Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act

An Act to implement the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows: Short title This Act may be cited as the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act. Definitions In this Act, Convention means the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, signed at Paris, France on January 13, 1993, as amended from time to time pursuant to Article XV of the Convention; (Convention) international inspector means a person who holds a certificate issued by the Minister under section 12; (inspecteur international) Minister means such member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada as may be designated by the Governor in Council to be the Minister for the purposes of this Act; (ministre) National Authority means the portion of the federal public administration designated as the National Authority for Canada under subsection 3(1); (autorité nationale) place includes any means of transport; (lieu) prescribed means prescribed by the regulations; (Version anglaise seulement) representative of the National Authority means a representative of the National Authority designated under subsection 3(2). (représentant de l’autorité nationale) Other words and expressions Unless the context otherwise requires, all words and expressions used in this Act have the same meaning as in the Convention. [Repealed, 2024, c. 14, s. 1] National Authority For the purposes of implementing Canada’s obligations under the Convention and of giving effect to paragraph 4 of Article VII of the Convention, the Minister may designate any portion of the federal public administration to be the National Authority for Canada. Representatives For the purposes of implementing Canada’s obligations under the Convention, the Minister may designate persons or classes of persons to act as representatives of the National Authority; and shall furnish every representative of the National Authority with a certificate of designation. Contents of certificate A certificate of designation must indicate the places or classes of places that the holder of the certificate is authorized to have access to for the purposes of this Act and any conditions applicable to the holder’s activities under the certificate that the Minister considers advisable for those purposes. Identification required Every holder of a certificate of designation shall, on request of the person in charge of a place to be entered by the holder under this Act, show the certificate to that person. Implementation of Convention The purpose of this Act is to implement Canada’s obligations under the Convention. Binding on Her Majesty This Act is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province. Chemical weapons No person shall develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile or retain a chemical weapon, or transfer, directly or indirectly, a chemical weapon to anyone; use a chemical weapon; engage in any military preparations to use a chemical weapon; or assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under the Convention. Riot control agents No person shall use a riot control agent as a method of warfare. Schedule 1 toxic chemicals and precursors Except as authorized by or pursuant to any regulations made under paragraph 18(a), no person shall produce, use, acquire or possess a toxic chemical or precursor listed in Schedule 1 of the Schedules of Chemicals set out in the Annex on Chemicals in the Convention. Export or import Except as authorized under the Export and Import Permits Act, no person shall export or import a toxic chemical or precursor listed in Schedule 1 of the Schedules of Chemicals set out in the Annex on Chemicals in the Convention. Schedule 2 toxic chemicals and precursors Except as authorized under the Export and Import Permits Act, no person shall export or import a toxic chemical or precursor listed in Schedule 2 of the Schedules of Chemicals set out in the Annex on Chemicals in the Convention. Schedule 3 toxic chemicals and precursors Except as authorized under the Export and Import Permits Act, no person shall export or import a toxic chemical or precursor listed in Schedule 3 of the Schedules of Chemicals set out in the Annex on Chemicals in the Convention. Information and documents Every person who does anything under an authorization referred to in section 8 or who produces, processes, consumes, exports or imports a toxic chemical or precursor listed in Schedule 2 of the Schedules of Chemicals set out in the Annex on Chemicals in the Convention or who produces, exports or imports a toxic chemical or precursor listed in Schedule 3 of the Schedules of Chemicals set out in that Annex or who produces a discrete organic chemical or who holds a riot control agent for riot control purposes shall provide the prescribed information, at the prescribed time and in the prescribed form, to the National Authority or to such other portion of the federal public administration as the Minister may by order authorize to collect the information; and keep and maintain the prescribed documents in Canada, at the person’s place of business or at such other place as may be designated by the Minister, in the prescribed manner and for the prescribed period and, on request by the Minister or the National Authority, provide the documents to the National Authority. International inspectors The Minister shall issue to every person who is a member of an inspection team of the Technical Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons that has been authorized under the Convention to conduct on behalf of the Organization inspections in Canada a certificate identifying the person by name and indicating the person’s status and authority to conduct inspections in Canada; specifying the privileges and immunities applicable to the person; and setting out such other information and any conditions applicable to the person’s inspection activities in Canada as the Minister considers advisable. Every international inspector shall, on request of the person in charge of a place to be inspected by the international inspector, show the certificate to that person. Inspections Subject to this Act, an international inspector may, at any reasonable time and consistent with the provisions of the Convention, enter any place in Canada in respect of which information has been provided under section 11, that is subject to an on-site challenge inspection referred to in paragraph 8 of Article IX of the Convention, or in respect of which an investigation under paragraph 9 of Article X of the Convention has been initiated; inspect the place in a manner consistent with the provisions of the Convention and any facility agreement applicable to the place; and where appropriate, install, use and maintain in respect of any such place monitoring instruments, systems and seals in a manner consistent with the provisions of the Convention and any facility agreement applicable to the place. Inspector may be accompanied While carrying out a challenge inspection, an international inspector may be accompanied by an observer for the purposes of giving effect to paragraph 12 of Article IX of the Convention. National Authority representative powers in relation to inspection In order to facilitate the conduct of an inspection under section 13, a representative of the National Authority may accompany an international inspector and may direct any person who is in control of the place being inspected to provide the international inspector with access to any area, container or thing in the place being inspected; permit the international inspector to examine any thing in the place being inspected; permit the international inspector to make copies of any information contained in the records, files, papers or electronic