Definitions

June 7, 2025

Facebook
Telegram
WhatsApp
  1. “Approved Equipment” means the devices and instruments necessary for the performance of the inspection team’s duties that have been certified by the Technical Secretariat in accordance with regulations prepared by the Technical Secretariat pursuant to Part II, paragraph 27 of this Annex. Such equipment may also refer to the administrative supplies or recording materials that would be used by the inspection team.
  2. “Building” as referred to in the definition of chemical weapons production facility in Article II comprises specialized buildings and standard buildings.
    1. “Specialized Building” means:
      1. Any building, including underground structures, containing specialized equipment in a production or filling configuration;
      2. Any building, including underground structures, which has distinctive features which distinguish it from buildings normally used for chemical production or filling activities not prohibited under this Convention.
    2. “Standard Building” means any building, including underground structures, constructed to prevailing industry standards for facilities not producing any chemical specified in Article II, paragraph 8 (a) (i), or corrosive chemicals.
  3. “Challenge Inspection” means the inspection of any facility or location in the territory or in any other place under the jurisdiction or control of a State Party requested by another State Party pursuant to Article IX, paragraphs 8 to 25.
  4. “Discrete Organic Chemical” means any chemical belonging to the class of chemical compounds consisting of all compounds of carbon except for its oxides, sulfides and metal carbonates, identifiable by chemical name, by structural formula, if known, and by Chemical Abstracts Service registry number, if assigned.
  5. “Equipment” as referred to in the definition of chemical weapons production facility in Article II comprises specialized equipment and standard equipment.
    1. “Specialized Equipment” means:
      1. The main production train, including any reactor or equipment for product synthesis, separation or purification, any equipment used directly for heat transfer in the final technological stage, such as in reactors or in product separation, as well as any other equipment which has been in contact with any chemical specified in Article II, paragraph 8 (a) (i), or would be in contact with such a chemical if the facility were operated;
      2. Any chemical weapon filling machines;
      3. Any other equipment specially designed, built or installed for the operation of the facility as a chemical weapons production facility, as distinct from a facility constructed according to prevailing commercial industry standards for facilities not producing any chemical specified in Article II, paragraph 8 (a) (i), or corrosive chemicals, such as:  equipment made of high-nickel alloys or other special corrosion-resistant material; special equipment for waste control, waste treatment, air filtering, or solvent recovery; special containment enclosures and safety shields; non-standard laboratory equipment used to analyse toxic chemicals for chemical weapons purposes; custom-designed process control panels; or dedicated spares for specialized equipment.
    2. “Standard Equipment” means:
      1. Production equipment which is generally used in the chemical industry and is not included in the types of specialized equipment;
      2. Other equipment commonly used in the chemical industry, such as: fire-fighting equipment; guard and security/safety surveillance equipment; medical facilities, laboratory facilities; or communications equipment.
  6. “Facility” in the context of Article VI means any of the industrial sites as defined below (“plant site”, “plant” and “unit”).
    1. “Plant Site” (Works, Factory) means the local integration of one or more plants, with any intermediate administrative levels, which are under one operational control, and includes common infrastructure, such as:
      1. Administration and other offices;
      2. Repair and maintenance shops;
      3. Medical centre;
      4. Utilities;
      5. Central analytical laboratory;
      6. Research and development laboratories;
      7. Central effluent and waste treatment area; and
      8. Warehouse storage.
    2. “Plant” (Production facility, Workshop) means a relatively self contained area, structure or building containing one or more units with auxiliary and associated infrastructure, such as:
      1. Small administrative section;
      2. Storage/handling areas for feedstock and products;
      3. Effluent/waste handling/treatment area;
      4. Control/analytical laboratory;
      5. First aid service/related medical section; and
      6. Records associated with the movement into, around and from the site, of declared chemicals and their feedstock or product chemicals formed from them, as appropriate.
    3. “Unit” (Production unit, Process unit) means the combination of those items of equipment, including vessels and vessel set up, necessary for the production, processing or consumption of a chemical.
  7. “Facility Agreement” means an agreement or arrangement between a State Party and the Organization relating to a specific facility subject to on-site verification pursuant to Articles IV, V and VI.
  8. “Host State” means the State on whose territory lie facilities or areas of another State, Party to this Convention, which are subject to inspection under this Convention.
  9. “In-Country Escort” means individuals specified by the inspected State Party and, if appropriate, by the Host State, if they so wish, to accompany and assist the inspection team during the in-country period.
  10. “In-Country Period” means the period from the arrival of the inspection team at a point of entry until its departure from the State at a point of entry.
  11. “Initial Inspection” means the first on-site inspection of facilities to verify declarations submitted pursuant to Articles III, IV, V and VI and this Annex.
  12. “Inspected State Party” means the State Party on whose territory or in any other place under its jurisdiction or control an inspection pursuant to this Convention takes place, or the State Party whose facility or area on the territory of a Host State is subject to such an inspection; it does not, however, include the State Party specified in Part II, paragraph 21 of this Annex.
  13. “Inspection Assistant” means an individual designated by the Technical Secretariat as set forth in Part II, Section A, of this Annex to assist inspectors in an inspection or visit, such as medical, security and administrative personnel and interpreters.
  14. “Inspection Mandate” means the instructions issued by the Director-General to the inspection team for the conduct of a particular inspection.
  15. “Inspection Manual” means the compilation of additional procedures for the conduct of inspections developed by the Technical Secretariat.
  16. “Inspection Site” means any facility or area at which an inspection is carried out and which is specifically defined in the respective facility agreement or inspection request or mandate or inspection request as expanded by the alternative or final perimeter.
  17. “Inspection Team” means the group of inspectors and inspection assistants assigned by the Director-General to conduct a particular inspection.
  18. “Inspector” means an individual designated by the Technical Secretariat according to the procedures as set forth in Part II, Section A, of this Annex, to carry out an inspection or visit in accordance with this Convention.
  19. “Model Agreement” means a document specifying the general form and content for an agreement concluded between a State Party and the Organization for fulfilling the verification provisions specified in this Annex.
  20. “Observer” means a representative of a requesting State Party or a third State Party to observe a challenge inspection.
  21. “Perimeter” in case of challenge inspection means the external boundary of the inspection site, defined by either geographic coordinates or description on a map.
    1. “Requested Perimeter” means the inspection site perimeter as specified in conformity with Part X, paragraph 8, of this Annex;
    2. “Alternative Perimeter” means the inspection site perimeter as specified, alternatively to the requested perimeter, by the inspected State Party; it shall conform to the requirements specified in Part X, paragraph 17, of this Annex;
    3. “Final Perimeter” means the final inspection site perimeter as agreed in negotiations between the inspection team and the inspected State Party, in accordance with Part X, paragraphs 16 to 21, of this Annex;
    4. “Declared Perimeter” means the external boundary of the facility declared pursuant to Articles III, IV, V and VI.
  22. “Period of Inspection”, for the purposes of Article IX, means the period of time from provision of access to the inspection team to the inspection site until its departure from the inspection site, exclusive of time spent on briefings before and after the verification activities.
  23. “Period of Inspection”, for the purposes of Articles IV, V and VI, means the period of time from arrival of the inspection team at the inspection site until its departure from the inspection site, exclusive of time spent on briefings before and after the verification activities.
  24. “Point of Entry”/”Point of Exit” means a location designated for the in-country arrival of inspection teams for inspections pursuant to this Convention or for their departure after completion of their mission.
  25. “Requesting State Party” means a State Party which has requested a challenge inspection pursuant to Article IX.
  26. “Tonne” means metric ton, i.e. 1,000 kg.

