Indonesia vows to implement Chemical Weapons Convention

Indonesia, the third largest democracy in the world, is committed to fully implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), said a senior official at the ministry of foreign affairs.

"Indonesia, which is in the process of full democratization, will be in a better position to fully implement the Chemical Weapons Convention," Makmur Widodo, director general for multilateral political, social and security affairs at the ministry of foreign affairs, was quoted Wednesday by The Jakarta Post as saying.

Makmur said Indonesia, which signed the CWC on Jan. 13, 1993 and ratified it on Sept. 30, 1998 and enacted it into the Law No. 6/1998, is committed to fully implementing the CWC.

"As a party to the CWC, Indonesia is legally bound to fully implement the provisos of the convention. Indeed, Indonesia is nowin the process of doing just that," Makmur said.

The CWC, which came into force on April 29, 1997, is an international treaty that bans the use of chemical weapons and aims to eliminate chemical weapons everywhere in the world forever.

Even after more than five years since the ratification of the CWC, Indonesia is still trying to implement it fully.

The problems, according to Makmur, are mainly two: the establishment of a permanent national authority and passing of "aunified robust national legislation" to cover and govern all aspects of the use of chemical substances.

Indonesia currently has a temporary national authority under the coordination of the directorate for international peace and disarmament at the foreign ministry. Under the CWC, the member countries must make it part of its national legislation before 2005.

Source: Xinhua