§6722 Facility Agreements

Summary

Inspections by the Technical Secretariat at any plant or site that the United States has a facility agreement with must follow that agreement. A facility agreement cannot take away the owner’s or operator’s right to refuse an inspection. The U.S. must set up facility agreements for Schedule 2 sites that are covered by paragraph 4 of Article VI unless the owner, operator, occupant, or agent and the Technical Secretariat agree an agreement is not needed. For Schedule 3 sites under paragraphs 5 or 6 of Article VI, an agreement must be made if the owner, operator, occupant, or agent asks for one. Owners and operators must be told before an agreement is developed and can join the preparation and, where possible under the Convention, watch the U.S. and the Organization negotiate the agreement. Each facility agreement must say what parts of the site, equipment, computers, records, data, and samples inspectors can access and what they cannot. It must explain how and when the owner or operator will be notified about an inspection and what the inspection timeframes are.