At the invitation of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya visited The Hague, Netherlands on 27 November 2017 to speak at the opening of the OPCW’s Twenty-Second Session of the Conference of the States Parties.

The OPCW is the agency responsible for implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), while the WCO is concerned by cross-border movements of uncontrolled chemicals and the acquisition of controlled chemicals by terrorist groups or non-state actors.

In his speech to the Ambassadors representing the 192 OPCW States Parties, Secretary General Mikuriya talked about the many areas of cooperation between the two Organizations, including the Amendments to the Harmonized System (HS) 2017 that cover 33 major traded chemicals listed in the CWC, and the OPCW's support for developing training materials for the Strategic Trade Control Enforcement (STCE) Programme as part of the WCO Security Programme. 

Dr. Mikuriya invited the OPCW to participate in the second WCO Operation COSMO, scheduled for 2018 and focusing on the illicit trade in Weapons of Mass Destruction and dual-use goods (including chemicals), on the same basis as the OPCW’s contribution to the first Operation Cosmo in 2015. The WCO Secretary General also expressed his wish to further develop cooperation between the two Organizations.

Before the plenary session, Dr. Mikuriya had a bilateral discussion with H.E. Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, OPCW Director General, to explore areas for future collaboration.