CWC Industry Inspection Preparation Handbook

This handbook is for use by United States industrial facilities subject to verification activities under the Chemical Weapons Convention Regulations (CWCR). The information, guidance, and briefings are intended to assist Schedule 1, 2, 3 and unscheduled discrete organic chemical facilities in planning and preparing for inspections of your declared facilities. This handbook, used in conjunction with the CWCR and Department of Commerce outreach materials and assistance, provides a reference for all phases of the planning, preparation, inspection, and post-inspection processes associated with inspection of declared chemical facilities.  

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It is assumed that you have submitted declarations as required by 15 CFR 712-715 and that your facility is subject to inspection. This handbook is designed to assist you in preparing for inspections. The suggestions contained herein are not mandatory. They are intended as guidance for the purpose of helping you comply with the Chemical Weapons Convention Regulations (CWCR). For a complete description of your obligations, refer to the CWCR in 15 CFR 710.

The most important steps you can take to prepare for an inspection are the following: 

• Understand and verify your data declaration
• Develop a comprehensive pre-inspection briefing (PIB)
• Identify Confidential Business Information (CBI) and other critical information (e.g., national security, technology controlled by the International Traffic in Arms Control Regulations (ITAR), and site security)
• Have available the records to demonstrate the accuracy of data in your declarations 

The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is the lead agency for CWC inspections conducted at U.S. facilities not owned by or leased to the Department of War or Energy. The objective of BIS is to minimize the disruption to facility operations and protect CBI and other critical (NSI, ITAR, Site Security, etc.) information to the maximum extent permitted by law while demonstrating compliance with the CWC. 

Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) — The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and their Destruction. 

Chemical Weapons Convention Regulations (CWCR) — The Department of Commerce regulations contained in 15 CFR Parts 710 through 722. 

Export Administration Regulations, Section 15 the Code of Federal Regulations (EAR) — This refers the CWC regulations section of the Export Administration Regulations. 

Facility — Any plant site, plant or unit. 

Host Team (HT) — The U.S. Government team leads by Department of Commerce accompanying the OPCW Inspection Team during a CWC inspection. 

Inspection Team (IT) — The group of international inspectors from the OPCW sent to conduct an inspection. 

The International Traffic in Arms Control Regulations (ITAR) — The Department of State regulations contained in 22 CFR Parts 120 through 130. 

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) — The international organization, located in The Hague, Netherlands, that administers the CWC. 

Plant — A relatively self-contained area, structure or building containing one or more units with auxiliary and associated infrastructure, such as: 

1. Small administrative area;
2. Storage/handling areas for feedstock and products;
3. Effluent/waste handling/treatment area;
4. Control/analytical laboratory;
5. First aid service/related medical section; and
6. Records associated with the movement into, around, and from the site, of declared chemicals and their feedstock or product chemicals formed from them, as appropriate. 
    

Plant site — The local integration of one or more plants, with any intermediate administrative levels, which are under one operational control, and includes common infrastructure, such as: 

1. Administration and other offices;
2. Repair and maintenance shops;
3. Medical center;
4. Utilities;
5. Central analytical laboratory;
6. Research and development laboratories;
7. Central effluent and waste treatment area; and
8. Warehouse storage. 
    

Unit — Means the combination of those items of equipment, including vessels and vessel setup, necessary for the production, processing or consumption of a chemical. 

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is a multilateral treaty that prohibits the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical weapons, and requires the destruction of existing chemical weapons facilities and production plants, as well as stocks of weapons, toxins, and ancillary equipment. Each signatory to the Convention, or "State Party" has the right to develop, produce, otherwise acquire, retain, transfer and use toxic chemicals and their precursors for purposes not prohibited under the Convention (e.g., industrial, agricultural, research, medical, pharmaceutical, etc.).  

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is the implementing body of the CWC. The Convention sets forth a verification regime that subjects government and industrial sites to on-site inspections to verify compliance. The Convention was ratified by the U.S. Senate on April 25, 1997, and entered into force on April 29, 1997. 

Schedules of chemicals 

Certain toxic chemicals and their precursors are monitored under the CWC. They have been divided into three schedules roughly based on the degree of commercial use. 

Schedule 1 chemicals pose the highest risk to the object and purpose of the Convention. They have been developed, produced, stockpiled, or used as chemical weapons. Your declared Schedule 1 facility is subject to inspection if it produced in the previous calendar year or anticipates producing in the next calendar year, in excess of 100 grams aggregate of Schedule 1 chemicals (15 CFR Part 716.1(b)(1)). 

