The Chemical Weapons Convention Act of 2000 provided for the establishment of a National Authority Chemical Weapons Convention (NACWC) to fulfil the obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). NACWC was formed in June 2005 as an Office of Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India.
Origin – NACWC
On 14 January 1993, India signed the “Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction“. After the CWC entry into force on 29 April 1997, the Indian Government first constituted the NACWC by a Resolution on 5 May 1997.
The Government of India enacted the CWC Act of 2000 to implement the provisions of this Convention. After the CWC Act of 2000 came into force, the NACWC was set up under Section 6 of this Act on 13 June 2005. This Act accorded a statutory status to the NACWC.
NACWC acts as the national focal point for effective liaison with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and other State Parties on matters relating to the Convention. NACWC comprises a Chairman and six Directors
Vision – NACWC
To be internationally recognised for its managerial and technical excellence in fulfilling the collective aspirations of the comity of nations embodied in the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Mission – NACWC
To achieve managerial excellence, NACWC will seek to be a leader in establishing best practices in all the Key areas of its operations and management of knowledge relating to CWC.
Functions of NACWC
The primary task of the NACWC is to fulfil, on behalf of the Government of India, the obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention. The functions of NACWC include:
- To interact with the OPCW and other States Parties for the purpose of fulfilling the responsibilities of the Indian Government under the CWC;
- To monitor compliance with the provisions of the Convention;
- To regulate and monitor the development, production, processing, consumption, transfer or use of Toxic Chemicals or Precursors as specified in the Convention;
- To request to, or to receive a request from a State Party for assistance and protection under Article X of the Convention against the use or threat of use of Chemical Weapons;
- To manage routine inspection or Challenge Inspection or managing investigation, in case a complaint of use of Chemical Weapons or riot control agents as a method of warfare is received from the Organisation;
- To conduct inspections for the purposes of the CWC Act 2000.
- To interact with the Organisation in respect of acceptance of the request of India for Challenge Inspection or to counter any frivolous or defamatory request made by any State Party against India to the Organisation;
- To scrutinise and accept a list of Inspectors and verify the Approved Equipment brought by an Inspection Team onto the Inspection Site;
- To provide escort to the Inspection Team and the Observer within the territory of India;
- To identify and oversee the closure and destruction of Chemical Weapons, Chemical Weapons Production Facilities, Old Chemical Weapons or Abandoned Chemical Weapons;
- To negotiate Managed Access during the Challenge Inspection;
- To ensure decontamination of Approved Equipment after completion of an Inspection.
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