Chemical Weapons
UN Sanctions
There are no UN sanctions regimes against the use of chemical weapons yet please note that there is an international treaty addressing this issue. The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is a multilateral treaty that bans chemical weapons and requires their destruction within a specified period of time. The treaty is of unlimited duration and is far more comprehensive than the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which outlaws the use but not the possession of chemical weapons.
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EU Sanctions
The EU sanctions regime against the proliferation and use of chemical weapons is based on "Council Decision (CFSP) 2018/1544 of 15 October 2018 concerning restrictive measures against the proliferation and use of chemical weapons."
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EU sanctions regime against the proliferation and use of chemical weapons is one of the thematic regimes of the EU. This regime has the following restrictive measures:
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Travel ban
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Financial sanctions (asset freezing)
U.S. Sanctions
Following the alleged attack of Russia against Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal with the Novichok nerve agent in March 2018, the United States Department of State imposed certain sanctions against Russia per the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act) in August 2018. (See the press release). This first round of sanctions was mainly export controls related to arms sales to Russia. More information about the first round could be found here. The second round of sanctions came through a year later in August of 2019 (see the press release) and this time the U.S. Treasury was also involved. The second round of sanctions prohibited the following among other things:
(1) participation in the primary market for non-ruble denominated bonds issued by the Russian sovereign, after August 26, 2019; and
(2) lending non-ruble-denominated funds to the Russian sovereign after August 26, 2019.
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For more information about the CBW program and its implementation please consult the following documents:
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Note that most of the restrictions under this program are administered by the Department of State and the Department of Commerce.
Additional Links
No EU sanctions
