Presidential Determination on Major Illicit Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2013, 58915-58919 [2012-23640]

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• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 185 (Monday, September 24, 2012)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 58915-58919]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-23640]



[[Page 58915]]

Vol. 77

Monday,

No. 185

September 24, 2012

Part II





The President





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Presidential Determination No. 2012-15 of September 14, 2012--
Presidential Determination on Major Illicit Drug Transit or Major 
Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2013


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 77 , No. 185 / Monday, September 24, 2012 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 58917]]

                Presidential Determination No. 2012-15 of September 14, 
                2012

                
 Presidential Determination on Major Illicit Drug 
                Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for 
                Fiscal Year 2013

                Memorandum for the Secretary of State

                Pursuant to section 706(1) of the Foreign Relations 
                Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-
                228) (FRAA), I hereby identify the following countries 
                as major drug transit and/or major illicit drug 
                producing countries: Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Belize, 
                Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican 
                Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, 
                Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, 
                Pakistan, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.

                A country's presence on the majors list is not 
                necessarily an adverse reflection of its government's 
                counternarcotics efforts or level of cooperation with 
                the United States. Consistent with the statutory 
                definition of a major drug transit or drug producing 
                country set forth in section 481(e)(2) and (5) of the 
                Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (FAA), one 
                of the reasons major drug transit or illicit drug 
                producing countries are placed on the list is the 
                combination of geographic, commercial, and economic 
                factors that allow drugs to transit or be produced, 
                even if a government has carried out stringent 
                narcotics control law enforcement measures.

                Pursuant to section 706(2)(A) of the FRAA, I hereby 
                designate Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela as countries 
                that have failed demonstrably during the previous 12 
                months to adhere to their obligations under 
                international counternarcotics agreements and take the 
                measures set forth in section 489(a)(1) of the FAA. 
                Included in this report are justifications for the 
                determinations on Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela, as 
                required by section 706(2)(B) of the FRAA.

                I have also determined, in accordance with provisions 
                of section 706(3)(A) of the FRAA, that support for 
                programs to aid Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela is vital 
                to the national interests of the United States.

                Afghanistan produces approximately 90 percent of the 
                world's illicit opium. Nearly all of this cultivation 
                occurs in four southern and western provinces. 
                Instability in the area allows criminal networks, 
                insurgent groups, and illicit cultivation and drug 
                production to thrive. While Helmand Province continues 
                to be the largest poppy-cultivating area, the United 
                States and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 
                (UNODC) estimate that cultivation in Helmand decreased 
                between 35 and 39 percent, respectively, since 2008, to 
                roughly 63,000 hectares.

                The strategic objective of Afghanistan's Ministry of 
                Counter Narcotics, as stated in its National Drug 
                Control Strategy, is ``to create a secure environment 
                for a healthy society with a strong licit economy, 
                through evidence-based policy-setting, effective 
                coordination and full accountability to the people of 
                Afghanistan and our government.'' The ongoing Good 
                Performer Initiative, now in its sixth year, rewards 
                provinces for successful counternarcotics performance. 
                In 2011, 22 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces qualified for 
                $19.2 million in development projects as the result of 
                their poppy reduction efforts.

                Afghanistan's gains remain fragile. Reducing illegal 
                cultivation and trafficking are closely linked to 
                broader economic opportunity, security, and the ability 
                of the Afghan government to project the rule of law. 
                International support for the Afghan National Drug 
                Control Strategy, including from the United

[[Page 58918]]

                States, is designed to bolster the country's drug 
                control undertakings and is directly tied to the 
                success of the country's wide-ranging national 
                objectives to improve peace, security, and economic 
                development.

                This year, the Caribbean was examined for its relative 
                importance as a transit zone for illegal substances 
                destined for U.S. markets. Without factoring in illegal 
                maritime and air drug smuggling believed to be destined 
                for Europe and beyond, approximately 5 percent of all 
                drugs destined for the United States are estimated to 
                pass through the majors list countries of The Bahamas, 
                Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica. As traffickers 
                constantly reorder their routes and methods, the United 
                States and other donors continue to believe that 
                countering the drug trade in the Caribbean is in our 
                national interest, as well as that of the countries 
                themselves. Without the rule of law, well-run 
                institutions, and effective drug interdiction, the 
                viability of the broad range of national and regional 
                goals adopted by Caribbean countries is threatened.

                European, Canadian, and U.S. bilateral drug control 
                support, as well as the Caribbean Basin Security 
                Initiative, contribute to the region's ability to 
                prevent and address drug trafficking and related 
                violence and crime in the Caribbean. Similarly, key 
                undertakings by the Organization of American States and 
                UNODC in the region--especially those aimed at bringing 
                long-term stability to Haiti--are an important part of 
                the policy and assistance mosaic for smaller countries 
                seeking to build on the successes of broad regional 
                policies and programs.

                United States analysts estimate that approximately 95 
                percent of illegal drugs cultivated and produced in 
                South America destined for the United States are 
                smuggled through Central America, Mexico, and the 
                Eastern Pacific, primarily using maritime conveyances 
                and illegal air flights. In response, the United States 
                launched the Central America Regional Security 
                Initiative (CARSI) in 2008, which was further expanded 
                when I announced the Central America Citizen Security 
                Partnership in San Salvador in March 2011. Through 
                CARSI and the Partnership, the United States has 
                focused its crime prevention, counternarcotics, law 
                enforcement and security assistance, and bolstered rule 
                of law institutions in Central America. The region also 
                has strengthened cooperation through the Central 
                American Integration System (SICA) to promote citizen 
                security and other programs. Multilateral cooperation 
                to stem the flow of precursor chemicals from as far 
                away as China that are used to produce illegal 
                methamphetamine in Central America is an important 
                component of SICA's unprecedented regional cooperation. 
                Similar objectives are achieved through U.S. support 
                for Mexico's drug control policies and programs under 
                the Merida Initiative.

                Several other countries were evaluated for inclusion in 
                this year's list, but are not determined to be major 
                drug transit and/or major illicit drug producing 
                countries. For example, Canada has taken effective 
                steps to stem the flow of synthetic MDMA (ecstasy) 
                across its shared border with the United States, a 
                problem of growing concern during the past several 
                years. The country continues its robust efforts to 
                combat the production, distribution, and consumption of 
                various illegal drugs. As part of its 5-year National 
                Anti-Drug Strategy, Canada has rolled out new 
                initiatives specifically intended to fight the 
                trafficking of marijuana and synthetic drugs. As 
                detailed in the March 2011 report on precursors by the 
                International Narcotics Control Board, Canada broadened 
                its existing Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to 
                prohibit any person from possessing, producing, 
                selling, or importing material intended to be used in 
                the illegal manufacture or trafficking of 
                methamphetamine or ecstasy. The United States has also 
                collaborated with Canada on a National Northern Border 
                Counternarcotics Strategy that defines in detail the 
                wide range of initiatives underway to combat all phases 
                of drug trafficking. Bilateral initiatives focus on 
                programs to stem the two-way drug trade between Canada 
                and the United States.

[[Page 58919]]

                You are hereby authorized and directed to submit this 
                determination, with its Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela 
                memoranda of justification, under section 706 of the 
                FRAA, to the Congress, and publish it in the Federal 
                Register.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                 THE WHITE HOUSE,

                     Washington, September 14, 2012.

[FR Doc. 2012-23640
Filed 9-21-12; 11:15 am]
Billing code 4710-10-P