Section 18. Registration of person engaged in production, etc., of any Toxic Chemical or Precursor

CHAPTER IV REGISTRATION OF PERSONS AS PRODUCERS , USERS. ETC. 18. Registration of person engaged in production, etc., of any Toxic Chemical or Precursor. CHAPTER V INSPECTION, SEARCH, SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE 19. Power of Inspector to inspect any person or place. CHAPTER IV REGISTRATION OF PERSONS AS PRODUCERS, USERS, ETC. 18. Registration of persons engaged in production, etc., of any Toxic Chemical or Precursor. —(1)[2] [Subject to such exemptions and thresholds as may be prescribed, every person who is] engaged in the production, processing, acquisition, consumption, transfer, import, export or use of any Toxic Chemical or Precursor listed in any of the Schedules 1 to 3 in the Annex on Chemicals to the Convention or, engaged in the production of any Discrete Organic Chemical including Discrete Organic Chemicals containing elements of phosphorous, sulphur or fluorine shall make, within thirty days from the commencement of this Act, an application for registration of his name, as a producer, processor, acquirer, consumer, transferor, importer, exporter or user of any Toxic Chemical or Precursor or, as the case may be, as a producer of any Discrete Organic Chemicals including Discrete Organic Chemicals containing elements of phosphorous, sulphur or fluorine, to such registration authority as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify in this behalf. 1. Subs. by Act 36 of 2012, s. 3, for section 16 (w.e.f. 23-11-2012). 2. Subs. by s. 4, ibid., for "Every person who is" (w.e.f. 23-11-2012). (2)[1] [Subject to such exemptions and thresholds as may be prescribed, no person, who after the coming into force of this section], desires to produce, process, acquire, consume, transfer, import, export or use any Toxic Chemical or Precursor listed in any of the Schedules 1 to 3 in the Annex on Chemicals to the Convention or, desires to produce any Discrete Organic Chemical including Discrete Organic Chemicals containing elements of phosphorous, sulphur or fluorine, shall commence business unless such person has applied to the registration authority specified under sub-section (1) for registration of his name as a producer, processor, acquirer, consumer, transferor, importer, exporter or user of any Toxic Chemical or Precursor or, as the case may be, as a producer of any Discrete Organic Chemical including Discrete Organic Chemicals containing elements of phosphorous, sulphur or fluorine. (3) The form of application to be made to the registration authority under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), the particulars to be contained in such application form, the manner in which such application shall be made, the fee payable on such application, the form of certificate of registration, the procedure to be followed in granting or cancelling certificate of registration shall be such as may be prescribed. 18. Nothing in paragraphs 16 and 17 shall affect the obligation of a State Party to make declarations pursuant to Article III, this Article and Part V of the Verification Annex. (4) On receipt of the application referred to in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), the registration authority shall, if the application is in the prescribed form, register the name of the applicant and grant him a certificate of registration[2] [subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed]. (5) The certificate of registration granted in pursuance of this section shall be valid for a period specified therein and may be renewed from time to time for such further period and on payment of such fee as may be prescribed. 2[(6) Every person, to whom a certificate of registration is granted under sub-section (4), shall furnish to the Central Government periodically, or, as and when required, such information, declaration or return as may be prescribed.] 18. The Conference shall take decisions on questions of procedure by a simple majority of the members present and voting. Decisions on matters of substance should be taken as far as possible by consensus. If consensus is not attainable when an issue comes up for decision, the Chairman shall defer any vote for 24 hours and during this period of deferment shall make every effort to facilitate achievement of consensus, and shall report to the Conference before the end of this period. If consensus is not possible at the end of 24 hours, the Conference shall take the decision by a two-thirds majority of members present and voting unless specified otherwise in this Convention. When the issue arises as to whether the question is one of substance or not, that question shall be treated as a matter of substance unless otherwise decided by the Conference by the majority required for decisions on matters of substance. 18. The Director-General shall issue an inspection mandate for the conduct of the challenge inspection. The inspection mandate shall be the inspection request referred to in paragraphs 8 and 9 put into operational terms, and shall conform with the inspection request. 