I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8197 

To amend the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 to impose sanctions on foreign countries in response 

to acts concerning chemical or biological programs that cause injury 

to other foreign countries, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 1, 2024 

Mr. BANKS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Oversight and Accountability, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control 

and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 to impose sanctions on foreign countries in response to acts concerning 

chemical or biological programs that cause injury to 

other foreign countries, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Countering Beijing’s 

5 Weaponization of Fentanyl Act’’ or the ‘‘CBW Fentanyl 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 Section 302 of the Chemical and Biological Weapons 

3 Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (22 U.S.C. 

4 5601) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), and 

6 (4) as paragraphs (3), (4), and (5), respectively; 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘that use chemical’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘that— 

9 ‘‘(A) use chemical’’; 

10 (3) by striking ‘‘law or use’’ and inserting ‘‘law; 

11 ‘‘(B) use’’; and 

12 (4) by striking ‘‘nationals, and to impose’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘nationals; or 

14 ‘‘(C) commit an act concerning a chemical 

15 or biological program that results in injury or 

16 damages to another country; 

17 ‘‘(2) to impose’’. 

18 SEC. 3. PRESIDENTIAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

19 Section 306 of the Chemical and Biological Weapons 

20 Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (22 U.S.C. 

21 5604) is amended— 

22 (1) in the heading, by striking the period and 

23 inserting ‘‘OR ACTS CONCERNING A CHEMICAL

24 OR BIOLOGICAL PROGRAM.’’; 

25 (2) in subsection (a)— 

26 (A) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and insert2 ing the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION REGARDING CHEM4 ICAL OR BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS.—Whenever’’; 

5 and 

6 (ii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION REGARDING CHEM9 ICAL OR BIOLOGICAL PROGRAM.—Whenever 

10 credible information becomes available to the 

11 President indicating a substantial possibility 

12 that, on or after the date of the enactment of 

13 the Countering Beijing’s Weaponization of 

14 Fentanyl Act, an individual has committed a 

15 covered act, the President shall, not later than 

16 60 days after the receipt of such information by 

17 the President, determine whether such indi18 vidual committed a covered act. The President 

19 shall impose the sanctions described in section 

20 310 with respect to an individual if the Presi21 dent determines that such individual has com22 mitted a covered act.’’; 

23 (B) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘In making the deter2 mination under paragraph (1)’’ and insert3 ing: 

4 ‘‘(A) CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING CHEM5 ICAL OR BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS.—In making the 

6 determination under paragraph (1)(A)’’; 

7 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

8 (A) through (E) as clauses (i) through (v), 

9 respectively, and by moving such redesig10 nated clauses 2 ems to the right; and 

11 (iii) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING CHEM14 ICAL OR BIOLOGICAL PROGRAM.—In making a 

15 determination under paragraph (1)(B), the 

16 President shall consider the following: 

17 ‘‘(i) Physical and circumstantial evi18 dence available relevant to the possibility 

19 that the individual in question committed a 

20 covered act. 

21 ‘‘(ii) Whether evidence exists that the 

22 chemical or biological program associated 

23 with such covered act has a civilian or mili24 tary purpose or application. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Whether the foreign govern2 mental entity of which such individual was 

3 an official, employee, or agent attempted 

4 to conceal or withhold information regard5 ing a covered act from a relevant inter6 national organization or a foreign country 

7 other than the foreign country most closely 

8 associated with such entity. 

9 ‘‘(iv) Whether, and to what extent, 

10 the foreign country most closely associated 

11 with such entity is compliant with the obli12 gations of such country under a covered 

13 treaty. 