Schedule 2 chemicals pose a significant risk to the object and purpose of the Convention. These chemicals include toxic chemicals and precursors capable of being used as immediate precursors to chemical weapons agents, and are not produced in large commercial quantity. Your declared Schedule 2 plant site is subject to inspection if one or more plants on your plant site produced, processed or consumed in any of the three previous calendar years, or anticipate producing, processing, or consuming in the next calendar year, in excess of: (i) 10 kilograms (kg) of BZ; (ii) 1 metric ton of chemical PFIB or Amiton (and corresponding alkylated or protonated salts) or; (iii) 10 metric tons of any chemical listed in Part B of Schedule 2 (15 CFR Part 716.1(b)(2)). 

Schedule 3 chemicals pose a risk to the object and purpose of the Convention. These chemicals are former chemical weapons and their precursors, and produced in large commercial quantities. Your declared plant site is subject to inspection if one or more plants on your plant site produced during the previous calendar year, or anticipates producing in the next calendar year, in excess of 200 metric tons aggregate of any Schedule 3 chemical (15 CFR Part 716.1(b)(3)). 

Facilities that produce Unscheduled Discrete Organic Chemicals (UDOCs) are subject to inspection based on their capability to produce toxic chemicals and precursors. UDOCs and their exceptions are described in 15 CFR Parts 710.1 and 715.1 respectively. Your declared plant site is subject to inspection if it produced by synthesis during the previous calendar year more than 200 metric tons aggregate of UDOCs (15 CFR Part 716.1(b)(4)). 

Inspection activities will consist of an inspection notification, advance on-site inspection preparation activities, Pre-Inspection Briefing (PIB), the inspection conducted by the IT, and a post-inspection activities. There is no pass or fail grade from the OPCW Inspection Team. 

The Inspection Team's objective is to verify: 
 

• The consistency of the data declaration,
• The absence of undeclared scheduled chemicals
• That scheduled chemicals are not being diverted;
• Determine the risk that the declared facility poses to the object and purpose of the CWC (Schedule 1 facility). 

To help facilitate and minimize the impact of a CWC inspection, your planning should focus on identifying company CBI and other critical information, preparing a Pre-Inspection Briefing, and reviewing and verifying the accuracy of your declaration(s). 

Confidential Business Information (CBI) and other critical information

The U.S. Government will protect CBI not relevant to the purposes of the inspection from disclosure to the IT to the maximum extent permitted by law; however, the burden of identifying CBI rests with the facility. Information not identified by the facility to the Host Team as CBI will not be handled as such. (See 15 CFR Part 718 and BIS' CWC publication Lessons Learned from Industrial Inspections.) Additionally, the USG will protect National Security Information and ITAR controlled technology, from release to OPCW inspectors. BIS will also work to ensure that site sensitive security information, identified by the facility, is not disclosed to the inspectors. 

Practices that protect CBI and other critical Information during an inspection include: 

• Redacting information not related to the inspection from records;
• Removing sensitive papers from areas that the inspection team may have access to;
• Shrouding equipment that may be sensitive to the process;
• "Hide in place" or develop routes and presentations to not bring attention to the equipment or area of concern;
• Logging-off computers to ensure information is not inadvertently disclosed;
• Limiting the number of inspectors granted access to certain areas;
• Defining inspection routes so as to avoid sensitive areas; and
• Allowing random and selective access (such as access to sampling data). 

BIS will work with the facility to determine the most advantageous CBI protective measures to use. 

"Plant site” delineation 

The entire plant site as delineated is subjected to inspection access by the OPCW inspectors to full fill its inspection mandate.  The scope of access varies and depends on the nature of the activities, physical infrastructures, and the type of chemicals used on site.  The US Host Team Leader will determine if the access requested by the inspectors is reasonable and within the scope of the inspection. If the declared plant site is not the company’s fence-line, it is useful if the plant site name on the declaration is unique to the declared area (i.e., not the name of the complex).  This notifies inspection teams prior to arrival on-site that the declared plant site will not be equivalent to the fence line and facilitates discussions of plant site delineation.  Companies are responsible for explaining the delineation of declared plant sites to the BIS Host Team prior to inspection team arrival. 

Pre-inspection briefing (PIB) 

Prior to the start of inspection activities, a facility representative is required to provide a pre-inspection briefing (PIB) to the IT in accordance with the CWCR (15 CFR Part 716.4(c)).  The PIB also provides the facility the opportunity to inform and orient the inspection team to the facility and layout a methodology for verifying the declaration and other inspection aims in accordance with the CWC and CWCR.  A suggested format for this briefing can be found [insert link to new template].  By addressing those elements required by the CWCR and suggested in the template, a facility can proactively demonstrate compliance with the CWC and potentially reduce the length of the inspection. 

