The Dominican Republic is set to become the 187th member state to the international treaty banning production, stockpiling or use of chemical weapons, the organization that monitors compliance with the pact announced today (see GSN, Jan. 14).
The island nation has delivered ratification papers for the Chemical Weapons Convention to the United Nations. The convention will enter into force in the Dominican Republic on April 26.
"I congratulate the government of the Dominican Republic for its decision to ratify the convention, which draws us closer to the goal of realizing a universal ban on chemical weapons, and we call upon those remaining States that have not yet adhered to the CWC to do so without further delay,” Rogelio Pfirter, director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, said in a press release.
Eight nations remain outside the treaty -- Angola, the Bahamas, Egypt, Israel, Myanmar, North Korea, Somalia and Syria.
All treaty states are required to destroy any stockpiles of warfare materials such as mustard gas and VX and sarin nerve agents. They are subject to inspections by OPCW personnel to ensure that industrial or other uses of chemicals do not promote proliferation (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons release, April 1).