6 DE JULHO DE 1996

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They shall be subject to an initial visit by inspectors, who shall confirm the correctness of the information about these facilities. Verification that the conversion of these facilities was performed in such a manner as to render them inoperable as chemical weapons production facilities shall also be required, and shall fall within the framework of measures provided for the facilities that are to be rendered inoperable not later than 90 days after entry into force of this Convention.

20 — A State Party that intends to carry out a conversion of chemical weapons production facilities shall submit to the Technical Secretariat, not later than 30 days after this Convention enters into force for it, or not later than 30 days after a decision has been taken for temporary conversion, a general facility conversion plan, and subsequently shall submit annual plans.

21 — Should a State Party have the need to convert to a chemical weapons destruction facility an additional chemical weapons production facility that had been closed after this Convention entered into force for it, it shall inform the Technical Secretariat thereof not less than 150 days before conversion. The Technical Secretariat, in conjunction with the State Party, shall make sure that the necessary measures are taken to render that facility, after its conversion, inoperable as a chemical weapons production facility.

22 — A facility converted for the destruction of chemical weapons shall not be more fit for resuming chemical weapons production than a chemical weapons production facility which has been closed and is under maintenance. Its reactivation shall require no less time than that required for a chemical weapons production facility that has been closed and is under maintenance.

23 — Converted chemical weapons production facilities shall be destroyed not later than 10 years after entry into force of this Convention.

24 — Any measures for the conversion of any given chemical weapons production facility shall be facility-specific and shall depend upon its individual characteristics.

25 — The set of measures carried out for the purpose of converting a chemical weapons production facility into a chemical weapons destruction facility shall not be less than that which is provided for the disabling of other chemical weapons production facilities to be carried out not later than 90 days after this Convention enters into force for the State Party.

Principles and methods related to destruction of a chemical weapons production facility

26 — A State Party shall destroy equipment and buildings covered by die definition of a chemical weapons production facility as follows:

a) All specialized equipment and standard equipment shall be physically destroyed;

b) All specialized buildings and standard buildings shall be physically destroyed.

27 — A State Party shall destroy facilities for producing unfilled chemical munitions and equipment for chemical weapons employment as follows:

a) Facilities used exclusively for production of non-chemical parts for chemical munitions or equipment specifically designed for use directly in connection with chemical weapons em-

ployment, shall be declared and destroyed. The destruction process and its verification shall be conducted according to the provisions of article v and this part of this Annex that govern destruction of chemical weapons production facilities;

b) All equipment designed or used exclusively for producing non-chemical parts for chemical munitions shall be physically destroyed. Such equipment, which includes specially designed moulds and metal-forming dies, may be brought to a special location for destruction;

c) All buildings and standard equipment used for such production activities shall be destroyed or converted for purposes not prohibited tinder this Convention, with confirmation, as necessary, through consultations and inspections as provided for under article ix;

d) Activities for purposes not prohibited under this Convention may continue while destruction or conversion proceeds.

Order of destruction

28 — The order of destruction of chemical weapons production facilities is based on the obligations specified in article i and the other articles of this Convention, including obligations regarding systematic on-site verification. It takes into account interests of States Parties for undiminished security during the destruction period; confidence-building in the early part of the destruction stage; gradual acquisition of experience in the course of destroying chemical weapons production facilities; and applicability irrespective of the actual characteristics of the facilities and the methods-chosen for their destruction. The order of destruction is based on the principle of levelling out.

29 — A State Party shall, for each destruction period, determine which chemical weapons production facilities are to be destroyed and carry out the destruction in such a way that not more than what is specified in paragraphs 30 and 31 remains at the end of each destruction period. A State Party is not precluded from destroying its facilities at a faster pace.

30 — The following provisions shall apply to chemical weapons production facilities that produce schedule I chemicals:

a) A State Party shall start the destruction of such facilities not later than one year after this Convention enters into force for it, and shall complete it not later than 10 years after entry into force of this Convention. For a State which is a Party at the entry into force of this Convention, this overall period shall be divided

. into three separate destruction periods, namely, years 2-5, years 6-8, and years 9-10. For States which become a Party after entry into force of this Convention, the destruction periods shall be adapted, taking into account paragraphs 28 and 29;

b) Production capacity shall be used as the comparison factor for such facilities. It shall be expressed in agent tonnes, taking into account the rules specified for binary chemical weapons;

c) Appropriate agreed levels of production capacity shall be established for the end of the eighth year after entry into force of this Convention.