18. "Inspector" means an individual designated by the Technical Secretariat according to the procedures as set forth in Part II, Section A, of this Annex, to carry out an inspection or visit in accordance with this Convention. 18. If the Technical Secretariat considers that there are insufficient points of entry for the timely conduct of inspections or that changes to the points of entry proposed by a State Party would hamper such timely conduct of inspections, it shall enter into consultations with the State Party concerned to resolve the problem. 18. The inspected State Party shall be notified of initial inspections not less than 72 hours in advance of the estimated time of arrival of the inspection team at the point of entry. 18. For the destruction of binary chemical weapons the following shall apply: (a) For the purposes of the order of destruction, a declared quantity (in tonnes) of the key component intended for a specific toxic end-product shall be considered equivalent to the quantity (in tonnes) of this toxic end-product calculated on a stoichiometric basis assuming 100 per cent. yield; (b) A requirement to destroy a given quantity of the key component shall entail a requirement to destroy a corresponding quantity of the other component, calculated from the actual weight ratio of the components in the relevant type of binary chemical munition device; (c) If more of the other component is declared than is needed, based on the actual weight ratio between components, the excess shall be destroyed over the first two years after destruction operations begin; (d) At the end of each subsequent operational year a State Party may retain an amount of the other declared component that is determined on the basis of the actual weight ratio of the components in the relevant type of binary chemical munition device. 18. States Parties may conclude between themselves agreements or arrangements concerning the destruction of abandoned chemical weapons. The Executive Council may, upon request of the Territorial State Party, individually or together with the Abandoning State Party, decide that selected provisions of such agreements or arrangements take precedence over provisions of this Section, if it determines that the agreement or arrangement ensures the destruction of the abandoned chemical weapons in accordance with paragraph 17. 18. Measures pertaining to the temporary conversion of chemical weapons production facilities into chemical weapons destruction facilities shall ensure that the regime for the temporarily converted facilities is at least as stringent as the regime for chemical weapons production facilities that have not been converted. 18. Each State Party shall give advance notification to the Technical Secretariat of planned changes related to the initial declaration. The notification shall be submitted not less than 180 days before the changes are to take place. 18. With regard to frequency and intensity of subsequent inspections, inspectors shall during the initial inspection assess the risk to the object and purpose of this Convention posed by the relevant chemicals, the characteristics of the plant site and the nature of the activities carried out there, taking into account, inter alia , the following criteria: - (a) The toxicity of the scheduled chemicals and of the end-products produced with it, if any; - (b) The quantity of the scheduled chemicals typically stored at the inspected site; - (c) The quantity of feedstock chemicals for the scheduled chemicals typically stored at the - inspected site; - (d) The production capacity of the Schedule 2 plants; and (e) The capability and convertibility for initiating production, storage and filling of toxic chemicals at the inspected site. Inspections 18. In addition to agreed guidelines, other relevant provisions of this Annex and the Confidentiality Annex, paragraphs 19 to 25 below shall apply. 18. The inspection team may have access to records in situations in which the inspection team and the inspected State Party agree that such access will assist in achieving the objectives of the inspection. 18. If the alternative perimeter is acceptable to the inspection team, it shall become the final perimeter and the inspection team shall be transported from the point of entry to that perimeter. If the inspected State Party deems it necessary, such transportation may begin up to 12 hours before the expiry of the time period specified in paragraph 16 for proposing an alternative perimeter. Transportation shall, in any case, be completed not later than 36 hours after the arrival of the inspection team at the point of entry. 18. If duplicate samples cannot be taken and the analysis is performed at off-site laboratories, any remaining sample shall, if so requested, be returned to the inspected State Party after the completion of the analysis. Extension of inspection site 18. The Director-General shall establish necessary procedures to be followed in case of breaches or alleged breaches of confidentiality, taking into account recommendations to be considered and approved by the Conference pursuant to Article VIII, paragraph 21 (i).