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) NNNN Source: Voice of America .
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