HR7552-119

What This Bill Does

This bill expands the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act beyond traditional weapons determinations. When credible information indicates that an official, employee, or agent of a foreign governmental entity committed a covered act involving a chemical or biological program after enactment, the President must determine within 60 days whether the act occurred and impose section 310 sanctions on the relevant individual if so. A new country-sanctions section requires initial sanctions within 30 days against the foreign country most closely associated with the entity: suspension of scientific cooperation, bans on Commerce Control List Category 1 and 2 exports or transfers, and federal procurement bans for chemical or biological sector goods or services. If a 120-day report finds inadequate remediation, information sharing, prevention, or treaty compliance, the President must impose at least two additional sanctions, including foreign assistance termination, broader export-control bans, and munitions-license bans. If a 210-day report still finds noncompliance, covered financial transactions involving that country are prohibited. Sanctions terminate only after one year and certification of remediation, restitution, cooperation, prevention, and treaty compliance, with 180-day national-security waivers available for five years.

Who Benefits and How

U.S. sanctions agencies, congressional foreign affairs committees, victims of covered chemical or biological program acts, and countries harmed by fentanyl-precursor or chemical-biological program activity benefit from mandatory determinations, reports, export controls, procurement limits, and financial sanctions.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Foreign governmental entities, sanctioned foreign countries, chemical sector suppliers, biological sector suppliers, U.S. exporters, procurement officers, the BIS, and the President must comply with a staged sanctions process, export-license limits, procurement prohibitions, congressional reports, termination certifications, and waiver certifications.

Key Provisions

• Requires the President to determine within 60 days whether foreign governmental personnel committed covered chemical or biological program acts.
• Requires initial sanctions within 30 days, including science-cooperation suspension, Commerce Control List export bans, and chemical-biological procurement bans.
• Requires 120-day and 210-day congressional reports that can trigger broader export, munitions, assistance, and financial-transaction sanctions.
• Establishes the chemical or biological program definition to include chemical weapons, biological weapons, benzylfentanyl, 4-anilinopiperidine, and norfentanyl precursors.
• Allows sanctions termination after one year only with certification of remediation, restitution, information sharing, prevention, and treaty compliance.