COMPLIANCE WITH THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION.

SEC. 1605. COMPLIANCE WITH THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION. (a) Findings.—Congress makes the following findings: (1) On April 24, 1997, the Senate provided its advice and consent to ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention subject to the condition, among others, that the President certify that no sample collected in the United States pursuant to the Convention will be transferred for analysis to any laboratory outside the territory of the United States. (2) Congress enacted the same condition into law as section 304(f)(1) of the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6724(f)(1)). (3) Part II, paragraph 57, of the Verification Annex of the Convention requires that all samples requiring off-site analysis under the Convention shall be analyzed by at least two laboratories that have been designated as capable of conducting such testing by the OPCW. (4) The only United States laboratory currently designated by the OPCW is the United States Army Edgewood Forensic Science Laboratory. (5) In order to comply with the Chemical Weapons Convention, the certification submitted pursuant to condition (18) of the resolution of ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the requirements of section 304(f)(1) of the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6724(f)(1)), the United States must possess, at a minimum, a second OPCW-designated laboratory. (6) The possession of a second OPCW-designated laboratory is necessary in view of the potential for a challenge inspection to be initiated against the United States by a foreign nation. (7) The possession of a third OPCW-designated laboratory would enable the OPCW to implement its normal sample analysis procedures, which randomly assign real and manufactured samples so that no laboratory knows the origin of a given sample. (8) To qualify as a designated laboratory, a laboratory must be certified under ISO Guide 25 or a higher standard and complete three proficiency tests. The laboratory must have the full capability to handle substances listed on Schedule 116 STAT. 14621 of the Annex on Schedules of Chemicals of the Chemical Weapons Convention. In order to handle such substances in the United States, a laboratory also must operate under a bailment agreement with the United States Army. (9) Several existing United States commercial laboratories have approved quality control systems, already possess bailment agreements with the United States Army, and have the capabilities necessary to obtain OPCW designation. (10) In order to bolster the legitimacy of United States analysis of samples taken on its national territory, it is preferable that one designated laboratory not be a United States Government facility. (b) Establishment of Non-Governmental Designated Laboratory.— (1) Report.—Not later than March 1, 2003, the United States National Authority, as designated under section 101 of the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6711) (referred to in this section as the “National Authority”), shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report detailing a plan for securing OPCW designation of a nongovernmental United States laboratory by December 1, 2004. (2) Directive.—Not later than June 1, 2003, the National Authority shall select, through competitive procedures, a nongovernmental laboratory within the United States to pursue designation by the OPCW. (3) Delegation.—The National Authority may delegate the authority and administrative responsibility for carrying out paragraph (2) to one or more of the heads of the agencies described in section 101(b)(2) of the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6711(b)(2)). (c) Definitions.—In this section: (1) Chemical weapons convention or convention.—The term “Chemical Weapons Convention” or “Convention” means the Convention on the Prohibition of Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, Opened for Signature and Signed by the United States at Paris on January 13, 1993, including the following protocols and memorandum of understanding: (A) The Annex on Chemicals. (B) The Annex on Implementation and Verification. (C) The Annex on the Protection of Confidential Information. (D) The Resolution Establishing the Preparatory Commission for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. (E) The Text on the Establishment of a Preparatory Commission. (2) OPCW.—The term “OPCW” means the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons established under the Convention.