[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 182 (Friday, September 19, 2003)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 54973-54976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-24111]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 182 / Friday, September 19, 2003 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 54973]]


                Presidential Determination No. 2003-38 of September 15, 
                2003

                
Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit 
                or Major Illicit Drug Producing Countries for 2004

                Memorandum for the Secretary of State

                Consistent with section 706(1) of the Foreign Relations 
                Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-
                228) (the ``FRAA''), I hereby identify the following 
                countries as major drug-transit or major illicit drug 
                producing countries: Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Bolivia, 
                Brazil, Burma, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, 
                Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, 
                Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, 
                Thailand, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

                The Majors List applies by its terms to ``countries''. 
                The United States Government interprets the term 
                broadly to include entities that exercise autonomy over 
                actions or omissions that could lead to a decision to 
                place them on the list and, subsequently, to determine 
                their eligibility for certification. A country's 
                presence on the Majors List is not necessarily an 
                adverse reflection of its government's counternarcotics 
                efforts or level of cooperation with the United States.

                Consistent with the statutory definition of a major 
                drug-transit or drug-producing country set forth in 
                section 481(e)(5) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
                1961, as amended (the ``FAA''), one of the reasons that 
                major drug-transit or drug producing countries are 
                placed on the list is the combination of geographical, 
                commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs to 
                transit or be produced despite the concerned 
                government's most assiduous enforcement measures. 
                Consistent with section 706(2)(A) of the FRAA, I hereby 
                designate Burma and Haiti as countries that have failed 
                demonstrably during the previous 12 months to adhere to 
                their obligations under international counternarcotics 
                agreements and take the measures set forth in section 
                489(a)(1) of the FAA. Attached to this report are 
                justifications (statements of explanation) for each of 
                the countries so designated, as required by section 
                706(2)(B).

                I have also determined, in accordance with provisions 
                of section 706(3)(A) of the FRAA, that provision of 
                U.S. assistance to Haiti in FY 2004 is vital to the 
                national interests of the United States.

                Combating the threat of synthetic drugs remains a 
                priority, particularly the threat from club drugs, 
                including MDMA (Ecstasy). Since January, we have 
                redoubled our efforts with The Netherlands, from which 
                the majority of U.S. MDMA seizures originate. I commend 
                the Government of The Netherlands for its efforts to 
                address this scourge, including increased enforcement, 
                improved risk assessment and targeting capabilities of 
                passenger aircraft and cargo, and international 
                cooperation to control precursor chemicals. I urge the 
                Government of The Netherlands to focus its efforts on 
                dismantling the significant criminal organizations 
                responsible for this illicit trade, using all tools 
                available to law enforcement. Continued progress in 
                implementing our joint action plan, developed in March, 
                should have a significant impact on the production and 
                transit of MDMA from The Netherlands to the United 
                States. Although we have seen a stabilization of MDMA 
                use rates domestically, there is an increase in the 
                number of countries in which MDMA is produced and 
                trafficked. We will continue to monitor the threat from 
                synthetic drugs and the emerging trends.

[[Page 54974]]

                The United States and Canada are both targeted by 
                international trafficking organizations. We continue to 
                work closely with the Government of Canada to stem the 
                flow of illicit drugs to our countries and across our 
                common borders. The United States remains concerned 
                about the diversion of large quantities of precursor 
                chemicals from Canada into the United States for use in 
                producing methamphetamines. We hope that Canada's newly 
                implemented control regulations will disrupt that flow. 
                The United States is also concerned about widespread 
                Canadian cultivation of high-potency marijuana, 
                significant amounts of which are smuggled into the 
                United States from Canada. We will work with the 
                Government of Canada in the coming year to combat these 
                shared threats to the security and health of our 
                citizens.

                In the 8 months since my January determination that 
                Guatemala had failed demonstrably in regard to its 
                counternarcotics responsibilities, the Government of 
                Guatemala has made efforts to improve its institutional 
                capabilities, adhere to its obligations under 
                international counternarcotics agreements, and take 
                measures set forth in U.S. law. These initial steps 
                show Guatemala's willingness to better its 
                counternarcotics practices, but the permanence of these 
                improvements has yet to be demonstrated. I expect 
                Guatemala to continue its efforts and to demonstrate 
                further progress in the coming year.

                We are deeply concerned about heroin and 
                methamphetamine linked to North Korea being trafficked 
                to East Asian countries, and are increasingly convinced 
                that state agents and enterprises in the DPRK are 
                involved in the narcotics trade. While we suspect opium 
                poppy is cultivated in the DPRK, reliable information 
                confirming the extent of opium production is currently 
                lacking. There are also clear indications that North 
                Koreans traffic in, and probably manufacture, 
                methamphetamine. In recent years, authorities in the 
                region have routinely seized shipments of 
                methamphetamine and/or heroin that had been transferred 
                to traffickers' ships from North Korean vessels. The 
                April 2003 seizure of 125 kilograms of heroin smuggled 
                to Australia aboard the North Korean-owned vessel 
                ``Pong Su'' is the latest and largest seizure of heroin 
                pointing to North Korean complicity in the drug trade. 
                Although there is no evidence that narcotics 
                originating in or transiting North Korea reach the 
                United States, the United States is intensifying its 
                effort to stop North Korean involvement in illicit 
                narcotics production and trafficking and to enhance 
                law-enforcement cooperation with affected countries in 
                the region to achieve that objective.

