TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE CHAIRMEN AND RANKING

MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEES ON APPROPRIATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL

RELATIONS AND THE SENATE COMMITTEES ON APPROPRIATIONS AND FOREIGN

RELATIONS

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release December 7, 1998

TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

TO THE CHAIRMEN AND RANKING MEMBERS

OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEES ON APPROPRIATIONS

AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND THE SENATE

COMMITTEES ON APPROPRIATIONS AND FOREIGN RELATIONS

December 4, 1998

In accordance with the provisions of section 490(h) of the Foreign

Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, I have determined that the following

countries are major illicit drug-producing or drug-transit countries:

Afghanistan, Aruba, The Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma,

Cambodia, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti,

Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama,

Paraguay, Peru, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

This year I have removed Iran and Malaysia from the list of major drug

producing countries and designated them as countries of concern.

Iran. On the list as a major drug producer since 1987, Iran has been

a traditional opium producing country, with illicit poppy cultivation

well beyond the statutory threshold limit of 1,000 hectares. A United

States Government review in 1993 determined that there were at least

3,500 hectares of illicit opium poppy under cultivation in the country.

Over the past few years, the Government of Iran has reported success

in eradicating illicit opium poppy cultivation. We were unable to test

these claims until this year, when a United States Government review

found no evidence of any sig-nificant poppy cultivation in the

traditional growing areas. While we cannot rule out some cultivation in

remote parts of the country, it is unlikely that there would be enough to

meet the threshold definition of a major drug producing country.

Although important quantities of opiates continue to transit Iran en

route to Europe, the United States Government currently has no evidence

to support a judgment that significant quantities of these drugs are

headed to the United States. Therefore, Iran is not a major drug-transit

country under section 481(e)(5) of the Foreign Assistance Act.

Malaysia. Although Malaysia?s geographic location makes it a feasible

transit route for heroin to the United States, as had been the case in

the past, we have no indication that drugs significantly affecting the

United States have transited the country in the past few years.

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I have further determined that the following countries or regions are

of concern for the purpose of U.S. counternarcotics efforts:

Netherlands Antilles. Though there is continuing drug activity taking

place around the Netherlands Antilles, especially in the vicinity of St.

Maarten, we have only anecdotal information that significant quantities

of drugs bound for the United States are involved.

Turkey and Other Balkan Route Countries. I continue to be concerned

about the large volume of Southwest Asian heroin moving through Turkey

and neighboring countries (including Bulgaria, Greece, the Federal

Republic of Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Croatia, and the Former Yugoslavian

Republic of Macedonia) to Western Europe along the Balkan Route. There

is no clear evidence, however, that this heroin significantly affects the

United States -- as required for a country to be designated a major

transit country.

Syria and Lebanon. I removed Syria and Lebanon from the list of major

drug producers last year after the United States Government determined

that there was no significant opium poppy cultivation in Lebanon's Biqa'

Valley. A review again this year confirmed that there is still no

evidence of significant replanting of opium poppy and no evidence that

drugs transiting these countries significantly affect the United States.

The relevant agencies continue, however, to monitor the situation.

Cuba. Cuba's geographical position astride one of the principal

Caribbean trafficking routes to the United States makes the country a

logical candidate for consideration for the majors list. Interdiction

operations elsewhere in the region are driving drug smugglers

increasingly to fly over Cuba to drop cocaine into Cuban and Bahamian

waters. This trend makes it important for Cuba to take effective

measures to stem the flow and to cooperate with others in doing so.

Major Cannabis Producers. While Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, the

Philippines, and South Africa are important cannabis producers, they do

not appear on this list because I have determined, pursuant to section

481(e)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act, that in all cases the illicit

cannabis is either consumed locally or exported to countries other than

the United States, and thus such illicit cannabis production does not

significantly affect the United States.

Central Asia. United States Government agencies this year again

conducted reviews of potential cultivation sites in Tajikistan and

Uzbekistan, traditional opium poppy growing areas of the former Soviet

Union. These reviews indicated no evidence of significant opium poppy

cultivation.

Finally, I would note that geography makes Central America a logical

conduit and transshipment area for South American drugs bound for Mexico

and the United States, and that there has been evidence of increased

trafficking activity in this region over the past year. Its location

between Colombia and Mexico, combined with thousands of miles of

coastline, the availability of a number of container-handling ports in

Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras, the presence of the Pan-American

Highway, and limited law enforcement capability, have made the isthmus

attractive to the drug trade. Hurricane Mitch has disrupted traffic flow

through the region, but over the longer term resumption or even an

increase in trafficking activity remains possible.

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Consequently, I am concerned about drug trafficking through Costa

Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The appro-priate agencies

will continue to compile data on drug flows and their effect on the

United States in order to determine whether any are major drug-transit

countries. At the same time, I expressly reiterate my commitment to

support the efforts of these governments to recover from the ravages of

Hurricane Mitch, and to ensure that drug traffickers do not take

advantage of this tragedy to make inroads into the region.

Sincerely,

WILLIAM J. CLINTON