With a view to fulfilling the second stage of the Mentorship/Partnership Programme of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and following up on the recent visit to Argentina by a Guatemalan delegation, the Argentine National Authority for the Chemical Weapons Convention visited Guatemala.
The programme is part of the assistance provided by the OPCW for States Parties to share their knowledge and experience with other States that need to strengthen their efforts for the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The fields in which Guatemala hopes to advance are, especially, the structure and operation of its National Authority and the parliamentary approval for an implementation law.
The Argentine delegation held working meetings with officials from several Guatemalan agencies, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Government, the Ministry of Defence, the Guatemalan Coordinating Agency for Disaster Reduction (CONRED in the Spanish acronym), and the Guatemalan Tax Authority. Furthermore, the Argentine National Authority's visit served as an opportunity to carry out promotion activities among members of the industrial sector and the Guatemalan chambers of industry.
During his recent visit to the OPCW headquarters in The Hague last 28 March, President Macri reaffirmed Argentina's commitment to the non-proliferation and total elimination of these weapons.
The fact that Argentina has for the first time been selected as a Mentor State reflects the prestige our country enjoys within the OPCW. Argentina has always promoted collaboration activities with countries of the region, which is an area free of weapons of mass destruction.
Press release No. 461/17
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