The Chemical Weapons Convention is shortly characterised, and the main principles of, inter alia the General Purpose Criterion are stressed. The status of its implementation as for March 14, 2004 shows the main data obligatorily declared by 161 Party States and main achievements in destruction of Chemical Weapon (CW) stockpiles and destruction / conversion of CW production facilities and their verification. The Organisation for the Prohibition of the Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is briefly presented and the main results of the First Review Conference analysed.