For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 1, 2001
Statement by the Press Secretary
Annual Presidential Determinations for Major Drug Producing and Transit Countries
Acting on recommendations from the Secretary of State, President Bush
today sent to the Congress his annual certification determinations with
respect to the current list of major illicit drug-producing and
drug-transit countries.
Under the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) of 1961, as amended, the United
States is required to impose substantial restrictions on bilateral
assistance (other than specified categories of humanitarian and law
enforcement assistance) to majors list countries unless, not later than
March 1st of each year, the President makes certain determinations with
respect to these countries and certifies them to the
Congress. The current list of major illicit drug-producing
and drug-transit countries was developed and notified to the Congress
in November 2000.
The President may determine that a majors list country is cooperating
fully with the United States, or has taken adequate steps on its own,
to achieve full compliance with the goals and objectives of the 1988 UN
Drug Convention. In reaching this determination, the
President is required to consider each country's performance in areas
such as stemming illicit cultivation, extraditing drug traffickers, and
taking legal steps and law enforcement measures to prevent and punish
public corruption that facilitates drug trafficking or impedes
prosecution of drug-related crimes. The President must also consider
efforts taken by these countries to stop the production and export of,
and reduce the domestic demand for, illegal drugs.
President Bush certified that 20 of the 24 countries on the majors list
have cooperated fully with United States, or have taken adequate steps
on their own, to achieve full compliance with the goals and objectives
of the 1988 UN Drug Convention. These countries
are: The Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia,
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico,
Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, Venezuela, and
Vietnam.
The President may also determine and certify to the Congress that the
vital national interests of the United States require that a country be
certified -- even if that country does not meet the criteria for a
certification based on either full cooperation with the United States,
or taking adequate steps on its own, to achieve full compliance with
the goals and objectives of the 1988 UN Drug Convention. The
basis for such a determination is that our vital national interests
require that the assistance that otherwise would be withheld be
provided to the country under review. Two countries were
certified on this basis: Cambodia and Haiti.
The President did not certify two countries that failed to meet the
statutory standard: Afghanistan and Burma. This
determination results in substantial restrictions on most types of U.S.
assistance to these countries, other than humanitarian and law
enforcement assistance. The FAA also states that the United
States must vote against loans to these two countries by any of six
specified multilateral development banks.
A statement of explanation for each of the determinations with respect
to the majors list countries is appended to the President's
notification to the Congress.
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