15 CFR § 716.4 - Scope and conduct of inspections.
(a) General. Each inspection shall be limited to the purposes described in § 716.2 of the CWCR and shall be conducted in the least intrusive manner, consistent with the effective and timely accomplishment of its purpose as provided in the Convention.
(b) Scope—(1) Description of inspections. During inspections, the Inspection Team:
(i) Will receive a pre-inspection briefing from facility representatives;
(ii) Will visually inspect the facilities or plants producing scheduled chemicals or UDOCs, which may include storage areas, feed lines, reaction vessels and ancillary equipment, control equipment, associated laboratories, first aid or medical sections, and waste and effluent handling areas, as necessary to accomplish their inspection;
(iii) May visually inspect other parts or areas of the plant site to clarify an ambiguity that has arisen during the inspection;
(iv) May take photographs or conduct formal interviews of facility personnel;
(v) May examine relevant records; and
(vi) May take samples as provided by the Convention, the Act and consistent with the requirements set forth by the Director of the United States National Authority, at 22 CFR part 103, and the facility agreement, if applicable.
(2) Scope of consent. When an owner, operator, occupant, or agent in charge of a facility consents to an initial or routine inspection, he or she is consenting to provide access to the Inspection Team and Host Team to any area of the facility, any item located on the facility, interviews with facility personnel, and any records necessary for the Inspection Team to complete its mission pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, except for information subject to export control under ITAR (22 CFR parts 120 through 130) (see paragraph (b)(3) of this section). When consent is granted for an inspection, the owner, operator, occupant, or agent in charge agrees to provide the same degree of access provided for under section 305 of the Act. The determination of whether the Inspection Team's request to inspect any area, building, item or record is reasonable is the responsibility of the Host Team Leader.
(3) ITAR-controlled technology. ITAR-controlled technology shall not be divulged to the Inspection Team without U.S. Government authorization (such technology includes, but is not limited to technical data related to Schedule 1 chemicals or Schedule 2 chemicals identified in Note 2 to Supplement No. 1 to Part 712 or Note 1 to Supplement No. 1 to Part 713, respectively, of the CWCR; also see 22 CFR Section 121.1, i.e., the United States Munitions List). Facilities being inspected are responsible for the identification of ITAR-controlled technology to the BIS Host Team, if known.
(c) Pre-inspection briefing. Upon arrival of the Inspection Team and Host Team at the inspection site and before commencement of the inspection, facility representatives will provide the Inspection Team and Host Team with a pre-inspection briefing on the facility, the activities carried out there, safety measures, and administrative and logistical arrangements necessary for the inspection, which may be aided with the use of maps and other documentation as deemed appropriate by the facility. The time spent for the briefing will be limited to the minimum necessary and may not exceed three hours.
(1) The pre-inspection briefing will address:
(i) Facility health and safety issues and requirements, and associated alarm systems;
(ii) Declared facility activities, business and manufacturing operations;
(iii) Physical layout;
(iv) Delimitation of declared facility;
(v) Scheduled chemicals on the facility (declared and undeclared);
(vi) Block flow diagram or simplified process flow diagram;
(vii) Plants and units specific to declared operations;
(viii) Administrative and logistic information; and
(ix) Data declaration updates/revisions.
(2) The pre-inspection briefing may also address, inter alia:
(i) Introduction of key facility personnel;
(ii) Management, organization and history;
(iii) Confidential business information concerns;
(iv) Types and location of records/documents;
(v) Draft facility agreement, if applicable; and
(vi) Proposed inspection plan.
(d) Visual plant inspection. The Inspection Team may visually inspect the declared plant or facility and other areas or parts of the plant site as agreed by the Host Team Leader after consulting with the facility representative.
(e) Records review.
(1) The facility must provide the Inspection Team with access to all supporting materials and documentation used by the facility to prepare declarations and to otherwise comply with the requirements of the CWCR. These supporting materials and documentation shall include records related to activities that have taken place at the facility since the beginning of the previous calendar year, regardless of whether or not the facility has submitted its current year Annual Declaration on Past Activities to BIS at the time of the inspection. The facility shall also make available for inspection all records associated with the movement into, around, and from the facility of declared chemicals and their feedstock or any product chemicals formed from such chemicals and feedstock. All supporting materials and documentation subject to the requirements of this paragraph (e) must be retained by the facility in accordance with the requirements of § 721.2 of the CWCR. The facility also must permit access to and copying of these records, upon request by BIS or any other agency of competent jurisdiction, in accordance with the requirements of § 721.1 of the CWCR.
(2) The facility must provide access to these supporting materials and documentation in appropriate formats (e.g., paper copies, electronic remote access by computer, microfilm, or microfiche), through the U.S. Government Host Team to Inspection Teams, during the inspection period or as otherwise agreed upon by the Inspection Team and Host Team Leader.
(3) The facility must provide the Inspection Team with appropriate accommodations in which to review these supporting materials and documentation.
(4) If a facility does not have access to supporting materials and documentation for activities that took place under previous ownership, because such records were not transferred to the current owner of the facility by the previous owner (e.g., as part of the contract involving the sale of the facility), the previous owner must make such records available to the Host Team for provision to the Inspection Team in accordance with section 305 of the Act. However, the current owner of a facility, upon receiving notification of an inspection (see § 716.5 of the CWCR), is responsible for informing BIS if the previous owner did not transfer records for activities that took place under the previous ownership—this will allow BIS to contact the previous owner of the facility, to arrange for access to such records, if BIS deems them relevant to the inspection activities.
(f) Effect of facility agreements. Routine inspections at facilities for which the United States has concluded a facility agreement with the OPCW will be conducted in accordance with the facility agreement. The existence of a facility agreement does not in any way limit the right of the owner, operator, occupant, or agent in charge of the facility to withhold consent to an inspection request.
(g) Hours of inspections. Consistent with the provisions of the Convention, the Host Team will ensure, to the extent possible, that each inspection is commenced, conducted, and concluded during ordinary working hours, but no inspection shall be prohibited or otherwise disrupted from commencing, continuing or concluding during other hours.
(h) Health and safety regulations and requirements. In carrying out their activities, the Inspection Team and Host Team shall observe federal, state, and local health and safety regulations and health and safety requirements established at the inspection site, including those for the protection of controlled environments within a facility and for personal safety. Such health and safety regulations and requirements will be set forth in, but will not necessarily be limited to, the facility agreement, if applicable.
(i) Preliminary findings. Upon completion of an inspection, the Inspection Team will meet with the Host Team and facility personnel to review the written preliminary findings of the Inspection Team and to clarify ambiguities. The Host Team will discuss the preliminary findings with the facility, and the Host Team Leader will take into consideration the facility's input when providing official comments on the preliminary findings to the Inspection Team. This meeting will be completed not later than 24 hours after the completion of the inspection.