Chemical Weapons Act 1997

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is an international arms control treaty, administered by the Organisation  for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) based in The Hague, Netherlands, which aims to prohibit the development, production, stockpiling or use of chemical weapons.

One of the ways the CWC aims to achieve this is by monitoring the peaceful and legitimate use of industrial chemicals in order to prevent the possibility of the diversion into weapons.

Ireland is a party to the CWC. The Chemicals Weapon Act, 1997 transposed the provisions of the CWC into Irish law, covering not only acts done in Ireland but also acts performed elsewhere by Irish nationals and companies.

Further details of the Authority's responsibilities in this area are available here.

Regulations made under the Act

• European Union (Restrictive Measures Against the Proliferation and Use of Chemical Weapons) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 617/2020)
• European Union (Restrictive Measures Against the Proliferation and Use of Chemical Weapons) Regulations 2019 (S.I. No. 538/2019)
• Chemical Weapons (Licensing of Scheduled Toxic Chemicals and Precursors) Regulations 2001 (S.I. No. 54 of 2001)

Download the legislation

Full legislation is available on IrishStatuteBook.ie, the website of the Office of the Attorney General.