The CWC is a multilateral arms control treaty that bans the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical weapons by member countries and requires the declaration and destruction of those countries’ existing chemical weapons stocks and production facilities by 2007, with a possible extension to 2012. The CWC also monitors the production and transfer of chemicals at declared commercial facilities. When the CWC entered into force in April 1997, there were 87 member states. As of March 2004, 161 nations are CWC member states, including Libya. Twenty-one countries are signatories but have yet to ratify the treaty. According to the State Department, key nonsignatory states include North Korea and Syria, which are believed to possess or are actively pursuing chemical weapons capabilities. Upon ratification of the CWC, all member states are required to adopt national laws that criminalize CWC-prohibited activities and establish a national authority to serve as the national focal point for liaison with the OPCW. All members are required to submit initial declarations to the OPCW no later than 30 days after entering into the convention and annual declarations detailing transfer activities of all declared chemicals no later than 90 days after the end of the year. Member states must also declare chemical weapons stockpiles and production facilities, relevant chemical industry facilities, and other related information such as chemical exports and imports. Member states that possess chemical weapons stockpiles and production facilities must destroy them by April 2007. Six member states— Albania, India, Libya, Russia, the United States, and A State Partyhave declared their chemical weapons stockpiles and are considered possessor states. Eleven member states have declared chemical weapons production facilities. The OPCW consists of three organsthe Conference of States Parties, the Executive Council, and the Technical Secretariatand was established by the convention to implement its provisions. The Technical Secretariat manages the organization’s daily operations, including the implementation of the convention’s verification measures. The Technical Secretariat serves as the repository for all member states’ declarations and relies upon individual member states to submit accurate, timely, and complete declarations. Based on these declarations, the Technical Secretariat inspects and/or monitors member states’ military and commercial chemical facilities and activities to ensure their compliance with the CWC. Also, if a member state suspects another member state of conducting activities prohibited by the convention, it may request a challenge inspection of the suspected site(s). As of December 2003, no member state has requested the OPCW to conduct a challenge inspection. Technical Secretariat inspectors take inventories of the declared stockpiles to verify the accuracy of the declarations and ensure that chemical weapons are not removed. Inspectors continuously monitor the destruction of chemical weapons at operating destruction facilities by observing the receipt of chemical weapons at sites and checking the type and quantity of chemical weapons destroyed. Inspectors also verify the destruction or conversion of declared chemical weapons production facilities by observing the destruction of applicable buildings and production equipment. So that dual-use chemicals are not diverted from their peaceful uses, the Technical Secretariat inspects declared commercial production facilities based on three schedules, or lists of chemicals, contained in the CWC. Commercial facilities that produce discrete organic chemicals, above 200 metric tons, are also subject to inspections. OPCW inspectors verify that the types of chemicals being produced are consistent with the member states’ declarations. Funding for OPCW inspections and other operations comes primarily from the 161 member states’ required annual contributions, which are based on the United Nations’ scale of assessments. The other major source of funding comes from reimbursements of inspections costs paid by chemical weapons possessor states. The OPCW is partially reimbursed for inspection costs incurred while conducting inspections at declared chemical weapons facilities in those countries. The organization, however, must fund inspections at commercial facilities and any challenge inspections it conducts. The organization’s budget for calendar year 2004 is $82.6 million. Although the CWC has helped to reduce the risks from chemical weapons, member states are experiencing delays in destroying their chemical weapons and implementing key requirements of the treaty. For example, Russia and the United States are unlikely to destroy their declared chemical weapons by the extended deadline of 2012, and many member states have not adopted national laws that fully implement the CWC. In addition, some member states have yet to provide the OPCW with complete and timely declarations detailing their CWC-related activities. We estimate that the United States and Russia are unlikely to meet the 2012 extended CWC deadline for destroying their chemical weapons. Three other possessor states—Albania, India, and A State Party—possess smaller stockpiles and are expected