UK chemicals maker trains Iraqi weapons inspectors
23 Nov 2009
Knowsley, UK - A team of 10 Iraqi delegates have visited Contract Chemicals Ltd’s Knowsley site as part of their training to carry out inspections of chemical facilities under procedures set out by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), according to a report on the Chemicals NorthWest website.
Iraq is now a party to the CWC, which came into force in 1997. The arms-control treaty is the first to introduce a verifiable ban on an entire class of weapons of mass destruction and is administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), based in The Hague.
Working in conjunction with UK National Authority (part of DECC), MOD and US officials, CCL set up a mock challenge inspection which simulated how inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons would carry out an actual inspection. An inspector from OPCW advised on the procedures.
“The delegation clearly seemed to benefit from inspecting a real, live chemical plant. It was also a learning experience for our employees,” said Steve Ockleshaw, CCL’s health, safety and environment manager led the company part of the inspection.
Many chemical companies are required to make declarations on their products, processes and plant under the CWC and are subject to inspections to verify that activities are consistent with the information provided in declarations.
Merseyside fine chemicals company CCL produces intermediates for the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and personal care industries. The company does not produce chemical weapons: its links to the CWC stemming from group managing director Dr Tony Bastock, who is chair of the UK National Authority Advisory Committee on Chemical Weapons.
The CWC aims to eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction by prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons by States Parties. Under its ‘challenge inspection’ approach, any ‘state party’ can request a CWC inspection to investigate another ‘state party’s’ compliance on an ‘any time, anywhere’ inspections with no right of refusal.
DECC, as the UK CWC National Authority, is responsible for implementing the CWC throughout the UK, the Crown Dependencies and the Overseas Territories. Our powers to do this are contained in the Chemical Weapons Act 1996.
Under the CWC, a state party must submit detailed declarations on particular activities involving certain chemicals, and these declarations are subject to verification by OPCW inspectors. The UK’s export and import licensing procedures control the trade in those chemicals covered by the CWC.
