A QUARTER century in the making, the Chemical Weapons Convention finally
came into force this week. More than 80 countries are full parties to the
treaty. They include China and the US, which ratified the treaty just days
before the deadline. But states such as North Korea, Iraq and Libya have no
plans to join.
Last week, Russia鈥檚 parliament put in place most of the domestic legislation
required under the treaty. But Russia says that it will postpone ratification
until the autumn because of a lack of funds to destroy its chemical weapons
stockpiles鈥攖he largest in the world. The treaty requires that stockpiles
be destroyed within 10 years of ratification.
