EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 1994
Instrument of Approval of Forms
Australia is a party to the Convention on the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction (the Convention) which entered into force generally, and for Australia, on 29 April 1997. Australia’s obligations under the Convention are implemented by the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act 1994 (the Act) and Regulations.
The Convention bans the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer and use of chemical weapons and provides for the destruction of all existing stocks of chemical weapons. The Convention also provides for the production and use of toxic chemicals and precursors for activities not prohibited under the Convention. Such chemicals may be produced or used for industrial, research, medical, pharmaceutical or protective purposes (for example, testing chemical detectors, respirator systems and protective clothing).
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), based in The Hague, is responsible for implementing the Convention, including compliance. The OPCW monitors the Convention’s verification regime through annual declarations provided by each State Party and periodic on-site inspections conducted by OPCW inspectors.
Section 8 of the Act provides for the Director General of the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office (ASNO) to approve, by a disallowable written instrument, forms to be used for the purposes of certain sections of the Act. This instrument is a legislative instrument for the purposes of section 6 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. The forms themselves are not considered to be legislative instruments. Sample forms have, however, been included with the instrument. A list of all the forms and their purpose is attached.
Amendments have been made to the format of all the forms (Forms 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1RA, 1RP, 2RA, 2RP, 3RA and 3RP) and to the substance of Form 4. Amendments to the format of the forms (minor and machinery in nature) are provided below:
- the new Government crest replaces the old one;
- reference to the section name has been removed and replaced with reference to the office, thereby replacing "The Chemical Weapons Convention Office (CWCO)" with "the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office (ASNO)", as per the Minister's notice in the Gazette, 12 May 2004, made under section 88(2) of the Act).
- a footer has been added to each page of each form which has ASNO's name, address, phone number and fax number, for ease of reference;
- minor formatting changes have been made to the alignment of text including changing the position from left justified to right justified; and
- several minor changes have been made to the national inspector card text and layout (Form 6) - including the use of the new Government crest, the title ASNO to replace CWCO, and ASNO’s address is provided for return of card.
A further minor amendment was made to the substance of Form 4. Industry has previously advised that the current form does not indicate whether gross or net quantities for production are required. The only change to Form 4 has been to include the text "100% by weight" on page 2 in tables under Sections C and D.
The above amendments to the forms have been assessed by the Office of Regulation Review as not requiring a Regulatory Impact Statement given that the proposed amendments do not have a direct or significant indirect impact on business and do not restrict competition. Due to the minor and non-substantive nature of the changes it was decided that further consultation with other agencies and industry was not required.
LIST OF FORMS AND THEIR PURPOSE
Form 1.1 – Permit application, renewal form or notification form to operate a protective purpose facility producing Schedule 1 chemicals.
Form 1.2 – Permit application, renewal form or notification form to operate a research facility producing Schedule 1 chemicals.
Form 1.3 – Permit application, renewal form or notification form to operate a consumption facility acquiring, retaining, using and/or transferring Schedule 1 chemicals.
Form 2 – Permit application, renewal form or notification form for the production, processing or consumption of Schedule 2 chemicals.
Form 3 – Permit application, renewal form or notification form for the production of Schedule 3 chemicals.
Form 4 – Notification of a facility producing Unscheduled Discrete Organic Chemicals
Form 5 – Application for transfer of a permit
Form 6 – National inspector identification card
Form 7 – Notification of transfer of a permit
Form 1RA – Report of anticipated activities for the production, acquisition, use or transfer of Schedule 1 chemicals as per the conditions of facility permit.
Form 1RP – Report of past activities for production, acquisition, use, storage or transfer of Schedule 1 chemicals as per the conditions of facility permit.
Form 2RA – Report of anticipated activities for the production, processing or consumption of Schedule 2 chemicals as per the conditions of facility permit.
Form 2RP – Report of past year activities for the production, processing or consumption of Schedule 2 chemicals as per the conditions of facility permit.
Form 3RA – Report of anticipated activities for the production of Schedule 3 chemicals as per the conditions of facility permit.
Form 3RP – Report of past year activities for the production of Schedule 3 chemicals as per the conditions of facility permit.