WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) – The United States  has named Jamaica among four Caribbean countries it considers to be a major drug transit or major illicit drug producing country for the fiscal year 2025.

President Joe Biden also named The Bahamas, Belize and Haiti as countries that he said are a significant direct source of precursor chemicals used in the production of certain drugs and substances significantly affecting the US. He clarified, however, that a  country’s presence on the list is not necessarily a reflection of its government’s counterdrug efforts or level of cooperation with the United States, adding “the list is not a sanction or penalty.”

Biden then went on to highlight that consistent with the statutory definition of a major drug transit or major illicit drug producing country set forth the law, 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.

He said the James M Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 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.

“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,” he said, adding that United States programmes 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 three per cent from the 111,029 deaths estimated in 2022.

President Biden said that this is the first annual decrease in drug overdose deaths since 2018 and a sign that his administration’s historic investments are having an impact.

But he acknowledged that while the authorities here expand efforts at home to deal with the drug situation “we also recognise this problem as a global one that requires a coordinated international response.

He said for this reason, his 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.”

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.

Biden said that fostering robust, long-term partnerships with crucial allies is imperative for effectively combating the fentanyl epidemic and dismantling the sophisticated criminal organisations that exploit it for financial gain.

“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.

Other countries making the list are Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala,  Honduras, India, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.