Indian security agencies have seize Pakistan-bound consignment, consisting of internationally banned chemicals used for tear gas and riot control agents, from China at a port in Tamil Nadu.
- The consignment of Ortho-Chloro Benzylidene Malononitrile, also known as CS is used as a tear gas and riot control agent.
- Ortho-Chloro Benzylidene Malononitrile is a dual-use chemical listed under international agreements and India’s export control list.
- While it has civilian applications as riot control agents, the sheer quantity seized raises concerns about its potential military use.
- The Customs authorities after routine checking detained the consignment as the chemical figured under India’s export control list of Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (SCOMET) as a controlled substance.
- According to the media report, the consignment was a listed substance under the Wassenaar Arrangement, of which India is a signatory. Pakistan and China are not signatories to the Wassenaar Arrangement.
- Established in July 1996, the Wassenaar Arrangement is a voluntary export control regime. There are 42 members in the grouping. Members share information on conventional weapons transfers and dual-use goods and technologies.
- The shipment was seized under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, and the Weapons of Mass Destruction and Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005.
