Beijing has tightened controls over fentanyl precursors destined for countries in North America following the recent summit in South Korea between the US and Chinese presidents.
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The Ministry of Commerce announced on Monday that China would make adjustments to the catalogue of drug-related precursor chemicals and require licences for the export of certain chemicals to the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Specifically, exports of 13 chemicals to the three countries now require a permit, according to the new rule, effective immediately.
The chemicals include key precursors used to make the deadly synthetic opioid and variants related to the drug’s synthesis.
Before Monday’s announcement, the catalogue consisted of controls on fentanyl flows to Myanmar, Laos and Afghanistan – all major hubs for production and trafficking of traditional illicit drugs – with 41 chemicals on China’s regulation list.
The development came weeks after the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Donald Trump. After the meeting, the two hailed their “consensus” on fentanyl, the leading cause of American overdose deaths.
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