A parliamentary committee has backed changes to the law that bans chemical weapons and controls toxic chemicals and their precursors. The economic policy, investment and industry committee of the National Assembly approved them at second reading. Under the changes, the papers needed to register the production, processing and use of chemicals will be set out in the law itself, not in a regulation.
The bill lists all the documents applicants must file. It also sets out how they can fix gaps in their applications. A registration certificate will be issued within 30 days. Any change to registration details must be declared within 14 days.
A refusal to register can be appealed under the Administrative Procedure Code.
The changes also create a public register. It will list the name and unique ID code of the registered person or company, the number, date and expiry of the certificate, and the date the registration ends.
The reason for the register is that chemicals, besides lawful peaceful uses, can also be used to develop, produce, stockpile and use chemical weapons.