BIS Final Rule Amends CWC Regulations on Certain Inspections, Recordkeeping Requirements, Increases Maximum Penalty for Certain Violations, Etc.

(According to BIS, the CWCR include requirements to declare certain activities, involving scheduled chemicals and UDOCs, and to provide access for on-site verification by international inspectors of certain declared facilities in the U.S.)

Final Rule Revisions to CWCR Inspection, Recordkeeping, Penalty Requirements

Highlights of the revisions made by the final rule to the CWCR include the following:

Increase of maximum civil penalty for Schedule 1 and 2 violations to $50,000. BIS' final rule amends the enforcement provisions of the CWCR to increase the maximum civil penalty that may be imposed for violations of the CWCR restrictions on imports of CWC Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 chemicals from $11,000 to $50,000 to reflect amendments to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) made by the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005, which was enacted on March 9, 2006.

Allowance of Change in Inspection Status Form for "declared plant" sites, etc. According to BIS, this final rule revises the annual declaration requirements for UDOCs to allow a "declared" plant site currently subject to inspection, which anticipates that its production of UDOCs during the current calendar year will be below the inspection threshold level indicated in the CWCR, to submit a Change in Inspection Status Form to BIS by December 15th of the current calendar year.

Allowance of Annual Declaration on Past Activities for certain plants producing PSF chemicals, etc.BIS states that any UDOC "declared" plant site containing at least one plant that anticipates producing an individual PSF chemical (i.e., a UDOC containing the elements phosphorus, sulfur or fluorine) in quantities that exceed the declaration threshold for such chemicals will have the option of submitting its Annual Declaration on Past Activities, in lieu of a Change in Inspection Status Form, by December 15th of the current calendar year. Otherwise, the CWCR require that the Annual Declaration on Past Activities be submitted by February 28th of the following year.

(According to BIS, the information provided as a result of this change, among other things, will ensure that the plant site is not subject to inspection during the first 90 days of the next calendar year (i.e., the year after the UDOC activities took place), which is the period when the U.S. compiles its annual declaration on past activities for submission to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).)

Requirement of facility calendar year records even if past activities declaration not submitted. BIS is revising the CWCR records review provisions to clarify that a facility must provide the OPCW Inspection Team with access to all supporting materials and documentation used by the facility to prepare declarations and to otherwise comply with the CWCR, including records related to activities that have taken place at the facility since the beginning of the previous calendar year (i.e., up to and including the date of the inspection), even if the facility has not submitted its current year Annual Declaration on Past Activities to BIS at the time the inspection takes place.

Requirement of all supporting documentation associated with declared chemicals, etc. BIS' final rule also revises the CWCR records review and recordkeeping requirements to clarify that the types of records that are subject to these requirements include all supporting materials and documentation associated with the movement into, around, and from the facility of declared chemicals and their feedstock or any product chemicals formed from such chemicals and feedstock.

Update of list of States Parties to CWC. BIS' final rule updates the list of countries that currently are States Parties to the CWC by adding the Central African Republic and Comoros, which recently became States Parties, and by replacing the listing for Serbia and Montenegro with a separate listing for each country.

BIS final rule (D/N 060831231-7030-02, FR Pub 03/28/07) available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/E7-5594.pdf