The Essential Role of Professional Chemical Engineers in Export Control

According to the National Society of Professional Engineers Code of Ethics, engineering has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Indeed, the first fundamental canon is to hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public. To this end, chemical engineers are essential in the U.S. Government’s (USG’s) chemical & biological export-control agenda, which strives to support the goals of the Geneva Protocol, Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. Chemical Engineers are involved in the formulation of international export control lists with regimes such as the Australia Group, the incorporation of these lists into USG regulations, the proper adjudication of USG export-control applications, the defense of positions for this adjudication, and ultimately, the refinement and update of international norms based on past history but also the essential need to maintain pace with accelerated, emergent technology (e.g. synthetic biology). These duties require precise knowledge of the fundamentals and application of the core areas demonstrated in the attainment of a Professional Engineers’ license. This presentation will demonstrate how chemical engineers are making the world a better place by using licensing measures to ensure that exports of certain chemical, biological agents, and dual-use chemical and biological manufacturing facilities and equipment, do not contribute to the spread of chemical and biological weapons.