3 July 2009

Strategic Trade Controls Circular No. 10/2009

Chemical Weapons (Convention) Ordinance, Cap. 578
Anticipated Activities Involving Scheduled Chemicals in 2010

Purpose

This circular invites facilities which foresee that they would be engaged in specified activities involving Scheduled Chemicals controlled by the Chemical Weapons (Convention) Ordinance ("the Ordinance") in 2010 to report details of their anticipated activities to the Director-General of Trade and Industry ("the Director") by completing and returning the reply slip at Annex A ( pdf fillable format )on or before 16 July 2009.

Background

2. Strategic Trade Controls Circular No. 17/2004 issued by the Trade and Industry Department on 30 April 2004 informed the industry about the commencement of the Ordinance on 18 June 2004. The purpose of the Ordinance is to enable the Chemical Weapons Convention ("the Convention"), an international treaty that aims to prohibit the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer and use of chemical weapons, to be fully implemented in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Please refer to Strategic Trade Controls Circular No. 14/2003 of 6 August 2003 for an overview of the requirements under the Ordinance.

Permit and Reporting Requirements

3. In accordance with the Ordinance, operators of facilities are required to obtain permits from the Director if the facilities are engaged in specified activities involving Scheduled Chemicals in quantities over the respective thresholds. Permit holders are also required under the Ordinance to lodge annual reports with the Director on their anticipated activities involving Scheduled Chemicals for the coming calendar year before the end of the current year, and their past activities during the previous year at the beginning of the current year. The information so collected will be used to compile annual declarations for submission to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) which was established to implement the Convention. Please refer to Annex B ( pdf format ) for the activities and quantity thresholds that trigger the permit and annual reporting requirements and Annex C ( pdf format ) for the list of Scheduled Chemicals.

Reply Slip and Report on Anticipated Activities for 2010

4. The Department will send this circular to individual operators who may, according to our knowledge, be engaged in specified activities involving Scheduled Chemicals. Accordingly, operators who receive this circular by mail have to complete Parts I and III of the reply slip (at Annex A( pdf fillable format )) to indicate whether or not their facilities would be engaged in any specified activities involving Scheduled Chemicals in 2010 as set out in Annex B( pdf format ), which need to be reported. Please return the completed reply slip to us by fax (fax no. 2396 3070), by post or in person to Strategic Trade Controls Branch, Room 516B, Trade and Industry Department Tower, 700 Nathan Road, Mongkok, Kowloon on or before 16 July 2009. If operators are uncertain whether they need to report activities which will take place at their facilities in 2010, please provide relevant information by filling in Parts II and III of the reply slip and return it to us by 16 July 2009. We shall then assess and advise whether they are subject to the reporting requirements on the basis of the information provided.
   
   
5. Any operator who indicates in Part I of the reply slip that the facility will be engaged in specified activities involving Scheduled Chemicals in 2010, or indicates the same in the information provided in Part II of the reply slip, please complete the designated report forms on anticipated activities and return them to us by post or in person to the above address or via electronic means by 23 July 2009. For reports to be sent by electronic means, the operator should possess an organisational "e-Cert" issued by an approved Certification Authority, and send the report via email to cwc@tid.gov.hk. The designated forms to report anticipated activities can be downloaded from the Chemical Weapons (Convention) Ordinance Website at http://www.cwc.tid.gov.hk, or obtained from the Strategic Trade Controls Branch of the Department at the above address.
   
   
6. Operators who do not receive this circular by mail but believe that their facilities may be engaged in specified activities involving Scheduled Chemicals in 2010 are also welcome to provide details of the activities by completing and returning the reply slip at Annex A ( pdf fillable format ) in the same way as mentioned in paragraph 4 above.

Important Note

7. Facilities subject to the permit or reporting requirements should comply with checks and inspections by officers of the Customs and Excise Department ("C&ED"). These checks mainly aimed at verifying and ensuring the accuracy of the information related to the permits and the material particulars in any reports lodged with the Director. Facilities are therefore reminded to ensure that the information they provide in their returns is accurate. In addition to checks and inspections by C&ED officers, inspection teams of the OPCW may also conduct inspection of facilities in order to verify any information passed to it about the facilities. Operators of the facilities are required to provide all the requisite records for the checks and inspections and to render necessary assistance and cooperation to the officers concerned.

Warning

8. The Ordinance specifies the acts which contravene the Ordinance and the penalties for such offences. It is an offence under the Ordinance if a person who is required to have a permit to operate his facility operates it without such a permit. The maximum penalty, on conviction, is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for 5 years. The Ordinance also provides that the Director may, by notice in writing, require a person to give information or documents relevant to a declaration required to be given to the OPCW. Any person who fails to comply with such a notice issued commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for 1 year.
   
   
9. In addition to the penalties mentioned above, the Trade and Industry Department may take administrative actions against parties committing the above offences. Such administrative actions may involve, but shall not necessarily be confined to, any or all of the following: refusal to grant permits, suspension or revocation of permits, and refusal to issue licences for imports or exports of chemicals.

Enquiry

10. If you have any questions on the completion of the reply slip, the designated report forms on anticipated activities, or on the Ordinance itself, please contact Ms Rita MAN of the Department at telephone number 2398 5670 or by email at ritaman@tid.gov.hk.

Strategic Trade Controls Branch
Trade and Industry Department