White House Fact Sheet on the Bolivia-United States Essential Chemicals Agreement

The U.S. and Bolivia signed a bilateral agreement on essential chemicals today. William J. Bennett, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, signed on behalf of the United States, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Iturralde signed on behalf of Bolivia.

The agreement:

specifies certain information to be collected by the parties and provides for information sharing, mutual cooperation, and the coordination of investigative and enforcement efforts with respect to essential chemicals;

requires parties to promptly investigate the intended consignee or destination to confirm that the essential chemicals will be used solely for legitimate purposes;

requires the enactment of domestic legislation, where necessary, to implement the agreement, including the ability to seize illicit shipments of essential chemicals;

obligates the parties to invite key nations and international organizations to join these efforts and to support them fully;

is consistent with and complements the Organization of American States' proposed Inter-American Drug Abuse Control (CICAD) agreement on precursor and other chemicals.

The agreement complements existing U.S. legislation and should provide us with additional tools to control movement and usage of those chemicals key to the processing of illicit drugs.

The Declaration of Cartagena reaffirms the need to enhance cooperation in the areas of monitoring, investigation, and enforcement with respect to illicit shipments of essential chemicals. The United States hopes to conclude similar agreements with other countries.