II 

119TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 63 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 9, 2025 

Mr. BANKS (for himself, Mr. COTTON, and Mr. MORENO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

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 the following: ‘‘that— 

9 ‘‘(A) use chemical’’; 

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

11 following: ‘‘law; 

12 ‘‘(B) use’’; and 

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

14 inserting the following: ‘‘nationals; or 

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

16 or biological program that results in injury or 

17 damages to another country; and 

18 ‘‘(2) to impose’’. 

19 SEC. 3. PRESIDENTIAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

20 Section 306 of the Chemical and Biological Weapons 

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

22 5604) is amended— 

23 (1) in the section heading, by inserting before 

24 the period the following: ‘‘OR ACTS CONCERNING

25 A CHEMICAL OR BIOLOGICAL PROGRAM’’; 

26 (2) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and insert3 ing the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION REGARDING CHEM5 ICAL OR BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS.—Whenever’’; 

6 and 

7 (ii) by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION REGARDING CHEM10 ICAL OR BIOLOGICAL PROGRAM.—Whenever 

11 credible information becomes available to the 

12 President indicating a substantial possibility 

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

14 the Countering Beijing’s Weaponization of 

15 Fentanyl Act, an individual who is an official, 

16 employee, or agent of a foreign governmental 

17 entity has committed a covered act, the Presi18 dent shall, not later than 60 days after the re19 ceipt of that information by the President, de20 termine whether the individual committed a 

21 covered act. The President shall impose the 

22 sanctions described in section 310 with respect 

23 to the individual if the President determines 

24 that the individual has committed a covered 

25 act.’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

2 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 

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

4 respectively, and by moving such clauses, 

5 as so redesignated, 2 ems to the right; and 

6 (ii) by striking ‘‘In making the deter7 mination under paragraph (1)’’ and insert8 ing the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING CHEM10 ICAL OR BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS.—In making the 

11 determination under paragraph (1)(A)’’; and 

12 (iii) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING CHEM15 ICAL OR BIOLOGICAL PROGRAM.—In making a 

16 determination under paragraph (1)(B) with re17 spect to whether an individual who is an offi18 cial, employee, or agent of a foreign govern19 mental entity has committed a covered act, the 

20 President shall consider the following: 

21 ‘‘(i) Physical and circumstantial evi22 dence available relevant to the possibility 

23 that the individual committed a covered 

24 act. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) Whether evidence exists that the 

2 chemical or biological program associated 

3 with the covered act has a civilian or mili4 tary purpose or application. 

5 ‘‘(iii) Whether the foreign govern6 mental entity attempted to conceal or with7 hold information regarding the covered act 

8 from a relevant international organization 

9 or the government of a foreign country 

10 other than the foreign country most closely 

11 associated with the entity. 

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

13 the foreign governmental entity and the 

14 government of the foreign country most 

15 closely associated with the foreign govern16 mental entity have voluntarily disclosed 

17 substantive information regarding the cov18 ered act to relevant international organiza19 tions. 

20 ‘‘(v) Whether, and to what extent, the 

21 government of that country is compliant 

22 with the obligations of the country under 

23 each covered treaty.’’; and 

24 (C) in paragraph (3)— 


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

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon’’; 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘If the determination 

5 is’’ and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(B) REPORT REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENTS FOR CHEMICAL

8 OR BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS DETERMINA9 TION.—If the determination is a deter10 mination under paragraph (1)(A)’’; and 

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

13 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS FOR CHEMICAL

14 OR BIOLOGICAL PROGRAM DETERMINA15 TION.—If the determination is a deter16 mination under paragraph (1)(B) that an 

17 individual has committed a covered act, the 

18 report shall specify the sanctions to be im19 posed pursuant to section 310.’’; and 

20 (3) in subsection (b)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘whether a particular’’ 

23 and inserting the following: ‘‘whether— 

24 ‘‘(A) a particular’’; and 


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1 (ii) by striking the period and insert2 ing the following: ‘‘; or 

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

4 the date of the enactment of the Countering 

5 Beijing’s Weaponization of Fentanyl Act, has 

6 committed a covered act.’’; and 

7 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘Not later’’ and insert9 ing the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later’’; 

11 (ii) by striking ‘‘whether the speci12 fied’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘wheth13 er— 

14 ‘‘(i) the specified’’; 

15 (iii) by striking ‘‘nationals. This re16 port’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘nation17 als; or 

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

19 after the date of the enactment of the 

20 Countering Beijing’s Weaponization of 

21 Fentanyl Act, has committed a covered 

22 act. 

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

24 provided under this paragraph’’; and 


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

2 and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

3 subsection (a)(2), as applicable’’. 

