Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 223 / Wednesday, November 19, 2014 / Notices 68855 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Bureau of Industry and Security 

[Docket No. 141029907–4907–01] 

Impact of the Implementation of the 

Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) 

on Legitimate Commercial Chemical, 

Biotechnology, and Pharmaceutical 

Activities Involving ‘‘Schedule 1’’ 

Chemicals (Including Schedule 1 

Chemicals Produced as Intermediates) 

Through Calendar Year 2014 

AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and 

Security, Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of inquiry. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Industry and 

Security (BIS) is seeking public 

comments on the impact that 

implementation of the Chemical 

Weapons Convention (CWC), through 

the Chemical Weapons Convention 

Implementation Act (CWCIA) and the 

Chemical Weapons Convention 

Regulations (CWCR), has had on 

commercial activities involving 

‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals during calendar 

year 2014. The purpose of this notice of 

inquiry is to collect information to assist 

BIS in its preparation of the annual 

certification to the Congress on whether 

the legitimate commercial activities and 

interests of chemical, biotechnology, 

and pharmaceutical firms are being 

harmed by such implementation. This 

certification is required under Condition 

9 of Senate Resolution 75, April 24, 

1997, in which the Senate gave its 

advice and consent to the ratification of 

the CWC. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

December 19, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• Email: willard.fisher@bis.doc.gov. 

Include the phrase ‘‘Schedule 1 Notice 

of Inquiry’’ in the subject line; 

• Fax: (202) 482–3355 (Attn: Willard 

Fisher); 

• By mail or delivery to Regulatory 

Policy Division, Bureau of Industry and 

Security, U.S. Department of Commerce, 

Room 2099B, 14th Street and 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20230. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions on the Chemical Weapons 

Convention requirements for ‘‘Schedule 

1’’ chemicals, contact Douglas Brown, 

Treaty Compliance Division, Office of 

Nonproliferation and Treaty 

Compliance, Bureau of Industry and 

Security, U.S. Department of Commerce, 

Phone: (202) 482–1001. For questions 

on the submission of comments, contact 

Willard Fisher, Regulatory Policy 

Division, Office of Exporter Services, 

Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. 

Department of Commerce, Phone: (202) 

482–2440. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

In providing its advice and consent to 

the ratification of the Convention on the 

Prohibition of the Development, 

Production, Stockpiling, and Use of 

Chemical Weapons and Their 

Destruction, commonly called the 

Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC or 

‘‘the Convention’’), the Senate included, 

in Senate Resolution 75 (S. Res. 75, 

April 24, 1997), several conditions to its 

ratification. Condition 9, titled 

‘‘Protection of Advanced 

Biotechnology,’’ calls for the President 

to certify to Congress on an annual basis 

that ‘‘the legitimate commercial 

activities and interests of chemical, 

biotechnology, and pharmaceutical 

firms in the United States are not being 

significantly harmed by the limitations 

of the Convention on access to, and 

production of, those chemicals and 

toxins listed in Schedule 1.’’ On July 8, 

2004, President Bush, by Executive 

Order 13346, delegated his authority to 

make the annual certification to the 

Secretary of Commerce. 

The CWC is an international arms 

control treaty that contains certain 

verification provisions. In order to 

implement these verification provisions, 

the CWC established the Organization 

for the Prohibition of Chemical 

Weapons (OPCW). The CWC imposes 

certain obligations on countries that 

have ratified the Convention (i.e., States 

Parties), among which are the enactment 

of legislation to prohibit the production, 

storage, and use of chemical weapons, 

and the establishment of a National 

Authority to serve as the national focal 

point for effective liaison with the 

OPCW and other States Parties in order 

to achieve the object and purpose of the 

Convention and the implementation of 

its provisions. The CWC also requires 

each State Party to implement a 

comprehensive data declaration and 

inspection regime to provide 

transparency and to verify that both the 

public and private sectors of the State 

Party are not engaged in activities 

prohibited under the CWC. 

‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals consist of 

those toxic chemicals and precursors set 

forth in the CWC ‘‘Annex on 

Chemicals’’ and in Supplement No. 1 to 

part 712 of the Chemical Weapons 

Convention Regulations (CWCR) (15 

CFR parts 710–722). The CWC 

identified these toxic chemicals and 

precursors as posing a high risk to the 

object and purpose of the Convention. 

