Routine Inspections and Inspection Hours: Paper 14

I. Introduction

The text of the Verification Annex (VA) of the Chemical Weapons Convention(CWC)
briefly touches on the time allocated to a routine inspection of an industrialfacility.
In Schedule 2 it states that: 'The period of inspection shall not last morethan 96
hours.... ' The inspection period for Schedule 3 is: '.... not last morethan 24 hours.... '
and when inspections are implemented for other chemical production facilitiesthe
inspection time is again 24 hours. In all cases there is the provision that'extensions may
be agreed between the inspection team and the inspected State Party. '

As required by Article VI, 'each State Party shall grant to the inspectorsaccess to
facilities as required in the Verification Annex' but there are specificrules that the
inspectorate must follow in the manner in which they conduct an inspection.In particular,
'The activities of the inspection team shall be so arranged in a way asto ensure the timely
and effective discharge of its functions and the least possible inconvenienceto the
inspected State Party or to the facility or area inspected. '

It would be pertinent to consider and agree on the meaning of a 96 hourinspection and
a 24 hour inspection given that such inspections must be carried out ina way that
inconveniences to the plant site to the smallest extent possible, i. e.,the inspection must
complete its in- plant activities in as short period as practical and sopresumably within
normal working hours of a chemical plant. It is likely that, due to thenature of the
production activities, a chemical plant will either operate:

- continuously; or
- a working day of say ten hours.

It is also likely that small volume chemicals will be produced, processedor consumed
in a non- continuous batch process as business circumstances require.

Any inspection scenario requires the presence of the national escorts anda designated
senior member of the plant's management team who can instruct plant workersto carry
out the instructions of the international inspectors after it is agreedthat the tasks are
necessary to the conduct of the inspection.

It then becomes necessary to agree on the actual elapsed time that an inspectionteam
may spend at an industrial site assuming that the inspection becomes morecomplex than
anticipated.

If we assume that 96 hours means that there are four working days that theteam can
spend on the facility grounds, then this means that the team will be restrictedto the
normal working day of that facility. If we have a ten hour day where seniormanager are
available then the inspectors will have access to the plant for 4 workingdays x 10 hours
or 40 hours in a so- called 96 hour inspection and for 10 hours for thecorresponding 24
hour inspection.

In addition to the requirements of the CWC industrial facilities are governedby a
number of legislative acts relating to health, safety and environment. Theseacts and
regulations often limit the hours that any individual can work and wherethey must work
as teams. In the case of Schedule 2 facilities it is likely that the extentof a working day
can be agreed upon and the actual access needs of the inspection team butin the
potentially intense 24 hour inspection, particularly where there is no previousexperience
of an OPCW inspection nor a concluded Facility Agreement, the question ofavailable
time for an inspection becomes very important.

It is more than obvious that for Schedule 3 and DOC facilities, in the absenceof a
Facility Agreement, the PrepCom must find an agreed and workable solutionfor this
problem.

Inspection hours and national implementing legislation

It goes without saying that the national regulations regarding inspectionhours must
comply with the respective regulations of the CWC. However, any uncertaintiesabout
the understanding of the inspection hour regulations in the CWC may causeas well a
problem at the national level.

If we assume that the understanding of inspection hours for a Schedule 2facility are
meant to be continuous this would, at least in principle, require that inspectionteam must
be given access to a site at any time during the in- country period if sorequested by the
inspection team. This would mean that an inspection team could also requestaccess
outside the regular business and working hours, i. e. during hours wheresenior
management personnel will be available. However, it must be stated thatinspection
scenarios currently developed within the PTS envisage relatively short periodsof on- site
inspection hours in Schedule 2 facilities and that inspections normallywould take place
during regular business and working hours. However, from the perspectiveof future
OPCW inspectors the CWC imposes no restrictions in this respect. The onlyrestriction
follows from the overall obligation to conduct inspections in a timely andeffective
manner and to minimize the inconveniences for the inspected State Partyor facility to the
extent possible.

In this context it is interesting to note that the German ImplementationAct explicitely
restricts the conduct of routine inspections to 'regular business and workinghours'. The
way the terms is used implies that this will require the availability ofsenior management
personnel. Thus, under this regulation inspections would be possible atleast during 10-12
hours per day. Thus, under the Act an inspected facility could reject accessto a facility
outside these hours. If we assume that the above stated interpretation ofthe rules of the
CWC is correct, it becomes apparent that there could arise a conflict betweenthe national
regulations and those of the CWC. Finally, it should be mentioned that withregard to the
CFE treaty Germany made a reservation that inspections could only take placeduring
regular working and business hours.