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INSPECTION OF A FERTILIZER PLANT IN KARACHI IS A ROUTINE MATTER

Press Release, Islamabad 22 April, 2003

In response to a question about news reports concerning the inspection of a fertilizer plant in Karachi, the Spokesman stated that this was a routine matter. Over 150 countries in the world by virtue of their membership of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) had agreed to allow verification of their chemical industry.

Contrary to the impression conveyed by certain news stories, this was not a chemical weapon inspection as Pakistan was not a chemical weapon state. The visit to the fertilizer plant in Karachi will last only a day. These stories reflect a complete lack of understanding about the Convention.

The Chemical Weapons Convention contains a confidence building regime under which a defined category of industrial units in all Member States are visited by officials of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) based in The Hague. Nearly 1400 such inspections of industrial units had been carried out in various countries of the world. This was the first visit of its kind in Pakistan.

Pakistan fully subscribes to the objectives and purposes of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Convention has enabled the international community to uncover India's clandestine chemical weapons programme which the OPCW has sealed and monitors its destruction. Pakistan applauds these major achievements of the CWC and will continue to work to strengthen it.