Annual Look at CWC Effects on Industry

Today the DOC’s Industry and Security Bureau (BIS) published their annual notice in the Federal Register (78 FR 75910-75911) requesting information about the effects of the enforcement of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) on ‘legitimate’ commercial activity.

When Congress approved the adoption of the CWC they required that the President provide an annual report on the effects of the implementation of rules on the use and production of ‘Schedule 1’ chemicals. Schedule 1 chemicals are those toxic chemicals (and their immediate precursors) that have been or can be used as chemical weapons (interestingly chlorine gas is not included). Since some of these chemicals have legitimate uses outside of the chemical weapons realms Congress was concerned about the effects of the CWC provisions on those legitimate uses.

Every year the BIS publishes this notice in the Federal Register soliciting comments from industry so that they can prepare the President’s report to Congress. Comments may be emailed to BIS (willard.fisher@bis.doc.gov) and should be submitted by January 13^th, 2014.