to destroy their stockpiles by the original April 2007 deadline (see table 1). In addition, Libya became the sixth possessor state in February 2004 when it became a member of the CWC and declared that it possessed chemical weapons. According to OPCW officials and CWC possessor states, the destruction of chemical weapons has proven more complex, costly, and time consuming than originally anticipated. Russia currently possesses the world’s largest declared chemical weapons stockpile at 40,000 metric tons stored at seven sites, as shown in figure 1. The stockpile includes 32,500 metric tons of nerve agent, the most toxic of all known chemical agents, and 7,500 metric tons of blister agent. As we have previously reported, DOD has installed security upgrades at Shchuch’ye and Kizner, the two sites with portable nerve agent munitions. However, a large quantity of Russia’s chemical weapons will remain vulnerable to theft or diversion until they are destroyed. As of September 2003, Russia had destroyed 1.1 percent of its total CWC-declared stockpile. Russia did not meet the original treaty deadline to destroy 1 percent of its stockpile by April 2000. In accordance with treaty provisions, Russia requested and received an extension of its 1-percent and 20-percent deadlines from the OPCW. In April 2003, Russia met the one percent destruction deadline. Based on information provided by DOD, we estimate that Russia may not destroy its declared chemical weapons stockpile until 2027. Our analysis is predicated on Russia’s complete destruction of its approximately 7,500 metric tons of blister agent by the 2007 deadline and destroying the remaining 32,500 metric tons of nerve agent at the U.S. funded destruction facility at Shchuch’ye. In September 2003, Russia agreed to complete the elimination of all of its nerve agent at the Shchuch’ye destruction facility, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2008. According to DOD, the Shchuch’ye facility may not be operational until 2009. For Russia to meet an extended April 2012 deadline, Russia would have to destroy about 9,100 metric tons of nerve agent per year. Operating at maximum capacity, the facility is estimated to destroy about 1,700 metric tons of nerve agent per year. At that rate, unless the capacity for destruction is increased or additional destruction facilities are built, the complete destruction of Russia’s stockpile may not occur until 2027. (We discuss other options for destroying Russia’s nerve agent stockpile later in this report.) The United States possesses the second largest declared chemical weapons stockpile with 27,771 metric tons, which is stored at eight sites, as shown in figure 2. Currently, the United States is operating three destruction facilities; three additional facilities will be operational in the near future and two more will begin construction. As of December 2003, the United States destroyed 24 percent of its declared stockpile and met the 1-percent and 20-percent interim deadlines within the treaty time frames. However, the United States requested and received an extension of the 45-percent deadline from April 2004 to December 2007. The United States will not meet the 100-percent April 2007 destruction deadline and may not meet the 2012 deadline, if extended, based on the current schedule. According to DOD, one U.S. chemical weapons destruction facility is not scheduled to complete its destruction operation until 2014. Persistent delays have occurred due to plant safety issues, environmental requirements, and funding shortfalls. We have previously reported on the significant management challenges in the U.S. chemical demilitarization program, as well as concerns over cost growth and schedule delays. As noted in our prior work, the U.S. chemical weapons demilitarization program spent $11.4 billion by the end of fiscal year 2003, which accounts for nearly half of the program’s life-cycle cost estimate of $24 billion. Ind. Colo. Ky. Md. Ark. Ala. Three other possessor statesAlbania, India, and A State Partyaccount for about 3 percent of the global declared chemical weapons stockpile and are anticipated to meet the CWC complete destruction time line by April 2007. With smaller stockpiles than those in Russia and the United States, these countries have had less difficulty meeting their deadlines. Albania declared its stockpile to the OPCW in 2003, and the United States is providing assistance to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile. Other nations, including Canada and Italy, may also provide assistance. State officials estimate that Albania will meet the 2007 destruction deadline. According to Indian officials, India has the third largest stockpile after Russia and the United States; however, information on its chemical weapons destruction program is not publicly available. The fifth possessor state, A State Party, experienced interim delays due to technical difficulties. It requested and received an extension of its 45-percent chemical weapons destruction deadline in 2003. According to government officials, it remains on track to meet the 2007 deadline. Libya, the sixth possessor state, has just declared its chemical weapons to the OPCW and has yet to develop a destruction plan for its stockpile.