Knowsley firm fined for WMD breach

Sep 26 2008

The directors of a British chemical firm have been fined after breaching rules designed to halt the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), it was revealed today.

Colin Stott and Simon Knowles, directors of Organic Intermediates Limited, based in Knowsley, near Liverpool, have become the first to be prosecuted under the Chemical Weapons Act.

Liverpool Magistrates Court heard that they failed on several occasions to notify the authorities that their company produced more than one tonne of a chemical controlled under the Chemical Weapons Convention, an international arms control treaty.

The substance, N-dimethylaminoethyl-2-chloride hydrochloride (DMC), is used in the pharmaceutical industry and is a common ingredient for antihistamines.

There is no suggestion the directors or the company, which went into liquidation in August 2004, were producing the chemical for use in WMDs.

However, the Act states that the Government must be notified if large amounts of certain chemicals have been produced.

The court heard the company failed to make the necessary notifications during 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Knowles was convicted on August 15 after a trial and on Wednesday was fined a total of £4,000. He was also ordered to pay £6,000 towards the prosecution’s costs.

Stott had earlier pleaded guilty and was fined £2,750 and ordered to pay £2,000 towards costs.

Business Minister Malcolm Wicks said after the hearing: “This is the first prosecution under the UK’s Chemical Weapons Act and demonstrates just how seriously the UK takes its responsibilities under the Chemical Weapons Convention.

“The UK has a very good record and around 400 firms routinely comply with the requirements, but this sentence should convey to other companies, and to liquidators of companies that are wound up, the importance of meeting the requirements of the Act and the Convention.

“Legal requirements relating to controlled chemicals must be fully met - and where organisations fail to do so, prosecution is likely.

“The UK is practising what it preaches - that all member states of the Convention should implement and enforce their domestic legislation.”

The UK ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1996 and enacted the Chemical Weapons Act the same year.