Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2022, 52819-52820 [2021-20737]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 22, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 52819-52820]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20737]



[[Page 52817]]

Vol. 86

Wednesday,

No. 181

September 22, 2021

Part IV





The President





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Presidential Determination No. 2022-13 of September 15, 2021--
Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug 
Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2022


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 86 , No. 181 / Wednesday, September 22, 2021 
/ Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 52819]]

                Presidential Determination No. 2021-13 of September 15, 
                2021

                
Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit 
                or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal 
                Year 2022

                Memorandum for the Secretary of State

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States, 
                including 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 or major illicit drug producing 
                countries: Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, 
                Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, 
                Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, 
                India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, 
                Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.

                A country's presence on the foregoing list is neither a 
                reflection of its government's counterdrug efforts nor 
                level of cooperation with the United States. Consistent 
                with the statutory definition of a major drug transit 
                or major illicit drug producing country set forth in 
                section 481(e)(2) and (5) of the Foreign Assistance Act 
                of 1961, as amended (Public Law 87-195) (FAA), the 
                reason countries are placed on the list is the 
                combination of geographic, commercial, and economic 
                factors that allow drugs to be transited or produced, 
                even if a government has engaged in robust and diligent 
                narcotics control and law enforcement measures.

                Pursuant to section 706(2)(A) of the FRAA, I hereby 
                designate Bolivia and Venezuela as having failed 
                demonstrably to make substantial efforts during the 
                previous 12 months to both adhere to their obligations 
                under international counternarcotics agreements and to 
                take the measures required by section 489(a)(1) of the 
                FAA. Included with this determination are 
                justifications for the designations of Bolivia 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 
                United States programs that support Bolivia and 
                Venezuela are vital to the national interests of the 
                United States.

                The ongoing drug addiction and overdose epidemic in the 
                United States is one of the foremost public health 
                priorities of my Administration, and addressing this 
                epidemic will require both new domestic investments and 
                greater cooperation with foreign partners to target 
                illicit drug suppliers and the criminal organizations 
                that profit from them. While creating our first-year 
                drug policy priorities, my Administration outlined a 
                strategy that includes expanding access to prevention, 
                treatment, evidence-based harm reduction, and recovery 
                support services in order to curb the drug addiction 
                and overdose epidemic. The American Rescue Plan Act of 
                2021 is an investment in these priorities, committing 
                nearly $4 billion to support behavioral health and 
                substance use disorder programs.

                My Administration's Fiscal Year 2022 Budget request 
                itemizes $10.7 billion to support research, prevention, 
                treatment, evidence-based harm reduction, and recovery 
                support services, with targeted investments to meet the 
                needs of populations at greatest risk for overdose and 
                substance use disorder. The Budget request also 
                includes significant investments to reduce the supply 
                of illicit drugs originating from beyond our borders.

                The United States is committed to working together with 
                the countries of the Western Hemisphere as neighbors 
                and partners to meet our shared challenges of drug 
                trafficking and use. My Administration will seek to 
                expand

[[Page 52820]]

                cooperation with key partners, such as Mexico and 
                Colombia, to shape a collective and comprehensive 
                response and expand efforts to address the production 
                and trafficking of dangerous synthetic drugs that are 
                responsible for many of our overdose deaths, 
                particularly fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and 
                methamphetamine. In Mexico, we must continue to work 
                together to intensify efforts to dismantle 
                transnational criminal organizations and their 
                networks, increase prosecutions of criminal leaders and 
                facilitators, and strengthen efforts to seize illicit 
                assets. In Bolivia, I encourage the government to take 
                additional steps to safeguard the country's licit coca 
                markets from criminal exploitation and reduce illicit 
                coca cultivation that continues to exceed legal limits 
                under Bolivia's domestic laws for medicinal and 
                traditional use. In addition, the United States will 
                look to expand cooperation with China, India, and other 
                chemical source countries in order to disrupt the 
                global flow of synthetic drugs and their precursor 
                chemicals.

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

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    Washington, September 15, 2021

[FR Doc. 2021-20737
Filed 9-21-21; 11:15 am]
Billing code 4710-10-P