IUPAC/OPCW International Workshop: Impact of Advances in Science and Technology on the Chemical Weapons Convention 22-25 April, 2007 Zagreb, Croatia

Workshop Overview		Documents
Advances in chemistry, the life sciences and enabling technologies will undoubtedly create considerable benefits for humankind, including improved health, a better environment and sustainable development. At the same time, new scientific discovery can bring risks, including the potential of new chemical compounds being abused as chemical weapons. To fully understand the impact of these scientific and technological developments, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts convened the April 2007 workshop Impact of Advances in Science and Technology on the Chemical Weapons Convention. The workshop was held under the auspices of the Zagreb City Government and included 68 participants from 30 countries, who discussed recent technical advances and their potential implications. The discussions are currently being summarized in a report, to be published in the IUPAC journal Pure and Applied Chemistry and to be distributed to the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention. It is hoped that the workshop materials may help to inform some of the discussions at the Chemical Weapons Convention’s upcoming Second Review Conference, which will be held in April 2008. Sessions at the workshop included a wide range of presentations on the context of the CWC, trends in the chemical industry, developments in chemical synthesis, analysis and production technology, and advances in fields such as nanotechnology and decontamination technology. Expert commentary on the presentations and several break-out discussion sessions provided extensive opportunities to consider and evaluate the materials. The recent workshop is the second time that IUPAC has convened such a group of chemical experts from government, academia and industry. A similar workshop was held in 2002, before the First Review Conference of the CWC, and was well received by the OPCW Scientific Advisory Board and by the States Parties. Additional information about this 2002 workshop may be found online at http://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/2002/7412		Meeting Agenda Participant List International Advisory Board and Organizing Committees Abstracts
		Presentations Session 1: John Freeman Ralf Trapp Horst Reeps Moncef Hadhri Graham Pearson
		Session 2: Abbas Shafiee Francisco Azuaje Kathryn Nixdorff
		Session 3: Enrico Polastro Jean Marie Basset Vitomir Sunjic Peter Seeberger Tuan Nguyen
		Session 4: Jackie Ying Jennifer Fiegel Jurgen Altmann
		Session 5: Markku Mesilaaskso Robin Black Gary Sides Stefan Mogl
Workshop Sponsors		Session 6: Peter Blain Srdanka Tomic-Pisarovic Jiri Matousek Michael Rowell
Support for this workshop has been generously provided by: Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry The U.S. National Academies Croatian Society of Chemical Engineers Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb, Croatia Croatian Chemical Society Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Ministry of Economy, Labor and Entrepreneurship, Croatia Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Croatia Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, Croatia GlaxoSmithKline Research Centre Zagreb, Croatia Biovit d. o. o Pliva Hrvatska d. o. o The workshop was held under the auspices of the Zagreb City Government
		Trip to Plitvice Lakes Participants could elect to tour Plitvice Lakes National Park
		IUPAC
		Further information on IUPAC and its scientific activities may be found at http://www.iupac.org

Contact		Additional Background
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Katherine Bowman The National Academies Board on International Scientific Organizations 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 USA TEL: +1 202-334-2807 FAX: +1 202-334-2231 EMAIL: kbowman@nas.edu		The Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force in 1997, with the aim of prohibiting the development and use of chemical weapons and with achieving the destruction of all chemical weapons and their production facilities. The Convention today is joined by 182 nations. Further Information on the Chemical Weapons Convention may be obtained from the website of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the body which administers the Convention. The OPCW International Cooperation and Assistance Division supports a variety of programs including conferences and training opportunities. Upcoming events include a workshop on analysis of chemicals related to the Chemical Weapons Convention in Tuusula, Finland and a workshop and laboratory exercise on analysis of chemicals related to the CWC in Helsinki, Finland. Contact the OPCW for further information.
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