Bill to amend Chemical Weapons Act gets Parl nod

Parliament on Thursday passed a bill that prohibits transfer of specified toxic chemicals from and to a country which is not party to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The Chemical Weapons Convention (Amendment) Bill was taken up for consideration and passing in the Lok Sabha as Opposition NDA raised slogans demanding resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over alleged irregularities in coal block allocation.

The Bill, part of India's international obligation, has already been cleared by the Rajya Sabha.

Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Srikant Jena moved the bill amid pandemonium.

The Chemical Weapons Convention Act does not allow any person to transfer or receive specified toxic chemicals from a person who is not a citizen of a State party.

The Bill amends the provision by prohibiting transfer from a State which is not party to the convention.

The Act allows the Centre to appoint officers of the national authority set up by the government to implement the convention to be enforcement officers.

The amendment seeks to widen its scope and confer upon the Central government the power also to appoint "any of its officers" as enforcement officer.

It also proposes exemption and threshold for registration of chemicals as may be prescribed by the government.

The government has incorporated some of the suggestions of the standing committee to which the Bill was referred after being introduced in the Upper House in April 2010.

India had signed the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction on January 14, 1993.