Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 187 / Thursday, September 28, 2017 / Presidential Documents 45413 

Presidential Determination No. 2017–12 of September 13, 2017 

Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major 

Illicit Drug Producing Countries for Fiscal Year 2018 

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 foregoing list is not necessarily a 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), the reason 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 

the most assiduous narcotics control law enforcement measures. 

Pursuant to section 706(2)(A) of the FRAA, I hereby designate Bolivia and 

Venezuela as countries that have failed demonstrably during the previous 

12 months to 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. 

In addition, the United States Government seriously considered designating 

Colombia as a country that has failed demonstrably to adhere to its obligations 

under international counternarcotics agreements due to the extraordinary 

growth of coca cultivation and cocaine production over the past 3 years, 

including record cultivation during the last 12 months. Ultimately, Colombia 

is not designated because the Colombian National Police and Armed Forces 

are close law enforcement and security partners of the United States in 

the Western Hemisphere, they are improving interdiction efforts, and have 

restarted some eradication that they had significantly curtailed beginning 

in 2013. I will, however, keep this designation under section 706(2)(A) 

of the FRAA as an option, and expect Colombia to make significant progress 

in reducing coca cultivation and production of cocaine. 

I have also determined, in accordance with provisions of section 706(3)(A) 

of the FRAA, that support for programs to aid the people of Venezuela 

are vital to the national interests of the United States. 

45414 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 187 / Thursday, September 28, 2017 / Presidential Documents 

You are hereby authorized and directed to submit this designation, with 

its Bolivia and Venezuela memoranda of justification, under section 706 

of the FRAA, to the Congress, and publish it in the Federal Register. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

Washington, September 13, 2017 

[FR Doc. 2017–21028 

Filed 9–27–17; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 4710–10–P 


Trump.EPS</GPH>