An international inspection team of the “Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) conducted the 100th inspection in an enterprise of the German chemical industry from April 6 to 8, 2010. The inspection team was escorted by staff members of the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA). This inspection, like all the previous inspections, was successfully concluded and confirmed the compliance with the CWC provisions.

Dr. Wallraff, president of the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA), appreciated the good cooperation with the companies concerned and the inspection teams as an essential prerequisite of this success: “With only a few days of prior notification, the companies have created all the necessary conditions before and in the course of the inspections to enable their smooth conduct. The inspection teams strive for keeping the effects of the inspection activities on the company's internal processes as low as possible when fulfilling their inspection mandates.“

Subject of the 100th inspection was a visit to facilities manufacturing industrial chemicals and products like plasticizers, tensides, pigments and precursors for rubber and tyre industry.

Industry inspections are a routine procedure provided for in the CWC as a confidence-building verification measure. The aim of inspections is to verify that scheduled chemicals or relevant manufacturing facilities are not diverted for the production of chemical weapons and that the annual declarations provided to the OPCW on the chemicals used and activities are correct.

Since the CWC' s entry into force in 1997 more than 1,500 industry inspections have been conducted in 80 CWC States Parties. About 5,000 companies are subject to inspections all over the world.

Apart from these confidence-building measures, it is the main task of the CWC to implement the world-wide prohibition of chemical weapons and to eliminate the existing CW stocks.

The compliance with the convention is supervised by the OPCW established in The Hague.

In Germany the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) is i. a. responsible for the collection of declaration data and escorting industrial inspections.

Further information:

Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA): www.ausfuhrkontrolle.info

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW): www.opcw.org