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Glossary of Definitions and Commonly Used Terms

The following is a list of definition and terms which may appear in this website. They are extracted from the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons (Convention) Ordinance.

"Chemical Weapons" means -
  1. toxic chemicals and their precursors, except where the toxic chemicals and their precursors are -
    i. intended for purposes not prohibited under the Convention; and
    ii. in types and quantities consistent with those purposes;

  2. munitions and devices, specifically designed to cause death or other harm through the toxic properties of toxic chemicals -
    i. specified in paragraph (a); and
    ii. which would be released as a result of the employment of such munitions and devices; or

  3. any equipment specifically designed for use directly in connection with the employment of munitions and devices specified in paragraph (b).
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Customs and Excise and any Deputy or Assistant Commissioner of Customs and Excise.
"Consumption" of a chemical means its conversion into another chemical via a chemical reaction.
"Convention" means the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, signed at Paris on 13 January 1993, as in force from time to time.
"Declared facility"
means a Schedule 1, 2 or 3 facility or any other chemical production facility.
"Director" means the Director-General of Trade and Industry, any Deputy Director-General of Trade and Industry or any Assistant Director-General of Trade and Industry.
"Discrete Organic Chemical" means any chemical belonging to the class of chemical compounds consisting of all compounds of carbon except for its oxides, sulfides and metal carbonates; and identifiable by chemical name; structural formula, if known; and Chemical Abstracts Service registry number, if assigned.
"Document" in addition to a document in writing, includes -
  1. a disc, tape or other device in which data other than visual images are embodied so as to be capable, with or without the aid of some other equipment, of being reproduced from the disc, tape or other device; and
  2. a film, tape or other device in which visual images are embodied so as to be capable, with or without the aid of some other equipment, of being reproduced from the film, tape or other device.
"Facility" means any "plant site", "plant" or "unit":
  1. "Plant Site" means the local integration of one or more plants, with any intermediate administrative levels, which are under one operational control, including any -

    1. administration and other offices;

    2. repair and maintenance shops;

    3. medical centre;

    4. utilities;

    5. central analytical laboratory;

    6. research and development laboratories;

    7. central effluent and waste treatment area; and

    8. warehouse storage.

  2. "Plant" means a relatively self-contained area, structure or building containing one or more units with auxiliary and associated infrastructure, including any -

    1. small administrative section;

    2. storage or handling areas for feedstock and products;

    3. effluent or waste handling or treatment area;

    4. control or analytical laboratory;

    5. first aid service or related medical section and

    6. records associated with the movement into, around and from the area, of declared chemicals and their feedstock or product chemicals formed from them, as appropriate.

  3. "Unit" means the combination of those items of equipment, including vessels and vessel set up, necessary for the productions, processing or consumption of a chemical.
"IUPAC" stands for-

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
"OPCW" stands for-

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons which is an organization established by State Parties under the Chemical Weapons Convention to achieve the objective and purpose of the Convention and to ensure the implementation of its provisions.
"Operator" in relation to a facility -
  1. means the person or persons (whether an individual, a body corporate, or otherwise, or any combination thereof) having responsibility, as distinct from day-to-day management, in relation to operations carried on at the facility;

  2. includes the legal personal representative, administrator and other successor in title of any such person.
"Precursor" means -

any chemical reactant which takes part at any stage in the production by whatever method of a toxic chemical; and includes any key component of a binary or multicomponent chemical system.
"Processing" of a chemical means a physical process, such as formulation, extraction and purification, in which a chemical is not converted into another chemical.
"Production Capacity" means -

the annual quantitative potential for manufacturing a specific chemical based on the technological process actually used or, if the process if not yet operational, planned to be used at the relevant facility. It shall be deemed to be equal to the nameplate capacity or, if the nameplate capacity is not available, to the design capacity. The nameplate capacity is the product output under conditions optimized for maximum quantity for the production facility, as demonstrated by one or more test-runs. The design capacity is the corresponding theoretically calculated product output.
"Production" of a chemical means its formation through chemical reaction.
"PSF-chemical" refers to an unscheduled discrete organic chemical containing the elements phosphorus, sulfur or fluorine.
"Purposes Not Prohibited Under this Convention"
  1. industrial, agricultural, research, medical, pharmaceutical or other peaceful purposes;

  2. protective purposes, namely those purposes directly related to protection against toxic chemicals and to protection against chemical weapons;

  3. military purposes not connected with the use of chemical weapons and not dependent on the use of the toxic properties of chemicals as a method of warfare;

  4. law enforcement including domestic riot control purposes.
"Schedule 2 permit threshold" in relation to a Schedule 2 chemical, means -

  1. if the chemical is listed in Part A of Schedule 2 and designated with an "*", 1 kilogram;

  2. if the chemical is listed in Part A of Schedule 2 but is not designated with an "*", 100 kilograms;

  3. if the chemical is listed in Part B of Schedule 2, 1 tonne.
"Toxic Chemical" means -

any chemical which through its chemical action on life processes can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm to humans or animals, regardless of its origin or method of production; and whether it is produced in facilities, in munitions or elsewhere.
"Unscheduled Discrete Organic Chemical" means a discrete organic chemical not listed in Schedule 1, 2 or 3.
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Last Revision Date : 10 June 2020