THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release April 25, 1997
TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
In accordance with the resolution of advice and consent to ratification of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, adopted by the Senate of the United States on April 24, 1997, I hereby certify that:
In connection with Condition (1), Effect of Article
XXII, the United States has informed all other States
Parties to the Convention that the Senate reserves the
right, pursuant to the Constitution of the United States,
to give its advice and consent to ratification of the
Convention subject to reservations, notwithstanding Article
XXII of the Convention.
In connection with Condition (7), Continuing Vitality
of the Australia Group and National Export Controls: (i)
nothing in the Convention obligates the United States to
accept any modification, change in scope, or weakening of
its national export controls; (ii) the United States
understands that the maintenance of national restrictions
on trade in chemicals and chemical production technology is
fully compatible with the provisions of the Convention,
including Article XI(2), and solely within the sovereign
jurisdiction of the United States; (iii) the Convention
preserves the right of State Parties, unilaterally or
collectively, to maintain or impose export controls on
chemicals and related chemical production technology for
foreign policy or national security reasons,
notwithstanding Article XI(2); and (iv) each Australia
Group member, at the highest diplomatic levels, has
officially communicated to the United States Government its
understanding and agreement that export control and
nonproliferation measures which the Australia Group has
undertaken are fully compatible with the provisions of the
Convention, including Article XI(2), and its commitment to
maintain in the future such export controls and
nonproliferation measures against non-Australia Group
members.
In connection with Condition (9), Protection of
Advanced Biotechnology, the legitimate commercial
activities and interests of chemical, biotechnology, and
pharmaceutical firms in the United States are not being
significantly harmed by the limitations of the Convention
on access to, and production of, those chemicals and toxins
listed in Schedule 1 of the Annex on chemicals.
In connection with Condition (15), Assistance Under
Article X, the United States shall not provide assistance
under paragraph 7(a) of Article X, and, for any State Party
the government of which is not eligible for assistance
under chapter 2 of part II (relating to military
assistance) or chapter 4 of part II (relating to economic
support assistance) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961:
(i) no assistance under paragraph 7(b) of Article X will be
provided to the State Party; and (ii) no assistance under
paragraph 7(c) of Article X other than medical antidotes
and treatment will be provided to the State Party.
In connection with Condition (18), Laboratory Sample
Analysis, no sample collected in the United States pursuant
to the Convention will be transferred for analysis to any
laboratory outside the territory of the United States.
In connection with Condition (26), Riot Control
Agents, the United States is not restricted by the
Convention in its use of riot control agents, including the
use against combatants who are parties to a conflict, in
any of the following cases: (i) the conduct of peacetime
military operations within an area of ongoing armed
conflict when the United States is not a party to the
conflict (such as recent use of the United States Armed
Forces in Somalia, Bosnia, and Rwanda); (ii) consensual
peacekeeping operations when the use of force is authorized
by the receiving state, including operations pursuant to
Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter; and (iii)
peacekeeping operations when force is authorized by the
Security Council under Chapter VII of the United Nations
Charter.
In connection with Condition (27), Chemical Weapons
Destruction, all the following conditions are satisfied:
(A) I have agreed to explore alternative technologies for
the destruction of the United States stockpile of chemical
weapons in order to ensure that the United States has the
safest, most effective and environmentally sound plans and
programs for meeting its obligations under the convention
for the destruction of chemical weapons; (B) the
requirement in section 1412 of Public Law 99-145 (50 U.S.C.
1521) for completion of the destruction of the United
States stockpile of chemical weapons by December 31, 2004,
will be superseded upon the date the Convention enters into
force with respect to the United States by the deadline
required by the Convention of April 29, 2007; (C) the
requirement in Article III(1)(a)(v) of the Convention for a
declaration by each State Party not later than 30 days
after the date the Convention enters into force with
respect to that Party, on general plans of the State Party
for destruction of its chemical weapons does not preclude
in any way the United States from deciding in the future to
employ a technology for the destruction of chemical weapons
different than that declared under that Article; and (D) I
will consult with the Congress on whether to submit a
request to the Executive Council of the Organization for an
extension of the deadline for the destruction of chemical
weapons under the Convention, as provided under Part IV(A)
of the Annex on Implementation and Verification to the
Convention, if, as a result of the program of alternative
technologies for the destruction of chemical munitions
carried out under section 8065 of the Department of
Defense Appropriations Act of 1997 (as contained in Public
Law 104-208), I determine that alternatives to the
incineration of chemical weapons are available that are
safer and more environmentally sound but whose use would
preclude the United States from meeting the deadlines of
the Convention.
In connection with Condition (28), Constitutional
Protection Against Unreasonable Search and Seizure: (i) for
any challenge inspection conducted on the territory of the
United States pursuant to Article IX, where consent has
been withheld, the United States National Authority will
first obtain a criminal search warrant based upon probable
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and describing
with particularity the place to be searched and the persons
or things to be seized; and (ii) for any routine inspection
of a declared facility under the Convention that is
conducted on an involuntary basis on the territory of the
United States, the United States National Authority first
will obtain an administrative search warrant from a United
States magistrate judge.
In accordance with Condition (26) on Riot Control Agents,
I have certified that the United States is not restricted by the Convention in its use of riot control agents in various peacetime and peacekeeping operations. These are situations in which the United States is not engaged in a use of force of a scope, duration and intensity that would trigger the laws of war with respect to U.S. forces.
In connection with Condition (4)(A), Cost Sharing Arrangements, which calls for a report identifying all cost-sharing arrangements with the Organization, I hereby report that because the Organization is not yet established and will not be until after entry into force of the Convention, as of this date there are no cost-sharing arrangements between the United States and the Organization to identify. However, we will be working with the Organization upon its establishment to develop such arrangements with it and will provide additional information to the Congress in the annual reports contemplated by this Condition.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 25, 1997.
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