USIA - Narcotics Control Fact Sheet, 97-02-28

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NARCOTICS CONTROL FACT SHEET

(1997 Presidential Certifications) (390)

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NARCOTICS CONTROL FACT SHEET 1997
Presidential Certifications for Major Narcotics Producing and Transit Countries

• Under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the President must identify and notify the Congress of those countries he has determined are major illicit drug producing and/or drug transit countries. President Clinton identified the present list of 32 major illicit drug producing and/or drug transit countries and notified the Congress in December 1996. One country, Aruba, was added to this year's list.
• By March 1 of each year, the President must determine whether to certify if each of the listed countries is cooperating fully with the United States, or has taken adequate steps on its own, in the fight against drugs to achieve the goals and objectives of the 1988 U.N. Drug Convention. In reaching these determinations the President must consider efforts taken by these states to stop the cultivation and export of, and reduce the domestic demand for, illegal drugs. The President is required to examine each country's performance in areas such as stemming illicit cultivation and production, 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.
• On February 28, President Clinton certified that twenty-three countries cooperated fully with the United States or took adequate steps on their own to meet the international counternarcotics performance standards of the law. The countries are: Aruba, The Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela, and Vietnam.
• The law also provides the President with the authority to certify that the vital national interests of the United States require that the country be certified -- even if it does not fully meet the criteria for certification. The President has granted a vital national interests certification for three countries: Belize, Lebanon, and Pakistan.
• The President denied certification to the following six countries which do not meet the statutory standards for certification: Afghanistan, Burma, Colombia, Iran, Nigeria and Syria.

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