14 ‘‘(v) Whether, and to what extent, 

15 such entity has voluntarily disclosed sub16 stantive information regarding such cov17 ered act to relevant international organiza18 tions.’’; and 

19 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘Upon’’ and inserting 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon’’; 

23 (ii) by striking ‘‘If the determination’’ 

24 and inserting the following: 

25 ‘‘(B) REPORT REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENTS FOR CHEMICAL

2 OR BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS DETERMINA3 TION.—If the determination under para4 graph (1)(A)’’; and 

5 (iii) by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS FOR CHEMICAL

8 OR BIOLOGICAL PROGRAM DETERMINA9 TION.—If the determination under para10 graph (1)(B) is that an individual has 

11 committed a covered act, the report shall 

12 specify the sanctions to be imposed pursu13 ant to section 310 of this title.’’; and 

14 (3) in subsection (b)— 

15 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

16 (i) by striking ‘‘whether a’’ and in17 serting ‘‘whether— 

18 ‘‘(A) a’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking the period after ‘‘na20 tionals’’ and inserting ‘‘; or 

21 ‘‘(B) a particular individual, on or after 

22 January 1, 2023, has committed a covered 

23 act.’’; and 

24 (B) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘Not later’’ and insert2 ing the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later’’; 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘whether the’’ and in5 serting ; ‘‘whether— 

6 ‘‘(i) the’’; 

7 (iii) by striking ‘‘nationals. This re8 port’’ and inserting ‘‘nationals; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) the specified individual, on or 

10 after January 1, 2023, has committed a 

11 covered act. 

12 ‘‘(B) REPORT CONTENTS.—Each report 

13 provided under this paragraph’’; and 

14 (iv) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)(2)’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) or (B) 

16 of subsection (a)(2), as applicable’’. 

17 SEC. 4. SANCTIONS ON USE OF CHEMICAL OR BIOLOGICAL 

18 WEAPONS. 

19 Section 307(a) of the Chemical and Biological Weap20 ons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (22 

21 U.S.C. 5605) is amended by striking ‘‘306(a)(1)’’ and in22 serting ‘‘306(a)(1)(A)’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. REQUIRED SANCTIONS ON FOREIGN COUNTRIES IN 

2 RESPONSE TO CERTAIN ACTS CONCERNING 

3 CHEMICAL OR BIOLOGICAL PROGRAM. 

4 The Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and 

5 Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (22 U.S.C. 5601 et seq.) 

6 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 310. SANCTIONS ON FOREIGN COUNTRIES IN RE8 SPONSE TO ACTS CONCERNING CHEMICAL 

9 OR BIOLOGICAL PROGRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) INITIAL SANCTIONS.—If the President makes a 

11 determination pursuant to section 306(a)(1)(B) with re12 spect to an individual, the President shall, not later than 

13 30 days of making such determination, impose the fol14 lowing sanctions: 

15 ‘‘(1) The United States Government shall sus16 pend scientific cooperative programs and agreements 

17 with the foreign country most closely associated with 

18 the foreign governmental entity of which such indi19 vidual was an official, employee, or agent. 

20 ‘‘(2) The President shall prohibit the export of 

21 goods, services, and technologies classified under 

22 Category 1 or Category 2 of the Commerce Control 

23 List to such foreign country. 

24 ‘‘(3) The United States Government may not 

25 procure, or enter into a contract to procure, a good 

26 or service from a person operating in the chemical 


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1 or biological sectors of the economy of such foreign 

2 country. 

3 ‘‘(b) INTERMEDIATE APPLICATION OF SANCTIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

5 120 days after making a determination pursuant to 

6 section 306(a)(1)(B) with respect to an individual, 

7 the President shall submit to the Committee on For8 eign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 

9 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a re10 port that states whether— 

11 ‘‘(A) the foreign governmental entity of 

12 which such individual was an official, employee, 

13 or agent or the foreign country most closely as14 sociated with such entity has adequately ad15 dressed the covered act that was the basis for 

16 such determination; 

17 ‘‘(B) such entity or such country has devel18 oped or is developing measures to prevent a 

19 covered act; 

20 ‘‘(C) such entity or such country has vol21 untarily provided substantive information re22 garding such covered act to the United States 

23 Government and relevant international organi24 zations; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) such country is compliant with the 

2 obligations of such country under a covered 

3 treaty. 

