The non-proliferation of chemical weapons and their precursors is one of the fundamental aspects of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Each State Party must adopt the necessary measures to ensure that toxic chemicals and their precursors are only developed, produced, otherwise acquired, retained, transferred, or used within its territory, or in any other place under its jurisdiction or control, for purposes not prohibited under the Convention. To certify that activities are in accordance with this obligation, CWC States Parties are required to subject certain toxic chemicals and their precursors to the verification measures prescribed by the Convention.
The verification process is intended to serve as a confidence-building measure that each State Party is meeting its obligations under the Convention, and to act as a deterrent against any intention to contravene the Convention's provisions. This process involves the submission of declarations in relation to specified activities taking place in facilities on the territory of the State Party and, where the quantities involved dictate, on-site inspections by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) at declared facilities.
If you submit Annual Anticipated and/or Annual Past declarations to the CWC UK National Authority you may be selected for inspection by the OPCW if you anticipated or have produced, processed and/or consumed any scheduled or DOC chemicals above the prescribed quantities shown below. Inspections are not carried out at sites solely submitting Aggregate National Data declarations.
The CWC UK National Authority has facilitated, on average, eight OPCW inspections at declared industry facilities in the UK per year since the Convention entered into force in April 1997. It is a credit to the chemical industry that all inspections have been accomplished in the spirit of full and friendly cooperation, which has helped to demonstrate the UK’s compliance with its obligations under the Convention.
The guidance is intended for Schedule 2, Schedule 3 and Discrete Organic Chemical industrial facilities in the UK that submit Annual Anticipated and/or Annual Past declarations where the quantities involved are subject to verification by the OPCW. The information provided will be of assistance in planning and preparing for an inspection.
Information on licensing, declaration and inspection requirements for Schedule 1 chemicals is provided on the Schedule 1 chemicals web page.