Get CWC Forms: Pp. 37-54

Category 1: chemical weapons based on Schedule 1 chemicals, including VX and sarin. (See below for an explanation of “scheduled” chemicals.) Category 2: chemical weapons based on non-Schedule 1 chemicals, such as phosgene.

BIS administers the industry compliance program for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), an international treaty that bans the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons among its signatories and provides for an extensive verification regime to ensure adherence to its terms.

Schedule 1 lists chemicals considered to pose a high risk to the object and purpose of the Convention by virtue of their high potential for use in activities prohibited by the CWC. These chemicals have little or no use for peaceful purposes in commercial or industrial activities.

Guidelines for Schedule 3 It poses a risk to the object and purpose of the Convention by virtue of its importance in the production of one or more chemicals listed in Schedule 1 or Schedule 2, part B; It may be produced in large commercial quantities for purposes not prohibited under the Convention.

Schedule 1 is divided into Part A substances, which are chemicals that can be used directly as weapons, and Part B which are precursors useful in the manufacture of chemical weapons. Examples are mustard and nerve agents, and substances which are solely used as precursor chemicals in their manufacture.

Today, sulfur-based and nitrogen-based mustard agents are regulated under Schedule 1 of the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, as substances with few uses other than in chemical warfare (though since then, mustard gas has been found to be useful in cancer chemotherapy).

Category 1: chemical weapons based on Schedule 1 chemicals, including VX and sarin. (See below for an explanation of “scheduled” chemicals.) Category 2: chemical weapons based on non-Schedule 1 chemicals, such as phosgene.

Schedule 2 lists toxic chemicals and precursors – not listed in Schedule 1 – that are deemed to pose a significant risk to be used as a chemical weapon, or may be important for the production of any of the chemicals listed in Schedule 1.