The CWC (Part VI of the ‘‘Verification 

Annex’’) restricts the production of 

‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals for protective 

purposes to two facilities per State 

Party: A single small-scale facility 

(SSSF) and a facility for production in 

quantities not exceeding 10 kg per year. 

The CWC Article-by-Article Analysis 

submitted to the Senate in Treaty Doc. 

103–21 defined the term ‘‘protective 

purposes’’ to mean ‘‘used for 

determining the adequacy of defense 

equipment and measures.’’ Consistent 

with this definition and as authorized 

by Presidential Decision Directive (PDD) 

70 (December 17, 1999), which specifies 

agency and departmental 

responsibilities as part of the U.S. 

implementation of the CWC, the 

Department of Defense (DOD) was 

assigned the responsibility to operate 

these two facilities. Although this 

assignment of responsibility to DOD 

under PDD–70 effectively precluded 

commercial production of ‘‘Schedule 1’’ 

chemicals for protective purposes in the 

United States, it did not establish any 

limitations on ‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemical 

activities that are not prohibited by the 

CWC. However, DOD does maintain 

strict controls on ‘‘Schedule 1’’ 

chemicals produced at its facilities in 

order to ensure accountability for such 

chemicals, as well as their proper use, 

consistent with the object and purpose 

of the Convention. 

The provisions of the CWC that affect 

commercial activities involving 

‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals are 

implemented in the CWCR (see 15 CFR 

part 712) and in the Export 

Administration Regulations (EAR) (see 

15 CFR 742.18 and 15 CFR part 745), 

both of which are administered by the 

Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). 

Pursuant to CWC requirements, the 

CWCR restrict commercial production 

of ‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals to research, 

medical, or pharmaceutical purposes 

(the CWCR prohibit commercial 

production of ‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals 

for ‘‘protective purposes’’ because such 

production is effectively precluded per 

PDD–70, as described above—see 15 

CFR 712.2(a)). The CWCR also contain 

other requirements and prohibitions 

that apply to ‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals 

and/or ‘‘Schedule 1’’ facilities. 

Specifically, the CWCR: 

(1) Prohibit the import of ‘‘Schedule 

1’’ chemicals from States not Party to 

the Convention (15 CFR 712.2(b)); 

(2) Require annual declarations by 

certain facilities engaged in the 

production of ‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals 

in excess of 100 grams aggregate per 

calendar year (i.e., declared ‘‘Schedule 

1’’ facilities) for purposes not prohibited 

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68856 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 223 / Wednesday, November 19, 2014 / Notices 

1See memorandum from Christian Marsh, Deputy 

Assistant Secretary for Antidumping and 

Countervailing Duty Operations, to Ronald K. 

Lorentzen, Acting Assistant Secretary for 

Enforcement and Compliance, ‘‘Decision 

Memorandum for Preliminary Results of 

by the Convention (15 CFR 712.5(a)(1) 

and (a)(2)); 

(3) Provide for government approval 

of ‘‘declared Schedule 1’’ facilities (15 

CFR 712.5(f)); 

(4) Provide that ‘‘declared Schedule 

1’’ facilities are subject to initial and 

routine inspection by the Organization 

for the Prohibition of Chemical 

Weapons (15 CFR 712.5(e) and 

716.1(b)(1)); 

(5) Require 200 days advance 

notification of establishment of new 

‘‘Schedule 1’’ production facilities 

producing greater than 100 grams 

aggregate of ‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals per 

calendar year (15 CFR 712.4); 

(6) Require advance notification and 

annual reporting of all imports and 

exports of ‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals to, or 

from, other States Parties to the 

Convention (15 CFR 712.6, 742.18(a)(1) 

and 745.1); and 

(7) Prohibit the export of ‘‘Schedule 

1’’ chemicals to States not Party to the 

Convention (15 CFR 742.18(a)(1) and 

(b)(1)(ii)). 