                You are hereby authorized and directed to submit this 
                report under section 706 of the FRAA, transmit it to 
                the Congress, and publish it in the Federal Register.

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    Washington, September 15, 2003.

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[[Page 54975]]

                Statement of Explanation
                Burma

                The United States has determined that Burma failed 
                demonstrably to make sufficient efforts during the last 
                12 months to meet its obligations under international 
                counternarcotics agreements and the counternarcotics 
                requirements set forth in section 489(a)(1) of the 
                Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended.

                Burma remains among the world's largest producers and 
                traffickers of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), and 
                the world's second largest producer of illicit opium. 
                Although precise figures are hard to come by, 
                production and trafficking of methamphetamine from 
                Burma continues to be one of the most serious problems 
                facing Southeast Asia. Neighboring countries seized 
                tens of millions of ATS tablets produced in Burma with 
                precursor chemicals imported from other countries, and 
                the explosion of synthetic drugs remained a major 
                threat to national security and public health 
                throughout the region.

                The Government of Burma did little to hinder activities 
                of drug gangs that operate freely along its borders 
                with China, Thailand and Laos. Burma also failed to 
                restrict involvement in illicit narcotics by the 
                largest, most powerful, and most important trafficking 
                organization in Burma, the United Wa State Army (UWSA). 
                Major UWSA traffickers continue to operate with 
                apparent impunity in areas outside government control, 
                and UWSA involvement in methamphetamine production and 
                trafficking remains a serious concern.

                Implementation of money laundering legislation, enacted 
                in 2002, faltered in 2003. Despite opening a few cases, 
                the Government of Burma has undertaken no prosecutions, 
                and a February banking crisis appeared to have halted 
                further efforts to implement the law. Burma continued 
                to permit UWSA and other trafficking organizations to 
                own commercial banks and invest in other economic 
                activities.

                While the magnitude of the above issues resulted in a 
                determination not to certify, Burma's counternarcotics 
                performance over the past 12 months registered some 
                positive aspects. Although Burma remains the world's 
                second largest producer of illicit opium, opium 
                cultivation declined a further 24 percent, according to 
                the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime. While the return of 
                good weather brought much higher yields, overall 
                production still declined for the sixth consecutive 
                year.

                The Government of Burma cooperated with regional and 
                international counternarcotics agencies and 
                organizations, resulting in several cases against 
                traffickers and their organizations in cooperation with 
                the United States, Australia, Thailand, China, and 
                others. Burma also signed agreements in 2003 with China 
                and India on the control of precursor chemicals.

                We urge the Government of Burma to address those areas 
                where its efforts have fallen far short, and to treat 
                its counternarcotics obligations with the utmost 
                seriousness.

                Statement of Explanation
                Haiti

                The United States has determined that Haiti has failed 
                demonstrably to make sufficient efforts during the last 
                12 months on counternarcotics issues, including its 
                obligations under international counternarcotics 
                agreements and counternarcotics requirements set forth 
                in section 489(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
                1961 (as amended). Haiti remains a transshipment point 
                for drugs moving towards the United States, and the 
                Government of Haiti (GOH) has done little to cooperate 
                with the United States to interdict the flow of drugs 
                destined for the United States or to honor its 
                commitments as a party to the 1988 U.N. Drug 
                Convention.

[[Page 54976]]

                With the notable and praiseworthy exceptions of 
                expelling notorious drug trafficker Jacques Ketant, 
                establishing a trusted unit of anti-drug agents, and 
                increasing the number of anti-drug police including 
                coast guardsmen, the GOH has not met all of the 
                objectives or obtained the results laid out by the 
                United States Government in its demarche to the GOH 
                this past year.

                The GOH did not: 1) deposit an instrument of 
                ratification of the OAS anti-corruption convention; 2) 
                draft and introduce anti-corruption legislation; 3) 
                enforce existing anti-money-laundering legislation; 4) 
                increase budgetary support for the Haitian Coast Guard; 
                5) ensure that asset forfeiture is an integral part of 
                criminal prosecutions; 6) provide comprehensive 
                training to judges, prosecutors and law enforcement 
                personnel; 7) waive the right to exercise prosecutorial 
                jurisdiction in cases of non-Haitian vessels 
                interdicted by U.S. Coast Guard, and authorize 
                enforcement of U.S. law against the vessels, cargo and 
                persons on board; or 8) ratify the 1971 U.N. Convention 
                on Psychotropic Substances.

                While Haiti has demonstrably failed, according to the 
                President's standards for counternarcotics performance, 
                the U.S. vital national interests require that U.S. 
                assistance to Haiti continue. As the hemisphere's 
                poorest country, Haiti has a continued need for 
                assistance to programs that increase access to 
                education, combat environmental degradation, fight the 
                spread of HIV/AIDS, reduce trafficking of women and 
                children, and foster the creation of legitimate 
                business and employment opportunities. In the long 
                term, these programs can contribute to democratic 
                development in Haiti and a reduction in illegal 
                migration. Continuing these types of programs will also 
                address the root causes of poverty and hopelessness, 
                factors that contribute to Haitian involvement in the 
                international drug trade. Suspension of assistance to 
                Haiti could hamper U.S. efforts to ensure 
                implementation of OAS Resolution 822, which commits the 
                Government of Haiti to a series of actions that would 
                promote a climate of security and confidence for free 
                and fair legislative elections to be held in 2003.

                [FR Doc. 03-24111 Filed 9-18-03; 8:45 am]

Billing code 4710-10-P
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