Novichok added to banned weapons list

Members of the global chemical weapons watchdog have agreed to update their list of banned substances for the first time by adding the nerve agent used in the Salisbury attack last year.

The decision to add Novichok nerve agents to the Chemical Weapons Convention was reached by consensus at the annual meeting of the 193 member states of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Novichok joins agents including sarin, ricin and sulfur mustard on the convention’s so-called Schedule 1 of banned substances.

The change was proposed by the United States, Canada and the Netherlands.

In months of discussions leading up to this week’s meeting, Russia initially objected to the proposed changes but later relented after it also proposed adding chemicals to the banned list.

The convention outlaws the production and use of chemical weapons, and came into force in 1997.