Declarations 

The IT will arrive with a copy of your declaration for use during on-site inspection activities. A main focus of inspections is to verify the accuracy of your declaration, which will include a visual inspection of your plant site's activities and review of the data and records used to complete your declaration. It is recommended that you verify your declaration data in advance and make the data and records available to the Host Team. This will help to minimize the impact on the facility by assisting the HT develop strategies for allowing the IT to verify the accuracy of your declaration. 

The U.S. National Authority (Department of State) will provide written notification to the facility of an inspection after it receives notification from the OPCW.  Concurrently, BIS will provide Host Team notification to the facility requesting whether the facility consents to the inspection and seeks advance assistance by the HT. If consent is denied, the HT will seek an administrative warrant.  A copy of the Host Team Notification letter is in Annex 2. 

If requested by the facility as indicated in the HT notification, the HT will arrive at the site to assist in preparing for the inspection prior to the arrival of the IT. The preparation will include providing advice and assistance for the PIB, preparation of the facility for the visual inspection activities, preparation of records for records review, and review and/or preparation of the inspection plan. See “Inspection” section below for the specific activities. 

The following provides an overview of inspection duration and inspection aims for the CWC verification activities.  

Schedule 1 inspections 

No maximum duration for an initial inspection is specified. The duration and frequency of routine inspections will be identified in the Facility Agreement. 

During initial and routine inspections, inspectors will verify: 

• The facility is not used to produce Schedule 1 chemicals other than those that are declared.
• The quantities of Schedule 1 chemicals produced, processed or consumed are correctly declared and consistent with needs for the declared purpose.
• The Schedule 1 chemical(s) is not diverted or used for other purposes.
• A risk assessment based on the facility's risk to the object and purpose of the Convention. 
   

Schedule 2 inspections 

The maximum duration of initial and routine inspections will be 96 hours unless extended by the Host Team in consultation with the plant site.  

During the inspections, inspectors will verify: 

• The absence of any Schedule 1 chemicals, especially production.
• Consistency with declared levels of production, processing or consumption of Schedule 2 chemicals.
• Non-diversion of Schedule 2 chemicals for activities prohibited under the Convention.
• Accuracy of your data in your declaration.
   

Schedule 3 and UDOC inspections 

The maximum duration of routine inspections will be 24 hours unless extended by the Host Team in consultation with the site.  

During the inspection, the OPCW inspectors will verify: 

• Activities are consistent with the information provided in the declarations for the plant site.
• The absence of any Schedule 1 chemical, especially its production. 

The following provides the general outlines of the inspection activities once the Inspection Team arrives at the site. 

• Facility provides PIB to Inspection Team - Maximum 3 hours (not included in inspection time)
• Discussion of inspection plan
• Inspection officially commences
• General tour of plant site ("windshield tour") to include access to common infrastructures (laboratory, utilities, warehouse, waste treatment, etc.)
• Physical inspection of the plant(s) could include:
  • areas where feed chemicals are delivered or stored
  • areas where processes are performed
  • follow process lines
  • external aspects of reaction vessels and other process equipment
  • control equipment
  • areas for waste handling
  • areas for disposition of off-spec chemicals
  • production logs
• Records review could include:
  • Official documents to verify ownership, address, plant site name (ISO, business license, permits, tax, etc.)
  • Production, processing, consumption records
  • Type of chemicals used on site to verify the declared Product Group   Code(s)
  • Material movement (receiving, consuming at the units and transfer off-site
  • Inventory records
  • Sample analysis result
• Inspection activities completed
• Preliminary Factual Findings presented to the Host Team by the Inspection Team Facility representatives review and assist in clarifying questions raised in this document. 

Preliminary Findings (PF) 

After completion of inspection activities, the IT will present a draft of their PF report.  The HT, in consultation with facility representatives, will review the draft report for accuracy.  If inaccuracies are found the HT will discuss them with the IT Leader (ITL), suggesting modifications to the report as appropriate.  The IT will then complete the report and the HT and IT leaders will sign two copies, one for the HT (a copy will be provided to the facility representative) and one for the IT.  The OPCW will issue a Final Inspection Report to the U.S. National Authority at approximately 2 weeks after the IT’s return.  BIS will provide a copy of the final inspection report to the facility for record.  

Site Inspection Cost Report 

The facility is required to submit total costs related to the inspection to BIS within 90 days of the completion of the inspection (see Part 716.5 of the CWCR). These costs should include time spent by personnel to participate in the inspection, administrative and legal costs, impacts on production (if any), and any other costs directly related to the inspection. 

• Lessons learned from industry inspections
• Pre-Inspection Briefing (PIB)
• “Plant” and “Plant Site” Delineation

Annexes

Questions concerning Inspections should be directed to: 

Phone: (202) 482-1001 
 
Email: [email protected] 

Department of Commerce 
Bureau of Industry and Security 
Treaty Compliance Division 
14th St. & Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. 
Room 4515 
Washington, D.C. 20230