22 U.S.C. § 6771: Prohibition

Summary

The Secretary of Defense and other U.S. officers or employees must not test or experiment with chemical or biological agents on people who are not in the military. They also must not use people as test subjects for chemical or biological agents. A "biological agent" means microbes (like bacteria or viruses), pathogens, or their parts (natural or made in a lab) that can kill or sicken living things, spoil food or supplies, or harm the environment. The ban does not stop activities allowed under this chapter (see section 6701(8)).

Title 22, §6771

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In general

Neither the Secretary of Defense nor any other officer or employee of the United States may, directly or by contract—

(1)conduct any test or experiment involving the use of any chemical or biological agent on a civilian population; or

(2)use human subjects for the testing of chemical or biological agents.

(b)Construction

Nothing in subsection (a) may be construed to prohibit actions carried out for purposes not prohibited by this chapter (as defined in section 6701(8) of this title).

(c)“Biological agent” defined

In this section, the term “biological agent” means any micro-organism (including bacteria, viruses, fungi, rickettsiae or protozoa), pathogen, or infectious substance, or any naturally occurring, bio-engineered or synthesized component of any such micro-organism, pathogen, or infectious substance, whatever its origin or method of production, capable of causing—

(1)death, disease, or other biological malfunction in a human, an animal, a plant, or another living organism;

(2)deterioration of food, water, equipment, supplies, or materials of any kind; or

(3)deleterious alteration of the environment.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original “this Act” and was translated as reading “this division”, meaning div. I of Pub. L. 105–277, Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–856, known as the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act of 1998, to reflect the probable intent of Congress. For complete classification of division I to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 6701 of this title and Tables.

§6771 Prohibition