The Crime Desk: The 24th General Meeting of the Bangladesh National Authority for the Chemical Weapons Convention (BNACWC) was held. The meeting was held at the Multipurpose Hall of the Armed Forces Division in Dhaka Cantonment on Tuesday (June 17). This information was given in a press release sent by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
According to the ISPR, the chairman of the BNACWC and the principal staff officer of the Armed Forces Division, Lieutenant General SM Kamrul Hasan, presided over the meeting. 43 high-ranking military and civilian officials of the BNACWC from various ministries, organizations, and forces participated in the meeting.
The meeting reviewed the progress of the implementation of the decisions taken in the 23rd General Meeting with a view to effectively implementing the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act, 2006, in Bangladesh, and discussed the consolidation of the country’s overall chemical security system and taking effective measures to deal with chemical accidents.
ISPR further said that in order to properly monitor all activities related to scheduled chemicals in the country and the production of non-scheduled individual organic chemicals, importance was attached to the online registration of the concerned institutions with the BNACWC. In addition, the meeting discussed the issue of obtaining a no objection certificate from the national authority through the National Single Window (NSW) for the import of scheduled chemicals.
The meeting also discussed the destruction of long-term stored chemicals at Chittagong Port and the consolidation of chemical safety measures at other ports.
ISPR further said that everyone was informed in the meeting that an international training will be organized in Dhaka next October for the preparation of important hospitals in the country for the treatment of casualties in chemical disasters/accidents and for medical personnel. Important decisions were taken in the meeting to increase the capacity of the Chemical Disaster Response Team (CDRT) formed by the forces to take quick action in accidents related to chemical warfare agents or other chemicals in Bangladesh and to purchase necessary equipment.
At the same time, the chairman attached special importance to the meeting regarding taking appropriate steps to develop a lab of the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) as an OPCW-designated laboratory.
The chairman of the BNACWC concluded the meeting by calling on everyone to work together to ensure the overall chemical safety of the country and successfully deal with disasters/accidents.
