Bills Digest No. 118 1997-98
Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Amendment Bill 1997
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced
and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have any
official legal status. Other sources should be consulted to determine the
subsequent official status of the Bill.
CONTENTS
Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Amendment Bill 1997
Date Introduced: 26 November 1997
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Foreign Affairs
Commencement: Royal Assent, except for certain items specified
in the Main Provisions section of this Digest which are to commence on
a day to be fixed by Proclamation. Such provision must commence not later
than six months after this Act receives the Royal Assent.
To make a number of changes designed to improve the administration of
the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 1994.
Australia signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) on 13 January
1993, ratified it on 6 May 1994, and implemented it by passing the Chemical
Weapons (Prohibition) Act 1994.The Chemical Weapons Convention Office
(CWCO) is a unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was
established on 15 February 1995 as Australia's national authority for
CWC implementation.The Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 1994 established
a system of permits and notifications which allows the CWCO to collect
information from chemical facility operators in Australia in order to
complete declarations required by the Convention.
For Australia, which does not have chemical weapons facilities or stocks
to destroy, the main focus of CWC verification is related to the production
and use of the chemicals listed in the Convention.Historically, parts
of the chemical industry have played a major role in chemical warfare
production programs.Industrial dye production factories supplied chlorine,
phosgene and mustard agents used during World War I.More recently, Iraq's
chemical warfare production used equipment originally designed for the
production of commercial pesticides.(1) The types of chemical processes
that are involved in the production of chemical warfare agents are also
very commonly employed in the production of a large number of legitimate
commercial chemicals.Within the commercial chemical industry, there are
many chemical plants which are not involved in the production of any of
the chemicals that have been used for chemical warfare purposes, but which
would be capable of producing at least some of them.
Monitoring of the chemical industry under the CWC has two main elements:
- declaration of activities involving certain chemicals, and the quantities
involved; and
- inspection, to verify that activities are consistent with declarations
and that facilities are not used for purposes prohibited by the CWC,
including the clandestine production of chemical warfare agents.
Approximately 100 Australian companies and organisations may be directly
affected by the routine requirements of the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition)
Act 1994.Around 20 hold permits under the Act, including companies
in the chemical, foam rubber and textile industries, as well as several
non-commercial organisations such as the Defence Science and Technology
Organisation (DSTO) facility at Maribyrnong in Victoria.(2)
The Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force on 29 April 1997.Up
until now the Chemical Weapons Convention Office has undertaken the preparatory
work required for Australia to meet its obligations when the Convention
entered into force, including:
- liaising with the chemical industry and other areas likely to be affected;
- identifying and gathering information on industrial chemical facilities;
- working with declarable facilities to prepare for the possibility
of inspection by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons,
the international body established under the CWC; and
- putting into place regulatory, administrative and logistic mechanisms
to allow Australia to fulfil its CWC obligations.(3)
This Bill seeks to improve the operation of the Chemical Weapons
(Prohibition) Act 1994, based on experience gained in its initial
implementation, through simplifying administration of the Act and reducing
the administrative burden on companies and organisations directly affected.The
following changes are included in the Bill:
- replacement of the yearly permit cycle in the Act, so that permits
may be valid for up to five full calendar years.Provision for facility
operators to retain a permit beyond the year in which the permit activity
ceases or falls below threshold amounts;
- replacement of regulations with approved forms for submitting information
required for declarations of past year activities, and for any periodic
or special reports.The approved forms may be submitted electronically;
- amendment of the requirement for all notifiers to provide reports,
so that reports may not be required from certain classes of notifiers;
and
- amendment to the permit transfer provisions so that notification must
be given by the transferor.
The effect of Item 4 is to enable electronic lodgement of permit
applications, notifications or reports under the Act.
The effect of Item 13 is to provide for the automatic renewal
of permits up to a maximum of four times, making a one year permit valid
for up to five years.Item 16 requires the permit holder to notify
the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the ownership of the facility is to
be transferred.
Several amendments proposed by this Bill further clarify Australia's
obligations under the CWC.Item 5 enables regulations to be made
defining more precisely the meaning of the terms 'production', 'processing'
and 'consumption'.Item 6 enables regulations to be made setting
out details of the methods by which quantities of chemicals are to be
calculated for the purposes of the Act.The effect of this amendment is
to clarify the definition of those facilities which are subject to the
permit and notification requirements.
The effect of item 26 is to remove from the record keeping and
reporting obligations certain chemical facilities which produce hydrocarbons
and explosives in a manner to be specified by regulations (items 21
and 22 refer).Items 27 and 28 allow for the form and content
of reports which are submitted to be defined in an approved form, rather
than specified by regulations. Items 5 to 15, 17 to 22 and
24 to 29 inclusive are to commence on a day to be fixed by Proclamation
and not later than six months after this Act receives Royal Assent.
Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
(OPCW) may undertake routine compliance inspections of certain Australian
chemical facilities.The effect of items 30 to 51 is to clarify
when an international compliance inspection may take place and the respective
roles of the international and national inspectors.
Item 59 enables regulations to be made prescribing the diplomatic
privileges and immunities to be provided to certain persons under the
Chemical Weapons Convention.Australia's obligations to provide privileges
and immunities are spelt out in its agreement with the OPCW.Most of the
privileges and immunities required by that Agreement can be effected through
regulations made under the International Organisations (Privileges
and Immunities) Act 1963.The purpose of item 59 is to
allow regulations to be made to deal with cases where the coverage of
that Act is not sufficient.Items 45, 48 to 50 and 55 to 59 inclusive
are to commence on a day to be fixed by Proclamation and not later than
six months after this Act receives the Royal Assent.
- Office of the Secretary of Defense (U.S.), Proliferation: threat
and response, April 1996, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington,
1996: 20–21.
- Chemical Weapons Convention Office, Annual report 1996-1997,
AGPS, Canberra, 1997: 49.
- ibid.: 5.
Rosemary Bell
4 December 1997
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 1997
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 1997
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