Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2025, 77761-77764 [2024-21951]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 24, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 77761-77764]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-21951]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 185 / Tuesday, September 24, 2024 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 77761]]


                Presidential Determination No. 2024-12 of September 15, 
                2024

                
Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit 
                or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal 
                Year 2025

                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 (including countries that are a significant 
                direct source of precursor chemicals used in the 
                production of certain drugs and substances 
                significantly affecting the United States): 
                Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Burma, the 
                People's Republic of China (PRC), 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 not 
                necessarily a reflection of its government's 
                counterdrug efforts or level of cooperation with the 
                United States. The list is not a sanction or penalty. 
                Consistent with the statutory definition of a major 
                drug transit or major illicit drug producing country 
                set forth in sections 481(e)(2) and 481(e)(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 or precursor 
                chemicals to be transited or produced, even if a 
                government has engaged in robust and diligent narcotics 
                control and law enforcement measures. The James M. 
                Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
                Year 2023 (Public Law 117-263) amended the definition 
                of major drug source countries to include source 
                countries of precursor chemicals used to produce 
                illicit drugs significantly affecting the United 
                States.

                Pursuant to section 706(2)(A) of the FRAA, I hereby 
                designate Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela as having 
                failed demonstrably 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, 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 United States programs that 
                support Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela are vital to the 
                national interests of the United States.

                Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control 
                and Prevention indicate there were an estimated 107,543 
                drug overdose deaths in the United States during 2023--
                a decrease of 3 percent from the 111,029 deaths 
                estimated in 2022. This is the first annual decrease in 
                drug overdose deaths since 2018 and a sign that my 
                Administration's historic investments are having an 
                impact. Federally funded State Opioid Response grant 
                programs have contributed to the prevention of over 
                600,000 potentially fatal overdoses and delivered 
                nearly 10 million naloxone kits since 2020. Naloxone is 
                available over-the-counter for the first time, thanks 
                to actions taken by the Food and Drug Administration. 
                Our workforce of addiction professionals continues to 
                grow, providing the essential prevention, treatment, 
                harm reduction, and recovery support services the 
                American people need.

[[Page 77762]]

                We are also taking unprecedented action to disrupt the 
                supply of fentanyl, other deadly drugs, and precursor 
                chemicals. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has 
                stopped more fentanyl at ports of entry over the last 2 
                years than in the previous 5 years combined, keeping 
                tens of millions of fentanyl-laced pills and thousands 
                of pounds of fentanyl powder away from our communities. 
                In 2023 alone, CBP seized approximately 1.2 billion 
                doses of fentanyl. In just the last 5 months, over 442 
                million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl were 
                seized at United States borders. In 2021, I signed an 
                Executive Order targeting foreign persons engaged in 
                the global illicit drug trade and have since sanctioned 
                more than 300 persons and entities under this 
                authority, thus cutting them off from the United 
                States' financial system. The Department of Justice has 
                successfully arrested and prosecuted high-level drug 
                cartel leaders, drug traffickers, and money 
                launderers--placing dangerous traffickers behind bars.

                While we expand our efforts at home, we also recognize 
                this problem as a global one that requires a 
                coordinated international response.

                For this reason, my Administration launched a Global 
                Coalition in July 2023 uniting more than 150 countries 
                from every region of the world to address synthetic 
                drug threats. Participation in this group has tripled 
                in the past 12 months--evidence that every continent is 
                experiencing an alarming increase in the manufacturing, 
                trafficking, and consumption of dangerous illicit 
                synthetic drugs. I have also engaged with leaders 
                across the world to spur additional global action in 
                the fight against synthetic opioids, negotiated the 
                resumption of bilateral counternarcotics cooperation 
                with the PRC, and established a Trilateral Fentanyl 
                Committee with the Governments of Mexico and Canada.

                While the challenges we face are more significant than 
                ever, increased global awareness has yielded enhanced 
                international action. In March, the United Nations (UN) 
                Commission on Narcotic Drugs adopted a United States-
                sponsored resolution on preventing and responding to 
                overdoses to drive international data collection and 
                information sharing on this issue that remains deeply 
                personal to the American people. The Commission also 
                voted to place international controls on chemicals used 
                to manufacture illicit fentanyl, methamphetamine, and 
                MDMA, making it harder for trafficking networks to use 
                these substances to create and distribute these 
                dangerous synthetic drugs.

