BNACWC Bangladesh National Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention BNACWC

BNACWC

BNACWC is the prime implementing body of the CWC in Bangladesh. Bangladesh signed the CWC on 14 January 1993 and ratified the Convention on 25 April 1997. The Armed Forces Division (AFD) was given responsibility to organize, coordinate and execute the role of National Authority in December 1997. To implement the CWC and fulfill the obligations under the Convention, Government of Bangladesh has enacted the "Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act, 2006" on 24 September 2006, through which "Bangladesh National Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention (BNACWC)" was formed. The Principal Staff Officer (PSO) of AFD is the Chairman of BNACWC. It consists of total 17 members at the status of minimum Joint Secretary and equivalent level from eight ministries, three military services, and other five chemistry, commerce, and customs related organizations. Executive Cell of BNACWC has dedicated officers and men to coordinate the affairs of BNACWC. The office of the BNACWC is located at the premises of the AFD in Dhaka Cantonment.

OPCW

The OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) is an independent, autonomous international organization with a working relationship to the United Nations. It is the apex implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The headquarters of OPCW is located in the Hague, Netherlands. As of today, OPCW has 193 Member States, who are working together to implement the CWC globally. The mission of the OPCW is to implement the provisions of the CWC in order to achieve their vision for a world free of Chemical Weapons and of the threat of their use. As of 30 June 2019, 97.08% of the worlds declared chemical weapons have been verifiably destroyed. OPCW was awarded with the coveted Nobel Peace Prize in 2013 for its extensive efforts in making a chemical weapons-free world.

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Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)

CWC is an arms control agreement. The convention outlaws the production, stockpiling, transfer and use of chemical weapons. The convention was adopted on 03 September 1992 in Geneva and opened for signature in Paris on 13 January 1993. For making a world free of Chemical Weapons and using chemicals only for peace, progress, and prosperity, CWC entered into force on 29 April 1997. Summary of the conventions are:

All member states must destroy all Chemical Weapons and related production facilities.
Member states can produce/use toxic chemicals for peaceful purpose only.
Every member state should have National Authority to implement the CWC at the national level.
All member states must have necessary legislations for implementation of the CWC.

Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act - 2006

The Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act, 2006 was approved by the Parliament of Bangladesh and published on 24 September 2006 on Gazette. It is the 37 no law of the year 2006. It has total of 08 chapters, 49 articles and a chart of three types of schedule chemicals. It lays out the comprehensive procedure to implement CWC in Bangladesh including necessary laws, penalty, and punishment. Summary of the act are:

Development, production, stockpiling, transfer, use, engagement in military preparation, assisting or encouraging for using chemical weapons are strictly prohibited but one can use toxic chemicals for a permitted purpose (Article-5).
Every person or industry dealing with Schedule Chemicals, Discrete Organic Chemicals (DOC) and DOC containing an element of Phosphorous, Sulphur or Fluorine (PSF) must be enrolled with the National Authority (Article-10).
Any person who deals with Schedule Chemicals, DOC and DOC containing PSF is bound to supply necessary information and documents within the prescribed form and time to the National Authority (Article-20).
Any person who commits an offense by contravenes of Article-5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 20 and 21, shall be liable to be sentenced to certain term of imprisonment or to a fine. The offense under this act is non-bail able and cognizable (Article-31 to 40).

Schedule Chemicals

Chemicals are the inevitable ingredients of modern industrialization. Almost all industries are related to chemicals throughout the world in many ways. A huge amount of chemicals is used for development and peaceful purpose worldwide. On the other hand, it can cause disaster by using its toxic properties when used inappropriately. The OPCW has divided toxic chemicals and their precursors into three categories based on the intensity of their toxic properties. These three types are:

Schedule-1 Chemicals: Most toxic
Schedule-2 Chemicals: More toxic
Schedule-3 Chemicals: Less toxic

Each category can be further divided into two sub categories: category A and category B. Where 'A' is for the main chemicals and 'B' is for the precursor.

According to the CWC, all activities related to schedule chemicals must be monitored and controlled by the concern State Party.

Schedule-1 Chemicals (Most toxic): It has very little use or no use for permitted purposes (agricultural, medical, protective purposes and research) other than as a chemical weapon, e.g. Sarin, Sulfur mustards, Soman, Nitrogen mustards, Tabun, Ricin, etc. State Parties must declare to the OPCW if they have any amount of Schedule-1 chemicals.

Schedule-2 Chemicals (More toxic): It has no large scale industrial uses. But it can be converted into Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs) or used as precursors to CWAs, e.g. Thiodiglycol, Dimethyl methyl phosphonate (DMMP), etc. States Parties must declare to the OPCW if the aggregate amount of Schedule-2 (A) chemicals is 100 kg and Schedule-2(B) chemicals are 1 tonne.,

Schedule-3 Chemicals (Less toxic): It is produced and used in large quantities for commercial purposes. But it can be converted into CWAs or used as precursors to such weapons e.g. Triethanolamine (C₆H₁₅NO₃), Phosgene (COCI₂), etc. The declarable aggregate amount of schedule-3 chemicals is 30 tonnes.