Similar Articles

28 March 2025
Third edition of the Regional Seminar on sampling and analysis in a highly contaminated environment – ​​CNA/1ère RM and INCC/GN, from February 23 to 26, 2025-
28 March 2025
Announcement of the winners of the 2024 OPCW-The Hague Prize
29 May 2023
Chemex Africa "Capacity building within the framework of South-South Cooperation"
22 December 2022
Second edition of the Regional Seminar on Sampling and Analysis in a Highly Contaminated Environment - CNA and INCC/GN, from December 18 to 21, 2022
13 October 2022
National authorities meet to review progress of OPCW Africa Programme
9 October 2019
Regional Seminar on Sampling and Analysis in a Highly Contaminated Environment
26 September 2019
Seminar on Compliance with the Obligations of Article VI of the Chemical Weapons Convention
25 June 2019
Regional Seminar on the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and Chemical Safety and Security Management
18 September 2018
MDN: OPCW Director General visits Algiers
11 September 2018
MDN: training session for trainers on the technical aspects of CIAC transformation systems in Algiers

Articles

Preamble
General Obligations
Definitions and Criteria
Declarations
Chemical Weapons
Chemical Weapons Production Facilities
Activities Not Prohibited Under this Convention
National Implementation Measures
The Organization
Consultations, Cooperation and Fact‑Finding
Assistance and Protection Against Chemical Weapons
Economic and Technological Development
Measures to Redress a Situation and to Ensure Compliance, including Sanctions
Relation to Other International Agreements
Settlement of Disputes
Amendments
Duration and Withdrawal
Status of the Annexes
Signature
Ratification
Accession
Entry Into Force
Reservations
Depositary
Authentic Texts

Annexes

Annex on Chemicals

Annex on Chemicals

Table 1
Table 2
Table 3

Confidentiality Annex

Verification Annex

Definitions
General Rules of Verification
General Provisions for Verification Measures Pursuant to Articles IV, V and VI, Paragraph 3
Destruction of Chemical Weapons and Its Verification Pursuant to Article IV
Old Chemical Weapons and Abandoned Chemical Weapons
Destruction of Chemical Weapons Production Facilities and Its Verification Pursuant to Article V
Activities Not Prohibited under this Convention in Accordance with Article VI
Challenge Inspections Pursuant to Article IX
Investigations In Cases Of Alleged Use Of Chemical Weapons

Articles

Preamble
General Obligations
Definitions and Criteria
Declarations
Chemical Weapons
Chemical Weapons Production Facilities
Activities Not Prohibited Under this Convention
National Implementation Measures
The Organization
Consultations, Cooperation and Fact‑Finding
Assistance and Protection Against Chemical Weapons
Economic and Technological Development
Measures to Redress a Situation and to Ensure Compliance, including Sanctions
Relation to Other International Agreements
Settlement of Disputes
Amendments
Duration and Withdrawal
Status of the Annexes
Signature
Ratification
Accession
Entry Into Force
Reservations
Depositary
Authentic Texts

Annexes

Annex on Chemicals

Annexe sur les Produits Chimiques

Table 1
Table 2
Table 3

Annexe sur la Confidentialité

Verification Annex

Definitions
General Rules of Verification
General Provisions for Verification Measures Pursuant to Articles IV, V and VI, Paragraph 3
Destruction of Chemical Weapons and Its Verification Pursuant to Article IV
Old Chemical Weapons and Abandoned Chemical Weapons
Destruction of Chemical Weapons Production Facilities and Its Verification Pursuant to Article V
Activities Not Prohibited under this Convention in Accordance with Article VI
Challenge Inspections Pursuant to Article IX
Investigations In Cases Of Alleged Use Of Chemical Weapons