... As Director-General of the OPCW, I believe that a broad based informed discussion on these issues is desirable and will contribute to the success of the Convention. It is for this reason that I encouraged the preparation of "Verification Practice under the Chemical Weapons Convention: A Commentary I have strongly supported the efforts of the authors, Dr R Trapp and Dr W Krutzsch, both of whom have been intimately involved in the negotiations on and the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The result of their efforts is this book. This is not a book for easy reading over a weekend. The issues addressed are, more often than not, hardly exciting. But this is a much needed publication which, I hope, will be the first in the series of in-depth studies of the CWC verification regime and the practical work of the OPCW in this critically important area. As the authors state in their introduction, the substance of this volume is their sole responsibility. Some of their comments, conclusions or suggestions, may find not only supporters but opponents as well, which of course is only natural. On the whole, however, I believe that, whatever their views on the issues raised, all readers will share my view that this is a very useful and timely study. From the Foreword by Josi M Bustani, Director-General, OPCW This Commentary on the verification provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention builds on a previous publication by the same authors - "A Commentary on the Chemical Weapons Convention (Kluwer 1994). It focuses on the verification regime established under the Convention and analyses the results of the preparatory phase as well as the practical experience gathered bythe OPCW since the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997. The book