information systems kept or used in relation to the place being inspected and to remove the copies from the place; permit the international inspector to have photographs taken of any thing in the place being inspected and to remove the photographs from the place; permit the international inspector to interview any person in the place being inspected; and take or permit the international inspector to take samples for analysis of any thing in the place being inspected and permit the international inspector to remove the samples for analysis outside the place. Direction to be complied with Every person to whom a direction is given under subsection (1) shall comply with the direction. False statements, obstruction While an international inspector is conducting an inspection under this Act, no person shall knowingly make any false or misleading statement to the inspector or to the representative of the National Authority accompanying the inspector in relation to the place or thing being inspected; or wilfully obstruct the inspection, by act or omission. Direction not statutory instrument A direction under subsection (1) is not a statutory instrument for the purposes of the Statutory Instruments Act. Warrant required where refusal of entry A representative of the National Authority or an international inspector may not enter a place referred to in section 13 without the consent of the person who is in control of the place except under the authority of a warrant issued under subsection (2). Authority to issue warrant Where, on ex parte application, a justice is satisfied by information on oath that a place referred to in section 13 meets the conditions for entry described in that section, entry to the place is necessary for any purpose relating to the administration of this Act or the regulations, and entry to the place has been refused or there are reasonable grounds to believe that entry will be refused, the justice may issue a warrant authorizing the representative of the National Authority and the international inspector named in it to enter the place for the purposes of the inspection referred to in section 13, subject to such conditions as may be specified in the warrant. When warrant not required A warrant authorizing entry into a place referred to in section 13 is not required if the conditions for obtaining the warrant exist but, by reason of exigent circumstances, it would not be practicable to obtain the warrant. Use of force In executing a warrant issued under subsection (2), a representative of the National Authority or an international inspector shall not use force unless the representative or inspector is accompanied by a peace officer and the use of force is specifically authorized in the warrant. Notice for disclosure of information The Minister may send a notice to any person who the Minister believes on reasonable grounds has information or documents relevant to the enforcement of this Act, requesting the person to provide the information or documents to the Minister. Compliance with notice A person who receives a notice referred to in subsection (1) shall provide the requested information and documents to the Minister in the form and within the time specified in the notice. Privileged information Information and documents obtained pursuant to this Act or the Convention are privileged. Exception Information and documents are not privileged to the extent that they are required to be disclosed or communicated for the purposes of an emergency involving public safety. Prohibition No person in possession of privileged information or documents shall knowingly, without the written consent of the person from whom they were obtained, communicate them or allow them to be communicated to any person, or allow any person to have access to them, except for the purpose of the enforcement of this Act or of giving effect to the Convention; pursuant to an obligation of the Government of Canada under the Convention; or in the case where the information or documents are disclosed in accordance with the Security of Canada Information Disclosure Act. Evidence in legal proceedings Notwithstanding any other Act or law, no person shall be required, in connection with any legal proceedings, to produce any statement or other record containing privileged information or documents, or to give evidence relating to them, unless the proceedings relate to the enforcement of this Act. Regulations The Governor in Council may make regulations for carrying out and giving effect to the provisions of the Convention and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, may make regulations prescribing conditions under which activities referred to in subsection 8(1) may be carried on, providing for the issue, suspension and cancellation of licences governing the carrying on of any such activity and prescribing the fees or the manner of calculating the fees to be paid in respect of any such licence; respecting the procedures to be followed by representatives of the National Authority in exercising their functions under this Act; and prescribing anything that by this Act is to be prescribed. Publication required The Minister shall, as soon as practicable after any amendment to the Convention is made pursuant to Article XV of the Convention, cause a copy of the amendment to be published in the Canada Gazette. Punishment Every person who contravenes any provision of this Act is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding eighteen months, or to both; or on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding $500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or to both. Criminal Code provisions apply For greater certainty, the provisions of the Criminal Code apply for the purposes of enforcing this Act. Offence outside Canada Every individual who commits, outside Canada, an act or omission that would, if committed in Canada, be an offence under this Act, shall, if the individual is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, be deemed to have committed that act or omission in Canada. Forfeiture Where a person has been convicted of an offence under this Act, any thing seized by means of which or in respect of which the offence was committed is forfeited to Her Majesty in right of Canada and shall be disposed of as the Minister directs. Forfeiture with consent Where any thing has been seized by means of which or in respect of which an offence has been committed under this Act and the owner of the thing, or the person in whose possession the thing was at the time of seizure, consents in writing to its forfeiture, the thing is forfeited to Her Majesty in right of Canada and shall be disposed of as the Minister directs. Limitation period for summary conviction offences Proceedings by way of summary conviction may be instituted at any time within, but not later than, two years after the day on which the subject-matter of the proceedings arose. Continuing offence Where an offence under this Act is committed or continued on more than one day, the person who committed the offence is liable to be convicted for a separate offence for each day on which the offence is committed or continued. Venue A complaint or an information in respect of an offence under this Act may be dealt with by any competent court of criminal jurisdiction if the accused is resident or carrying on business within the territorial jurisdiction of that court, even though the subject-matter of the complaint or information did not arise in that territorial jurisdiction. Coming into force This Act or any provision of this Act comes into force on a day or days to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council. [Note: Act, other than section 8, in force January 1, 2001, see SI/2001-3; section 8 in force July 1, 2004, see SI/2004-71.]