Chemical Weapons Prohibition

Since 2000 The State Office for Nuclear Safety (SÚJB), as the National Authority of the Czech Republic, has been guaranteeing obligations resulting from the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction (also Chemical Weapons Convention or CWC). The implementation of the chemical weapons prohibition belongs to the priorities of the SÚJB. The target is to contribute to the reduction of the risk of their abuse, including prevention to possible non state party threat.

The SÚJB carries out the function of state surveillance over the measures related to the prohibition of chemical weapons in accordance with the Act No. 19/1997 Coll., as amended, on some measures concerning chemical weapons prohibition and Decree No. 459/2020 Coll., implementing the Act No. 19/1997 Coll., where chemicals are listed in individual Schedules in accordance with the classification. The Act No. 19/1997 Coll. has been recently amended by the Act No.336/2020 Coll. to reflect last changes and development in CWC. As a result of it, the original Decree No. 208/2008 Coll. has been fully replaced by the Decree No. 459/2020 Coll.

Also in the past period securing of meeting the obligations resulting from the Chemical Weapons Convention remained an integral part of the state surveillance activity in this area. It involves in particular the following:

• Transposition of the requirements resulting from the membership in the CWC to the Czech legal system,
• Cooperation when performing international inspections,
• Active participation in the work of organizations entrusted with the coordination of the international effort to control the prohibition of individual categories of weapons of mass destruction.

This concludes also participation of SÚJB experts in the activity of international control regimes like Australia Group. Although this may not bring any internationally legal obligations for the Czech Republic, it is understood as an important tool for securing a rigorous fulfillment of the measures related to the prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

All SÚJB activities in the area of the prohibition of chemical weapons is widely coordinated with the activities of other governmental bodies in this area and respects the principles of the European Union Strategy against the proliferation of chemical weapons, which the Czech Republic accepted. The SÚJB also closely cooperates with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemicals Weapons – OPCW.

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