ABSTRACT
The Convention is to be administered by the new Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) once it enters into force. This chapter analyses the progress in the preparations for the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) conducted in the PrepCom during 1996, and discusses the status of the CWC. In the USA, the administration has strongly endorsed the CWC, including a statement of strong commitment by President Clinton at the UN General Assembly. The major delay in the USA ratification has been caused by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee blocking action on the CWC, as one of a number of differences between the Chair of that Committee and the Clinton administration. Concerns have been expressed that the failure of the USA and the RF to ratify the CWC is an indication of treaties stalling in the post-Cold War era.