4 ‘‘(2) SANCTIONS REQUIRED.—If the report de5 scribed in paragraph (1) states that an action de6 scribed in any of subparagraphs (A) through (D) of 

7 paragraph (1) has not been taken, the President 

8 shall impose sanctions on the foreign country most 

9 closely associated with the foreign governmental en10 tity of which such individual was an official, em11 ployee, or agent not fewer than 2 of the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) Termination of assistance provided to 

13 such country pursuant to the Foreign Assist14 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), ex15 cept for urgent humanitarian assistance, food, 

16 or other agricultural commodities or products. 

17 ‘‘(B) No sale of defense articles, defense 

18 services, or design and construction services 

19 under the Export Controls Act of 2018 (50 

20 U.S.C. 4811 et seq.) may be made to such 

21 country. 

22 ‘‘(C) No license for export of an item listed 

23 in the United States Munitions List (estab24 lished pursuant to section 38 of the Arms Ex25 port Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778)) may be 


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1 granted if such license includes such country as 

2 a party. 

3 ‘‘(D) No export of a good or technology 

4 controlled because of the national security inter5 ests of the United States under the Export Ad6 ministration Regulations may be made to such 

7 country, except that such prohibition shall not 

8 apply to a transaction subject to the reporting 

9 requirements of title V of the National Security 

10 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 413 et seq.). 

11 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS PERMITTED.— 

12 The President may order the United States Govern13 ment not to issue a license nor grant a specific per14 mission or authority to export a good or technology 

15 to a foreign country sanctioned under paragraph (2) 

16 under— 

17 ‘‘(A) the Export Controls Act of 2018 (50 

18 U.S.C. 4811 et seq.); 

19 ‘‘(B) the Anti-Boycott Act of 2018 (50 

20 U.S.C. 4841 et seq.); 

21 ‘‘(C) the Arms Export Control Act (22 

22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.); 

23 ‘‘(D) the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 

24 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); or 


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1 ‘‘(E) any other statute that requires the 

2 prior review and approval of the United States 

3 Government as a condition for the export or re4 export of goods or services. 

5 ‘‘(c) FINAL APPLICATION OF SANCTIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION.—Not 

7 later than 210 days after making a determination 

8 pursuant to section 306(a)(1)(B) with respect to an 

9 individual, the President shall submit to the Com10 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep11 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela12 tions of the Senate a report that states whether— 

13 ‘‘(A) the foreign governmental entity of 

14 which such individual was an official, employee, 

15 or agent or the foreign country most closely as16 sociated with such entity has adequately ad17 dressed the covered act that was the basis for 

18 such determination; 

19 ‘‘(B) such entity or such country has devel20 oped or is developing measures to prevent a 

21 covered act; 

22 ‘‘(C) such entity or such country has vol23 untarily provided substantive information re24 garding such covered act to the United States 


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1 Government and relevant international organi2 zations; and 

3 ‘‘(D) such country is compliant with the 

4 obligations of such country under a covered 

5 treaty. 

6 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF DETERMINATION.—If the re7 port described in paragraph (1) states that an action 

8 described in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of para9 graph (1) has not been taken by a foreign govern10 mental entity or a foreign country, as applicable, the 

11 President shall prohibit any transaction that— 

12 ‘‘(A) is— 

13 ‘‘(i) in foreign commerce; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) a transfer of credit or payment 

15 by, through, or to a financial institution; 

16 ‘‘(B) is subject to the jurisdiction of the 

17 United States; and 

18 ‘‘(C) involves a financial interest of such 

19 country. 

20 ‘‘(d) REMOVAL OF SANCTIONS.—The President shall 

21 remove each sanction imposed on a foreign country pursu22 ant to this section if, on or after the date that is 12 

23 months after the first date on which a sanction was im24 posed on such country pursuant to this section, the Presi25 dent certifies to Congress that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) such country or the foreign governmental 

2 entity of which the individual who committed the 

3 covered act that was the basis for the imposition of 

4 such sanctions was an official, employee, or agent 

5 has adequately addressed such act; 

6 ‘‘(2) such country or such entity has developed 

7 or is developing measures to prevent a covered act; 

8 ‘‘(3) such country or such entity has voluntarily 

9 provided substantive information regarding such cov10 ered act to the United States Government and rel11 evant international organizations; 

12 ‘‘(4) such country is compliant with the obliga13 tions of such country under a covered treaty; and 

14 ‘‘(5) such country or such entity has made or 

15 is making restitution to persons harmed by the cov16 ered act that was the basis of such sanctions, includ17 ing United States nationals. 

