Chemical which: 1) is produced for purposes not prohibited by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC); 2) may be stockpiled as a chemical weapon (CW); and 3) may pose a risk to the objectives of the CWC by virtue of its physical, chemical, and toxicological properties being similar to those of CW.

Some dual-purpose chemicals are contained in Schedules 2 and 3 of the CWC schedules of chemicals.