                Fostering robust, long-term partnerships with crucial 
                allies such as Mexico is imperative for effectively 
                combating the fentanyl epidemic and dismantling the 
                sophisticated criminal organizations that exploit it 
                for financial gain. The U.S.-Mexico Bicentennial 
                Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe 
                Communities is the foundation for our bilateral efforts 
                to protect our people, prevent trans-border crime, and 
                pursue criminal networks. Through trilateral mechanisms 
                such as the North American Drug Dialogue and the 
                Trilateral Fentanyl Committee, the United States, 
                Mexico, and Canada have strengthened cooperation to 
                address illicit drug production, advance public health, 
                increase collaboration on the control of precursor 
                chemicals, and engage with the private sector to combat 
                the production of illicit synthetic drugs. Our security 
                cooperation has led to significant interdiction efforts 
                in Mexico. For example, United States-donated canines 
                supported the seizure of more than 3 million fentanyl 
                pills in Mexico in 2023 alone. We will continue our 
                close partnership with Mexico to prevent the diversion 
                of precursor chemicals and drug-related equipment; 
                improve interdiction, investigations, and criminal 
                justice outcomes; disrupt illicit finance; advance 
                border integration; and build public trust in security 
                and justice institutions.

                In South America, coca cultivation and cocaine 
                production have reached record highs, necessitating 
                urgent action by countries in the region. Colombia, a 
                strong partner, continues to work closely with the 
                United States to reduce cocaine production, conduct 
                drug smuggling interdiction operations, and dismantle 
                the criminal organizations involved in cocaine 
                trafficking. United States assistance has led to 
                increased interdictions, with the Colombian

[[Page 77763]]

                National Police seizing more than 841 metric tons of 
                pure cocaine and cocaine base in 2023--a 10 percent 
                increase from the previous year. The new metrics for 
                measuring progress agreed upon during the U.S.-Colombia 
                High Level Dialogue in May 2024 demonstrate our renewed 
                bilateral commitment to a holistic approach to address 
                the production and trafficking of cocaine, while 
                providing security, justice, and licit economic 
                opportunities for Colombia's vulnerable rural 
                populations. We are also collaborating to combat crimes 
                that wreak havoc on Colombia's environment and provide 
                significant funding to criminal organizations, 
                including those involved in cocaine production and 
                illegal mining. The United States welcomed the release 
                of Colombia's 10-year drug strategy in 2023 and now 
                urges the Colombian government to resource it 
                adequately and expedite its implementation.

                Peru also remains a committed partner in reducing the 
                production and trafficking of cocaine, and our first 
                High Level Dialogue in May 2024 marked a positive step 
                in our bilateral counternarcotics cooperation.

                While the Government of Bolivia has taken positive 
                steps to address coca cultivation, it must do more to 
                safeguard the country's licit coca markets from 
                criminal exploitation, reduce illicit coca cultivation 
                that continues to exceed legal limits under Bolivia's 
                domestic laws for medical and traditional use, improve 
                efforts to locate and interdict chemicals diverted 
                through black market channels for processing cocaine, 
                and expand cooperation with international partners to 
                disrupt transnational criminal networks.

                Opium poppy cultivation for the production of illicit 
                opioids and methamphetamine in Afghanistan continues to 
                require global attention and action. This past year has 
                seen continued steps from Afghanistan to strengthen 
                drug control and curb the production of illicit opioids 
                and methamphetamine, including through the maintenance 
                of an existing ban on poppy cultivation and efforts to 
                reform drug policies. However, I will reconsider 
                Afghanistan's status in each annual review to assess 
                whether it is upholding its international drug control 
                commitments.

                The PRC has worked with the United States to coordinate 
                efforts to counter the global manufacturing and 
                trafficking of illicit synthetic drugs, including 
                fentanyl, since the Woodside Summit between President 
                Biden and President Xi in November 2023. Over the last 
                year, the PRC took significant steps to reduce the 
                flows of precursor chemicals to illicit drug producers 
                known to be trafficking synthetic drugs, such as 
                illicit fentanyl, into the United States. These steps 
                included the PRC issuing a public notice to the PRC 
                chemical industry warning against illicit trade in 
                precursor chemicals and pill press equipment; taking 
                public law enforcement actions against illicit 
                precursor chemical suppliers; removing web-based 
                advertisements; and scheduling 46 synthetic drugs 
                effective July 1, 2024, some of which had been 
                controlled internationally by the UN. The United States 
                and the PRC also launched the U.S.-PRC Counternarcotics 
                Working Group, a valuable mechanism for sharing law 
                enforcement information, tackling the illicit financing 
                of illicit drugs, and ensuring ongoing coordination on 
                shared challenges. That said, sustained enforcement and 
                regulatory action will be necessary to significantly 
                reduce the PRC's role as a source of precursor 
                chemicals used in the production, sale, and trafficking 
                of illicit synthetic drugs significantly impacting the 
                United States.

[[Page 77764]]

                You are authorized and directed to submit this 
                designation, with the Bolivia, Burma, 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, 2024

[FR Doc. 2024-21951
Filed 9-23-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 4710-10-P