Is Anyone Still Importing Turkish Poppy Straw?
Federal regulation says at least 80 percent of the narcotic raw material entering the US must originate in Turkey and India. Through July they are 10.2 percent of the permitted-origin book, and Spain by itself has out-shipped Turkey.
Spain is not supposed to out-ship Turkey. Through July it has.
9,805 kilograms of Spanish material cleared US customs under HS 2939.11 in the first seven months of 2026, against 9,473 kilograms from Turkey. Australia sent 72,048 kilograms, which is 77.3 percent of everything the country bought from the seven origins federal regulation permits (chart below).
"The rule assigns eighty percent of this book to Turkey and India. Who has actually been filling it?"
The Text Is Not Ambiguous
21 CFR 1312.13(f) names the seven countries a US importer may source narcotic raw material from: Turkey, India, Spain, France, Poland, Hungary, Australia. The definition sits inside the same sentence, in parentheses: opium, poppy straw and concentrate of poppy straw.
Then (g), first sentence:
"At least eighty (80) percent of the narcotic raw material imported into the United States shall have as its original source Turkey and India."
Turkey plus India came to 10.2 percent of the permitted-origin book this year. Last year, 11.7 percent. In 2021, 0.7 percent.
India has shipped zero in the first seven months of 2026.
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