4 SEC. 4. REQUIRED SANCTIONS ON FOREIGN COUNTRIES IN 

5 RESPONSE TO CERTAIN ACTS CONCERNING 

6 CHEMICAL OR BIOLOGICAL PROGRAM. 

7 The Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and 

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

9 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 310. SANCTIONS ON FOREIGN COUNTRIES IN RE11 SPONSE TO ACTS CONCERNING CHEMICAL 

12 OR BIOLOGICAL PROGRAMS. 

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

14 determination pursuant to section 306(a)(1)(B) with re15 spect to an individual who is an official, employee, or 

16 agent of a foreign governmental entity, the President 

17 shall, not later than 30 days of making the determination, 

18 impose the following sanctions with respect to the foreign 

19 country most closely associated with that entity: 

20 ‘‘(1) Suspension of all scientific cooperative pro21 grams and agreements between the United States 

22 and that country. 

23 ‘‘(2) A prohibition on the export, reexport, or 

24 in-country transfer of items classified under CatVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:30 Jan 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S63.IS S63

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1 egory 1 or Category 2 of the Commerce Control List 

2 to or in that country. 

3 ‘‘(3) A prohibition on the procurement of, or 

4 entry into a contract to procure, a good or service 

5 from a person operating in the chemical or biological 

6 sectors of the economy of that country. 

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

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

9 120 days after making a determination pursuant to 

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

11 who is an official, employee, or agent of a foreign 

12 governmental entity, the President shall submit to 

13 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 

14 Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Re15 lations of the Senate a report that states whether— 

16 ‘‘(A) the foreign governmental entity or 

17 the government of the foreign country most 

18 closely associated with that entity— 

19 ‘‘(i) has adequately addressed the cov20 ered act that was the basis for the deter21 mination; 

22 ‘‘(ii) has voluntarily provided sub23 stantive information regarding the covered 

24 act to the United States Government and 

25 relevant international organizations; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) has developed or is developing 

2 measures to prevent the commission of 

3 covered acts in the future; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the government of that country is 

5 compliant with the obligations of the country 

6 under each covered treaty. 

7 ‘‘(2) SANCTIONS REQUIRED.—If the report re8 quired by paragraph (1) states that any action de9 scribed in paragraph (1) has not been taken by the 

10 foreign governmental entity or the government of 

11 the foreign country, as applicable, the President 

12 shall impose not fewer than 2 of the following sanc13 tions with respect to the foreign country: 

14 ‘‘(A) Termination of assistance provided to 

15 the country pursuant to the Foreign Assistance 

16 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), except 

17 for urgent humanitarian assistance, food, or 

18 other agricultural commodities or products. 

19 ‘‘(B) A prohibition on the export, reexport, 

20 or in-country transfer of items controlled under 

21 the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 

22 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.) to or in the country, in23 cluding items controlled for reasons related to 

24 the national security interests of the United 

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1 lations, except that such prohibition shall not 

2 apply to a transaction subject to the reporting 

3 requirements of title V of the National Security 

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

5 ‘‘(C) A prohibition on the issuance of a li6 cense for the export, reexport, or retransfer of 

7 an item on the United States Munitions List 

8 (established pursuant to section 38 of the Arms 

9 Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778)) if the li10 cense includes the country as a party. 

11 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS AUTHORIZED.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 

13 order the United States Government not to 

14 issue a license or grant a specific permission or 

15 authority under a provision of law described in 

16 subparagraph (B) to export a good or service to 

17 a foreign country subject to sanctions imposed 

18 under paragraph (2). 

19 ‘‘(B) PROVISIONS OF LAW DESCRIBED.— 

20 The provisions of law described in this subpara21 graph are the following: 

22 ‘‘(i) The Export Control Reform Act 

23 of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.). 

24 ‘‘(ii) The Arms Export Control Act 

25 (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.). 


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1 ‘‘(iii) The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 

2 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 

3 ‘‘(iv) Any other statute that requires 

4 the prior review and approval of the 

5 United States Government as a condition 

6 for the export of goods or services. 

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

8 ‘‘(1) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION.—Not 

9 later than 210 days after making a determination 

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

11 individual who is an official, employee, or agent of 

12 a foreign governmental entity, the President shall 

13 submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

14 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

15 Foreign Relations of the Senate a report that states 

16 whether— 

17 ‘‘(A) the foreign governmental entity or 

18 the government of the foreign country most 

19 closely associated with that entity— 

20 ‘‘(i) has adequately addressed the cov21 ered act that was the basis for the deter22 mination; 

23 ‘‘(ii) has voluntarily provided sub24 stantive information regarding the covered 


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1 act to the United States Government and 

2 relevant international organizations; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) has developed or is developing 

4 measures to prevent the commission of 

5 covered acts in the future; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the government of the country is 

7 compliant with the obligations of the country 

8 under each covered treaty. 

