Saturday 24 August 2013

chemicals manufacturers


An international treaty that had seemed unreal and remote until now, has suddenly rattled the chemical industry in India, especially Gujarat. In the last few months, the Central government has suspended the export licenses of four companies for violating the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) by selling restricted chemicals to Israel. It has also slapped a prohibitive Rs 20 lakh fine. Shockingly, two of these companies are from Gujarat, specifically Vadodara. Officials refused to divulge the names of the companies, saying it would be unfair, as the offences were minor and “would give a bad name to India”. chemical exporters Senior officials from New Delhi said that unless companies start adhering to the CWC, they could find themselves in deep trouble, as the Parliament has ratified the convention, making it an enforceable Act. “The chemicals that the four companies exported to Israel, fall under schedule II of the CWC. They are widely traded, but are listed in the CWC,” said joint secretary and director of the National Authority for CWC. He was in Vadodara on Thursday to attend an awareness programme organised by the Gujarat chapter of the Indian chemicals manufacturers Association (ICMA). “Although we know that these companies did not have bad intentions, they were penalised for violating the CWC by exporting to Israel.” The Jewish state is considered a non-state party, as it is yet to have the CWC ratified by its Parliament. ,chemical manufacturers directory , Gujarat has found special focus on the CWC radar as 60 per cent of the industry is located here. The National Authority has already drawn up a list of 525 companies from Gujarat that potentially need to make declarations under the CWC. Sources in ICMA say the number may be much higher given the plethora of small and medium companies in Gujarat. Officials complain that many of these companies have not made declarations despite being contacted repeatedly. The CWC is a universal, multilateral, disarmament treaty, which bans the development, production, acquisition, transfer, use and stockpile of all chemical weapons. The CWC Act, 2000 came into force on 1st July 2005. Sharma added that the violators have escaped with mild punishment. However, given the atmosphere today, any violation could lead to much higher penalties, even imprisonment

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