DATE=3/1/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-S / DRUG LIST (L)
NUMBER=2-259737
BYLINE=KYLE KING
DATELINE=STATE DEPARTMENT
CONTENT=

VOICED AT: 

INTRO:  The Clinton administration has certified that  
Colombia and Mexico are fully cooperating in anti-drug 
efforts, and will not be subject to U-S sanctions.  
The announcement came as the administration released 
its evaluation of 26 countries listed as major drug 
producers or transit points.  From the State 
Department, V-O-A's Kyle King reports.

TEXT:  Afghanistan and Burma were the only two 
countries on the U-S list of major drug producers 
which were not certified as cooperating in the 
international war on drugs.

Speaking to reporters as the administration released 
its annual report to Congress, Secretary of State 
Madeleine Albright called Afghanistan and Burma the 
world headquarters for the heroin business.

            /// ALBRIGHT ACT /// 

      This past year they retained that deadly 
      dishonor.  In Afghanistan the opium harvest grew 
      substantially and the Taliban's full complicity 
      in the drug trade has extended to the point 
      where both the harvesting and trafficking of 
      opium is taxed.  

            /// END ACT ///

The Secretary said traffickers in Burma enjoy more 
freedoms than ordinary citizens and she said bad 
weather was the only reason for a recent dip in drug 
production.

The 26 countries listed as drug producers or shipment 
points had faced a possible cut off of U-S aid unless 
the President certified their cooperation.

Four countries, Haiti, Paraguay, Nigeria and Cambodia 
did not fully meet the criteria but were granted 
special certification (waivers) because continued 
cooperation was in the U-S national interest.

Colombia, another key drug producer, was also 
certified as fully cooperating in the war on drugs, 
despite a 20-percent increase in coca production last 
year.

White House drug policy coordinator Barry McCaffrey 
said Colombia is now the world's leading cocaine 
producer.

            /// MCCAFFREY ACT ///  

      We suggest that this year's data indicates that 
      Colombia is now producing about 70-percent of 
      the cocaine produced in the world, 520 metric 
      tons and their heroin production has gone up 
      substantially by about 23-percent.

            /// END ACT ///

He called the numbers an argument for regional 
cooperation in the fight against illegal drugs, and he 
praised the efforts of Mexico, which was also 
certified as fully cooperating.
 
Some leading members of the U-S Congress have 
criticized Mexico's performance in the fight against 
drug traffickers, and called for its de-certification.

The controversial U-S certification process has 
angered many countries, which consider the exercise a 
violation of their national sovereignty.

            /// REST OPTIONAL ///

Other Latin American countries certified as fully 
cooperating in the war on drugs were the Bahamas, 
Bolivia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, 
Guatemala, Jamaica, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.  Also 
on the list were China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, 
Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos.

In addition to the annual certification list that was 
made public today, the State Department released its 
annual narcotics control report.

The report says coca production in the Andes region of 
Latin America reached a new low, largely because of 
the success of anti-drug efforts in Peru and Bolivia.

World-wide opium production was estimated at its 
lowest level in over a decade, but the report said 
traffickers are increasingly targeting Europe. 
(Signed)

NEB/KBK/ENE/gm





01-Mar-2000 17:01 PM EDT (01-Mar-2000 2201 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.