Australia is a stable, democratic and culturally diverse nation with a highly skilled workforce and one of the strongest performing economies in the world.
The unimaginable hardship and horror the Syrian people have endured as a result of chemical weapons is front of mind for us today. We, the States Parties of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), need to ensure such devastation does not occur again.
After two years of devastating conflict, the 2 November 2022 African Union-brokered peace agreement offers the Ethiopian people an opportunity to achieve enduring and lasting peace.
Australia was the sixth country to ratify the CWC, in May 1994. The Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 1994 was enacted on 25 February 1994, and entered fully into force with the Convention on 29 April 1997.
The Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 1994 provides for inspection of facilities either by officers from ASNO or from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the international implementing agency for the CWC. The OPCW is based in The Netherlands.
ASNO introduced in January 2002 new permit conditions for producers, processors, consumers and importers of CWC-Scheduled chemicals to strengthen measures that restrict access to CWC-Scheduled chemicals.
