potential biological 
      weapons applications; and dual-use biological equipment, as that 
      afforded by the Australia Group as of April 25, 1997; and
    The Australia Group remains a viable mechanism for limiting the 
      spread of chemical and biological weapons-related materials and 
      technology, and the effectiveness of the Australia Group has not 
      been undermined by changes in membership, lack of compliance with 
      common export controls and nonproliferation measures, or the 
      weakening of common controls and nonproliferation measures, in 
      force as of April 25, 1997.
    The factors underlying this certification are described in the 
enclosed statement of justification.
                                                George W. Bush
The White House,
September 4, 2002.

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