[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 5 (Monday, February 2, 2004)]
[Pages 158-159]
[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

January 28, 2004

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:
 <bullet>    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
 <bullet>    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,
January 28, 2004.

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