OPCW Efforts to Counter Chemical Terrorism.

According to International Relations scholars MichaelBarnett and Martha Finnemore, classification andattribution of meaning is one of the functions ofinternational organizations, in addition to those tasks that member states have explicitly delegated to them. The above mentioned EC decision in late 2001 falls into this category as it defines nonstate actors, such as terrorists acquiring and using CW, as falling within the scope of the CWC and the OPCW’s work. It also clarifies that the full and effective implementation of the Convention has the “double benefit” of supporting the global fight against terrorism. Subsequent action falling into this category took the form of discussion papers issued by the Technical Secretariat and their discussion by the OEWG-T sub-working group on non-state actors in 2015 and 2016. These papers have focused on “the topics of the legal accountability of non-state actors under the Convention […] ; measures to prevent the hostile use of toxic chemicals […] ; and ensuring an effective response to the hostile use of a toxic chemical [...] .” A fourth discussion paper analyzed the utility of CWC Article VI in the context of State Parties’ efforts to address chemical terrorism. The four papers and their discussion by State raised the profile of the substantive issues they addressed, and contributed to their conceptual clarity. Discussions on those issues had the additional effect of further establishing the role of the OPCW in the classification and organization of meaning concerning how CWC States Parties could best use the provisions of the Convention in their fight against chemical terrorism. The classification of chemical terrorism under the CWC was further reinforced by a seminal EC decision in October 2017, which stated that any violation of any of the general obligations contained in CWC Article I by anyone, including non-state actors, would pose “a fundamental threat to the object and purpose of the Convention and to the achievement of a world free of chemical weapons”. In essence, the Council decision reinforced the framing of counterterrorist measures under the CWC prevailing since its December 2001 decision, reflected positively on both conceptual and programmatic work undertaken by the Organization, and identified areas for further improvement.