Other chemical production facilities

From the perspective of one who has been involved in the negotiation and the various phases of implementation of the CWC for the past 20 years, one of the most interesting aspects of the RevCon was how a number of issues that were considered to be potential treaty stoppers in the end-game of the negotiations of the CWC in 1992, and that at that time might have been expected to feature very prominently at the first RevCon, did not cause major concerns. These issues included the declaration and routine verification of other chemical production facilities the composition of the Executive Council the initiation and conduct of challenge inspections the destruction of CW stockpiles and former CW production facilities and export controls on CW dual-use items. ... 

Information provided by former negotiators of the CWC. According to them, part of the ad hoc inspection proposal has metamorphosed into the current inspection system for the other chemical production facilities in Part IX of the Verification Annex to the Convention. 

The broad restrictions of Article I with respect to toxic chemicals are elaborated in the Convention, particularly with respect to the chemicals listed on the attached Schedules and related facilities and the other chemical production facilities (OCPFs) described in Part IX of the Verification Annex to the CWC. The basic implementation obfigation in this regard is set out in Article VI, paragraph 2, of the Convention, which states that each State Party must... 

Given the above mentioned impact of past developments in chemical technology and industry on military CW production programmes, verifying the permitted uses of toxic chemicals and related facilities had to assume an important role in the overall verification system of the CWC. Activities not prohibited under the CWC are dealt with in Article VI of the Convention and in Parts VI to IX of the CWC s Verification Annex. While the first three of these parts are informed by the subdivision of toxic chemicals into Schedules 1 to 3, Part IX of the Verification Annex deals with other, unlisted, chemicals -so-called discrete organic chemicals or DOCs - and other chemical production facilities (OCPF), which might be easily adaptable to CW production. 

Each State Party shall submit its hst of other chemical production facilities pursuant to paragraph 1 as part of its initial declaration not later than 30 days after this Convention enters into force for it. Each State Party shall, not later than 90 days after the beginning of each following calendar year, pjrovide armuaUy the information necessary to update the list. 

The list of other chemical production facilities to be submitted pursuant to paragraph 1 shall include the following information on each plant site ... 

The lists of other chemical production facilities submitted pursuant to paragraph 1, including the information provided under paragraph 4, shall be transmitted by the Technical Secretariat to States Parties upon request. 

At its regular session in the third year after entry into force of this Convention, the Conference, on the basis of a report of the Director-General, may also decide on the distribution of resources available for verification under Section B between PSF-plants and other chemical production facilities. Otherwise, this distribution shall be left to the expertise of the Technical Secretariat and be added to the weighting factors in paragraph 11. 

In relation to inspections of Schedule 2 facihties, the First Review Conference noted that almost all initial inspections had already been conducted, and that re-inspection had begun. Inspections of Schedule 3 facilities had been conducted at 100 facilities as at 31 December 2002 (23% of the inspectable facihties). Inspections of other chemical production facilities producing discrete organic chemicals, including PSF chemicals, commenced in 2000 as provided for by the Convention. Ninety-seven other chemical production facility inspections had been completed by 31 December 2002. 

In accordance with the provisions of the Convention, inspections of other chemical production facilities commenced only in May 2000. The inspections conducted have indicated the usefulness of OCPF inspections and their value for increasing confidence in the chemical activities of the States Parties. At the same time, the current selection algorithm does not... 

The Third Review Conference took note of the need for the Secretariat to conduct the approved number of inspections under Article VI in accordance with the agreed guidelines (EC-66/DEC.10, dated 7 October 2011) which are to be reviewed after three years of implementation. The Third Review Conference noted the results of the analysis of the performance of the site-selection methodology for other chemical production facilities (OCPFs) in accordance with S/962/2011 (dated 8 September 2011) in 2012. The Third Review Conference requested the Secretariat to continue engaging States Parties in demonstrating the site-selection random processes and procedures in an effort to increase transparency and confidence. 

The workshop started with the discussion of the idea that the chemical industry, since entry into force of the Convention, considers implementation-related processes as a normal part of their day-to-day activities. Of course, there are issues that still need to be addressed. The complexities inherent in the definitions, terms, and regulations of the Convention can create difficulties. Also, there remain differences in relation to national regulations, the nomenclature used by various countries/associations, the declaration of transfers, and the declaration of mixtures containing scheduled chemicals. In all these areas, the chemical industry needs clarity and consistency in order to implement requirements and to ensure that equitable and similar standards are applied to all States Parties. The adjustments made in the selection methodology for inspection of other chemical production facilities (OCPFs) were seen as a way of devising a fairer distribution in terms of this type of inspection. 

OFRMPhP other Schedule 1 facilities for research, medical, or pharmaceutical purposes OCPF other chemical production facilities... 

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