Sponsored Content by ScitegrityReviewed by Olivia FrostJun 6 2024
A dual-use chemical is a substance that may have legitimate commercial or industrial applications but can also be used to produce weapons or illicit drugs. These chemicals range from widely used industrial solvents to advanced precursors for chemical weapons.
Dual-use chemicals require careful oversight to prevent misuse, and proper regulation of these chemicals is a core aspect of international security and efforts to prevent the non-proliferation of weapons.
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International frameworks and agreements
The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) remains one of the main international treaties governing the regulation of dual-use chemicals. This framework came into force in 1997 and is administered and overseen by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The CWC prohibits the acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer, development, production, or use of chemical weapons. Member states must declare and monitor any facility producing a range of specific chemicals and must establish national authorities to implement the treaty's provisions.
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) ‘red list’ informs most countries’ drug precursor regulations, placing controls or reporting requirements on many of the common chemicals used in illicit drug production, such as acetone and hydrochloric acid.
National legislation
Countries are mandated to adopt comprehensive legislation and a range of stringent regulatory measures to effectively control dual-use chemicals. Systems for the import, export, and transfer of these substances must be licensed to manage and monitor this.
National regulations generally organize chemicals into distinct schedules based on their potential for legitimate and illicit use. Schedule 1 chemicals are typically the most tightly controlled.
A range of national laws tend to take these international frameworks and expand upon them, and governments will also undertake regular audits and inspections of both chemical producers and users under their jurisdiction to ensure compliance.
Many countries’ Strategic Export control regulations (such as the United States’ CCL and ITAR) also list chemicals used in, or as, propellants or explosives. Specific ‘human rights’ lists may also regulate chemicals within the European Union and the United Kingdom. These chemicals are tightly regulated, restricting or banning their export to many countries.
Challenges and compliance
Ensuring effective compliance with these regulations is challenging. One key issue is the sheer number of chemicals that are regulated and their widespread use in various industries. Monitoring and enforcing such a large number of chemicals is complex and time-consuming.
Much of this difficulty stems from the ‘lists’ of dual-use chemicals. Most dual-use chemicals are not explicitly named on these lists, either by the chemical’s name or its CAS number. Instead, they are documented in complex and difficult-to-understand areas of controlled ‘chemical spaces,’ which typically include chemicals similar in composition to the examples provided.
Regulatory efforts are further complicated by the rapid advancement of chemical synthesis and production technologies. New chemicals are continuously emerging, which must be checked against dual-use regulations.
When a chemical has been properly identified as dual-use, it can continue to be used, but the user is responsible for annual reporting and tracking of its usage to the relevant authorities.
Conclusion
The initial identification of a chemical as dual-use remains the most challenging aspect of this process. To help streamline and ease this process, Scitegrity has developed the Controlled Substances Squared software and website platform in collaboration with several major chemical and pharmaceutical companies.
The system accommodates a wide range of dual-use legislation, allowing users to check the named substances and flag these as dual-use where appropriate by querying the appropriate ‘chemical space.’
Users can upload a list of their chemicals, and the tool will automatically check each one to determine whether it is regulated as dual-use.
Image Credit: Scitegrity
Acknowledgments
Produced from materials originally authored by Joe Bradley from Scitegrity Limited.
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