A total of 14 private firms have submitted tenders to destroy 500 tonnes of Syria's commodity chemicals, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced Monday. The firms can also destroy effluent from the neutralization of its priority chemicals at commercial facilities outside the Syrian Arab Republic. The tenders were opened in a public event at the OPCW's headquarters in the Hague, which was attended by representatives of private firms that submitted tenders and by interested OPCW delegations. The deadline for submitting tenders was Jan. 19. The OPCW will start conducting technical and commercial evaluation of the bids and announce the winner(s) in early February.