President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih ratified the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Act (Act No. 22/2022) on Thursday. Parliament passed the bill on Monday, November 28, 2022, at the 43rd sitting of its third session this year.
The law prohibits the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and defines the procedures for disposing of them in the Maldives. The bill outlines the prohibition of chemical weapons in line with the United Nations Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling, and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, to which the Maldives is a party.
The law mandates the relevant ministry to designate a "Chemical Weapons Unit" to govern the enforcement of the law. The law also defines the powers and responsibilities of the body. Upon ratification of the law, only the parties licenced by the "Chemical Weapons Unit" will be permitted to import and export any chemicals that fall under the law's purview. The law also grants six months from its ratification to the "Chemical Weapons Unit" to draw up guidelines and policies outlined in the law.
The law was published in the Government Gazette upon ratification and will go into effect in three months.