Critics concerned about China’s pledge to implement stricter controls on fentanyl

Chinese officials say new regulations are taking effect. On September 1, stricter controls were implemented on chemicals used to produce street-level fentanyl, a powerful opioid that kills tens of thousands of people in the United States each year.

Chemical plants in China have become major suppliers to Mexican drug cartels and other criminal gangs that produce synthetic drugs including fentanyl and methamphetamine, experts say.

The Biden administration unveiled new Chinese rules that would tighten government oversight of seven chemicals, including three compounds used to make illegal fentanyl, in a major step forward in the fight to reduce overdose deaths in the United States.

“We will seek to make further progress in combating drug trafficking and the flow of illicit synthetic drugs into the United States,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a news conference in Beijing on Thursday.

In a statement earlier this month, the White House described the latest Chinese regulations as part of a trend toward enhanced cooperation on narcotics that began last November, when President Joe Biden I met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“This marks the third major regulatory action the PRC has taken since President Biden met with President Xi and resumed bilateral counter-narcotics cooperation,” said Sean Savett, spokesman for the National Security Council.

Ahead of the resumption of drug negotiations in 2023, China is suspending all drug cooperation with the United States due to diplomatic tensions over Taiwan and human rights issues.

Dr. Rahul Gupta, the White House’s top drug enforcement official, also welcomed China’s decision to resume its fight against drug trafficking. In an August 6 statement, he noted that “dozens of deadly substances are now distributed” (regulated) by the People’s Republic of China.

Drug policy experts interviewed by NPR expressed skepticism about China’s new fentanyl rules, questioning whether they will be based on meaningful enforcement.

Stricter regulations on paper. What about their application?

John Coyne, an expert on criminal drug markets at the Australia Strategic Policy Institute, published an essay last week criticizing China’s new regulations on fentanyl precursors, describing them as “a simple public relations stunt.”

According to Coyne, a He added that a wide range of chemicals that can be used in the production of illegal drugs are still unregulated in China. He also said there is evidence that Chinese authorities are complicit in the fentanyl trade.

“There are links between some of these (chemical) Chinese companies, and government officials are actually advertising those links online,” Coyne told NPR. He’s not alone in expressing doubts.

In April, investigators from a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee published evidence that Chinese government agencies were effectively subsidizing the export of fentanyl precursors. Chinese officials deny the allegations.

A spokesman for the Republican majority team that conducted the investigation into the fentanyl investigation told NPR this week that he was concerned that Chinese subsidies to chemical companies that export fentanyl-related chemicals remain in place.

They also said their investigators had found no new evidence that China was considering cracking down on companies that fuel the criminal fentanyl supply chain. Chinese officials did not respond to an email seeking comment.

A senior Biden administration official, speaking behind closed doors due to the sensitivity of the negotiations with China, told NPR that the new regulations on fentanyl chemicals are important because they “give us a way to push them to do more.”

“We clearly think the PRC can do much more,” the official said. “No single measure will solve this problem, it is a huge problem.”

Put the toothpaste back in the tube

Even if Chinese authorities take measures to curb fentanyl production, many experts believe it will be impossible to reduce the supply of the basic chemical.

“It’s worth a try (but) I think the most likely outcome is that there will be no lasting disruption to the ability to produce fentanyl,” said Jonathan Caulkins, an expert on the fentanyl crisis at Carnegie Mellon University.

Caulkins said the precursor chemicals for fentanyl are relatively easy to produce and widely available. Testing every compound that can produce a version of fentanyl is like “putting toothpaste back in the tube,” he said.

Greg Midgette, an expert on drug markets at the University of Maryland, agrees. He says identifying and monitoring the sources of fentanyl would be a daunting challenge, even for China’s powerful bureaucracy.

“These things are very hard to track,” he said. “We would probably see a change in China or some other state where precursors are not as well regulated.”

Still, experts told NPR it makes sense for the United States to keep up the pressure on criminal drug cartels, their supply chains and countries like China and Mexico where they operate. Such measures can help reduce corruption and criminal activity and bring some measure of justice, they said.

Meanwhile, government officials have said it is necessary to convince China to resume cooperation on narcotics. and convincing Beijing to tighten regulations is part of a broader campaign against fentanyl.

Other elements of this effort include targeting and arresting leaders of Mexican drug cartels. Some public health experts also believe that expanding health and drug abuse programs will ultimately slow the number of fentanyl-related deaths.

Copyright 2024 NPR