By: ICN Bureau
Last updated : March 06, 2018 8:18 pm
The Hague-based Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently carried out inspections of two Indian chemical companies based in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
The Hague-based Organisation for Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently carried out inspections of two Indian chemical
companies based in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
According to sources in the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals (DCPC),
the OPCW carried out inspections of Gujarat Insecticides Ltd, Ankleshwar, which
is an OCP facility and Viswaat Chemical Limited, Thane, Maharashtra, a Schedule
3 facility under the Chemicals Weapons Convention (CWC).
Till November there have been 91 OPCW inspections including 16 in the first 11
months of 2011, the DCPC said.
To create awareness among the stakeholders on the obligations under CWC, and the
CWC Act and to improve the quality of declarations by the industry, a series of
awareness generation programmes were held last year at various locations in the
country with a concentration of chemical industry relevant to CWC.
In November 2010, two such programmes were held in Kolkata and Bangalore, which
were attended by senior representatives of the chemical industry and other
stakeholders.
The DCPC is responsible for submission of industry declarations, facilitation of
inspections by OPCW teams as also creating awareness in the industry about its
obligations under CWC.
According to the DCPC, no negative comments have been received so far from the
OPCW.
Certain toxic chemicals and their precursors are covered under the ambit of the
CWC, of which India is a signatory.
The facilities manufacturing such chemicals file declarations to DCPC for onward
submission to OPCW under the provisions of CWC Act, 2000. The declaration inter
alia contains plant site address, production, processing, consumption and import
and export data.