18 ‘‘(e) WAIVER.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President may, for pe20 riods of not more than 180 days, waive the imposi21 tion of sanctions required under this section if the 

22 President certifies to the Committee on Foreign Af23 fairs of the House of Representatives and the Com24 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate that such 


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1 waiver is vital to the national security interests of 

2 the United States. 

3 ‘‘(2) SUNSET.—The President may not exercise 

4 the authority described in paragraph (1) on or after 

5 the date that is 5 years after the date of the enact6 ment of the Countering Beijing’s Weaponization of 

7 Fentanyl Act. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 311. DEFINITIONS. 

9 ‘‘In this title: 

10 ‘‘(1) CHEMICAL OR BIOLOGICAL PROGRAM.— 

11 The term ‘chemical or biological program’ means a 

12 program to produce, develop or distribute— 

13 ‘‘(A) a chemical or biological weapon; 

14 ‘‘(B) benzylfentanyl; 

15 ‘‘(C) 4-anilinopiperidine; or 

16 ‘‘(D) norfentanyl precursors. 

17 ‘‘(2) COMMERCE CONTROL LIST.—The term 

18 ‘Commerce Control List’ means the list maintained 

19 by the Bureau of Industry and Security of the De20 partment of Commerce and set forth in Supplement 

21 No. 1 to part 774 of the Export Administration 

22 Regulations. 

23 ‘‘(3) COVERED ACT.—The term ‘covered act’ 

24 means an act by an individual who is an official, emVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:33 May 29, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8197.IH H8197

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1 ployee, or agent of a foreign governmental entity, 

2 if— 

3 ‘‘(A) such individual knew or should have 

4 known that such act would result in injury or 

5 damages to another foreign country; and 

6 ‘‘(B) such act concerns a chemical or bio7 logical program that is owned, controlled, or di8 rected by, or subject to the jurisdiction of such 

9 foreign governmental entity. 

10 ‘‘(4) COVERED TREATY.—The term ‘covered 

11 treaty’ means— 

12 ‘‘(A) the Convention on the Prohibition of 

13 the Development, Production and Stockpiling of 

14 Bacteriological and Toxin Weapons and on 

15 their Destruction, done at Washington, London, 

16 and Moscow, April 10, 1972 (commonly re17 ferred to as the ‘Biological Weapons Conven18 tion’); and 

19 ‘‘(B) the Convention on the Prohibition of 

20 the Development, Production, Stockpiling and 

21 Use of Chemical Weapons and on their De22 struction, done at Paris January 13, 1993, and 

23 entered into force April 29, 1997 (commonly re24 ferred to as the ‘Chemical Weapons Conven25 tion’). 


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1 ‘‘(5) EXPORT ADMINISTRATION REGULA2 TIONS.—The term ‘Export Administration Regula3 tions’ means the regulations set forth in subchapter 

4 C of chapter VII of title 15, Code of Federal Regu5 lations. 

6 ‘‘(6) FOREIGN GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY.—The 

7 term ‘foreign governmental entity’ means— 

8 ‘‘(A) a foreign country; 

9 ‘‘(B) a political subdivision of a foreign 

10 country; 

11 ‘‘(C) an ‘agency or instrumentality of a 

12 foreign state’ as such term is defined in section 

13 1603(b) of title 28, United States Code; 

14 ‘‘(D) an entity that is directly or indirectly 

15 controlled or beneficially owned by a foreign 

16 country; 

17 ‘‘(E) an entity that acts on behalf of or as 

18 an agent of a foreign country; and 

19 ‘‘(F) an entity that— 

20 ‘‘(i) receives significant material sup21 port from a foreign country; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) is engaged in— 

23 ‘‘(I) the provision of commercial 

24 services; 

25 ‘‘(II) shipping; 


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1 ‘‘(III) manufacturing; 

2 ‘‘(IV) producing; or 

3 ‘‘(V) exporting.’’. 

Æ 


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