9 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF DETERMINATION.—If the re10 port required by paragraph (1) states that any ac11 tion described in paragraph (1) has not been taken 

12 by the foreign governmental entity or the govern13 ment of the foreign country, as applicable, the Presi14 dent shall prohibit any transaction that— 

15 ‘‘(A) is— 

16 ‘‘(i) in foreign commerce; or 

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

18 by, through, or to a financial institution; 

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

20 United States; and 

21 ‘‘(C) involves a financial interest of the 

22 country. 

23 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The President 

24 shall terminate each sanction imposed with respect to a 

25 foreign country pursuant to this section if, on or after the 


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1 date that is 1 year after the first date on which the sanc2 tion was imposed, the President certifies to Congress 

3 that— 

4 ‘‘(1) the government of the country, or the for5 eign governmental entity of which the individual who 

6 committed the covered act that was the basis for the 

7 imposition of such sanctions was an official, em8 ployee, or agent— 

9 ‘‘(A) has adequately addressed the act; 

10 ‘‘(B) has made or is making restitution to 

11 persons harmed by the covered act, including 

12 United States nationals; 

13 ‘‘(C) has voluntarily provided substantive 

14 information regarding the covered act to the 

15 United States Government and relevant inter16 national organizations; and 

17 ‘‘(D) has developed or is developing meas18 ures to prevent the commission of covered acts 

19 in the future; and 

20 ‘‘(2) the government of the country is compliant 

21 with the obligations of the country under each cov22 ered treaty. 

23 ‘‘(e) WAIVER.— 

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1 tion of sanctions required under this section if the 

2 President certifies to the Committee on Foreign Af3 fairs of the House of Representatives and the Com4 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate that the 

5 waiver is vital to the national security interests of 

6 the United States. 

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

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

9 the date that is 5 years after the date of the enact10 ment of the Countering Beijing’s Weaponization of 

11 Fentanyl Act. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 311. DEFINITIONS. 

13 ‘‘In this title: 

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

15 The term ‘chemical or biological program’ means a 

16 program to produce, develop, or distribute— 

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

18 ‘‘(B) benzylfentanyl; 

19 ‘‘(C) 4-anilinopiperidine; or 

20 ‘‘(D) norfentanyl precursors. 

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

22 ‘Commerce Control List’ means the list maintained 

23 by the Bureau of Industry and Security of the De24 partment of Commerce and set forth in Supplement 


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1 No. 1 to part 774 of the Export Administration 

2 Regulations. 

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

4 means an act by an individual who is an official, em5 ployee, or agent of a foreign governmental entity, 

6 if— 

7 ‘‘(A) the individual knew or should have 

8 known that the act would result in injury or 

9 damages to a foreign country other than the 

10 foreign country most closely associated with 

11 that entity; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the act concerns a chemical or bio13 logical program that is owned, controlled, or di14 rected by, or subject to the jurisdiction of, that 

15 entity. 

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

17 treaty’ means— 

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

19 the Development, Production and Stockpiling of 

20 Bacteriological and Toxin Weapons and on 

21 their Destruction, done at Washington, London, 

22 and Moscow, April 10, 1972 (commonly re23 ferred to as the ‘Biological Weapons Conven24 tion’); and 


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

2 the Development, Production, Stockpiling and 

3 Use of Chemical Weapons and on their De4 struction, done at Geneva September 3, 1992, 

5 and entered into force April 29, 1997 (com6 monly referred to as the ‘Chemical Weapons 

7 Convention’). 

8 ‘‘(5) EXPORT ADMINISTRATION REGULA9 TIONS.—The term ‘Export Administration Regula10 tions’ means the regulations set forth in subchapter 

11 C of chapter VII of title 15, Code of Federal Regu12 lations (or successor regulations). 

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

14 term ‘foreign governmental entity’ means— 

15 ‘‘(A) the government of a foreign country; 

16 ‘‘(B) the government of a political subdivi17 sion of a foreign country; 

18 ‘‘(C) an agency or instrumentality of a for19 eign state, as such term is defined in section 

20 1603(b) of title 28, United States Code; 

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

22 controlled or beneficially owned by a govern23 ment described in subparagraph (A) or (B); 

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

25 an agent of such a government; or 


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1 ‘‘(F) an entity that— 

2 ‘‘(i) receives significant material sup3 port from a such a government; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) is engaged in— 

5 ‘‘(I) the provision of commercial 

6 services; 

7 ‘‘(II) shipping; 

8 ‘‘(III) manufacturing; 

9 ‘‘(IV) producing; or 

10 ‘‘(V) exporting.’’. 

11 SEC. 5. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

12 Section 307(a) of the Chemical and Biological Weap13 ons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (22 

14 U.S.C. 5605(a)) is amended, in the matter preceding 

15 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘section 306(a)(1)’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘section 306(a)(1)(A)’’. 

Æ 


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