Chemical weapons expert gives speech at Burlington House

In conjunction with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and as part of International Year of Chemistry (IYC 2011), the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) had the honour of hosting a visit to the UK by the Director General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), HE Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, at the RSC's Chemistry Centre in Piccadilly, London on Thursday 17 March 2011 

The OPCW, based in The Hague, is the implementing body of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), regarded as one of the most successful disarmament treaties.  The CWC bans the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons.  Only seven countries have yet to accede to the CWC. 

To highlight the work of the OPCW and to promote the International Year of Chemistry, Ambassador Üzümcü gave an address to an audience of invited guests including foreign embassy ambassadors, senior representatives from the FCO and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (dstl) at Porton Down and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) as well as industry and academia representatives.  

The speech was followed by an in depth Question and Answer session and a reception.