For purposes of the CWCR (see 15 

CFR 710.1), ‘‘production of a Schedule 

1 chemical’’ means the formation of 

‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals through 

chemical synthesis, as well as 

processing to extract and isolate 

‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals produced 

biologically. Such production is 

understood, for CWCR declaration 

purposes, to include intermediates, byproducts, or waste products that are 

produced and consumed within a 

defined chemical manufacturing 

sequence, where such intermediates, byproducts, or waste products are 

chemically stable and therefore exist for 

a sufficient time to make isolation from 

the manufacturing stream possible, but 

where, under normal or design 

operating conditions, isolation does not 

occur. 

Request for Comments 

In order to assist in determining 

whether the legitimate commercial 

activities and interests of chemical, 

biotechnology, and pharmaceutical 

firms in the United States are 

significantly harmed by the limitations 

of the Convention on access to, and 

production of, ‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals 

as described in this notice, BIS is 

seeking public comments on any effects 

that implementation of the Chemical 

Weapons Convention, through the 

Chemical Weapons Convention 

Implementation Act and the Chemical 

Weapons Convention Regulations, has 

had on commercial activities involving 

‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals during calendar 

year 2014. To allow BIS to properly 

evaluate the significance of any harm to 

commercial activities involving 

‘‘Schedule 1’’ chemicals, public 

comments submitted in response to this 

notice of inquiry should include both a 

quantitative and qualitative assessment 

of the impact of the CWC on such 

activities. 

Submission of Comments 

All comments must be submitted to 

one of the addresses indicated in this 

notice. The Department requires that all 

comments be submitted in written form. 

The Department encourages interested 

persons who wish to comment to do so 

at the earliest possible time. The period 

for submission of comments will close 

on December 19, 2014. The Department 

will consider all comments received 

before the close of the comment period. 

Comments received after the end of the 

comment period will be considered if 

possible, but their consideration cannot 

be assured. The Department will not 

accept comments accompanied by a 

request that a part or all of the material 

be treated confidentially because of its 

business proprietary nature or for any 

other reason. The Department will 

return such comments and materials to 

the persons submitting the comments 

and will not consider them. All 

comments submitted in response to this 

notice will be a matter of public record 

and will be available for public 

inspection and copying. 

The Office of Administration, Bureau 

of Industry and Security, U.S. 

Department of Commerce, displays 

public comments on the BIS Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA) Web site at 

http://www.bis.doc.gov/foia. This office 

does not maintain a separate public 

inspection facility. If you have technical 

difficulties accessing this Web site, 

please call BIS’s Office of 

Administration, at (202) 482–1093, for 

assistance. 

Dated: November 14, 2014. 

Kevin J. Wolf, 

Assistant Secretary for Export 

Administration. 

[FR Doc. 2014–27425 Filed 11–18–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–33–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

[A–570–929] 

Small Diameter Graphite Electrodes 

From the People’s Republic of China: 

Preliminary Results of Antidumping 

Duty Administrative Review; 2013– 

2014 

AGENCY: Enforcement and Compliance, 

International Trade Administration, 

Department of Commerce. 

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce 

(the Department) is conducting an 

administrative review of the 

antidumping duty order on small 

diameter graphite electrodes from the 

People’s Republic of China (PRC), 

covering the period February 1, 2013, 

through January 31, 2014. The 

Department preliminarily determines 

that during the period of review (POR) 

one company covered by this review 

made sales of subject merchandise at 

less than normal value. Interested 

parties are invited to comment on these 

preliminary results. 

DATES: Effective Date: November 19, 

2014. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael A. Romani, AD/CVD 

Operations, Office I, Enforcement and 

Compliance, International Trade 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution 

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; 

telephone: (202) 482–0198. 

Scope of the Order 

The merchandise covered by the order 

includes all small diameter graphite 

electrodes with a nominal or actual 

diameter of 400 millimeters (16 inches) 

or less and graphite pin joining systems 

for small diameter graphite electrodes. 

Small diameter graphite electrodes and 

graphite pin joining systems for small 

diameter graphite electrodes that are 

subject to the order are currently 

classified under the Harmonized Tariff 

Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 

subheadings 8545.11.0010, 3801.10, and 

8545.11.0020. While the HTSUS 

subheadings are provided for 

convenience and customs purposes, the 

written description of the scope of the 

order is dispositive. A full description 

of the scope of the order is contained in 

the Preliminary Decision 

Memorandum.1

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