RI told to speed up the implementation of CWC

RI told to speed up the implementation of CWC

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia, a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC),
must speed up the establishment of a permanent national authority
and the passage of a "unified robust national legislation" on the
use of chemical substances in order to fully implement the
convention, a seminar heard on Wednesday.

Participants of the seminar on the Implementation of the
Chemical Weapons Convention in Jakarta urged the government to
take immediate steps to implement fully the CWC in Indonesia.

The CWC is an international treaty that bans the use of
chemical weapons and aims to eliminate chemical weapons
throughout the world.

Since Indonesia ratified the convention in 1998, the
government has been moving at a snail's pace to implement the
convention. Under the CWC, every member country must make the
convention part of their national legislation before November
2005.

Anny Sulaswatty, a participant of the seminar from the
Research Center for Chemistry at the Indonesian Institute of
Science (RCChem - LIPI), warned the government about the
possibility of terrorists making chemical weapons (CWs), the
materials for which were readily available.

"CW agents are relatively easy to make, especially because
their precursors are abundantly available in local markets," Anny
told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the seminar.

"Considering the occurrence of the recent bombings, it is not
impossible that, in their next action, the terrorists may fill
the bombs with toxic chemicals," she said.

Seminar participants -- diplomats, Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Technical Secretariat
members Sergei Kisselev, Lisa Tabassi and T. Juurlink, and
executives of the local chemical industry -- expressed hope the
current national authority on chemical substances could help
raise awareness among industry members of their obligations under
the convention.

The two-day seminar, which ended on Wednesday, was organized
by the Indonesian foreign ministry in collaboration with the
Technical Secretariat of the OPCW.

The seminar reviewed the relevant requirements to be included
in new legislation. It also suggested the new law should cover
areas like prohibitions and penalties, the extraterritorial
application of the law to Indonesians, a definition of chemical
weapons and toxic chemicals, and purposes not prohibited under
the legislation.

The participants also emphasized that the legislation should
enable the national authorities to conduct of smooth national and
OPCW inspection on local industries.

The Hague-based OPCW is an independent international
organization that was established in 1997 by the countries that
have joined the CWC, to ensure the convention works effectively
and achieves its purpose.

Indonesia organized its first ever OPCW inspection in January
2004 at PT Petrokimia Gresik in East Java.