By Stephen Cviic BBC News

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is holding a conference in The Hague to assess progress towards eliminating chemical weapons.

The OPCW has verified destruction of nearly 10% of global stocks

It is the first such review conference since an international chemical weapons convention came into force in 1997, and it is attended by representatives from 151 countries.

The issue of chemical weapons is very much in the news because of allegations by the United States that the previous Iraqi government possessed them.

And there is bound to be some discussion of whether the US will let OPCW officials into Iraq if it finds chemical weapons there.

Russian 'stock'

Ever since the horror caused by the use of chemical weapons in World War I, there have been strenuous efforts to outlaw them through international treaties.

But these have not succeeded, as the world was reminded in the 1980s, when Iraq used them against Iranian soldiers and against its own Kurds.

The convention's members now include most of the world's countries, including the US.

Most member states are regarded as free of chemical weapons; a handful, including the US, acknowledge that they do have stocks, which they are committed to destroying.

The OPCW, based in the Hague, is meant to monitor and enforce the treaty, which bans the production, use, stockpiling and transfer of chemical weapons.

In its latest report, it says it has verified the destruction of nearly 10% of the world's stockpile.

The largest stock still remaining is in Russia, which has 40,000 tons of chemical warfare agents.

The conference will also be an opportunity to determine what to do next.