Annual CWC Reporting

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the Department of Commerce published in the Federal Register (77 FR 75145-75147) their annual notice concerning the impact on industry of the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). This annual report was required by the Senate when they ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997.

This report should allow the President to certify that the “legitimate commercial activities and interests of chemical, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical firms in the United States are not being significantly harmed by the limitations of the Convention on access to, and production of, those chemicals and toxins listed in Schedule 1 of the Annex on Chemicals” {S Res 75; 1997; §2(9)}. The list of Schedule 1 chemicals can be found here.

 

Interestingly the same section requires the certification to be made on January 1^st of every year. This notice provides for public comment through January 18^th, 2013. Somehow it is not surprising that the Administration will be late with this routine report because of a late publication of this notice. Public comments may be submitted via email (willard.fisher@bis.doc.gov) and should not include classified or business confidential information; all comments will be part of the public record.