    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [January 13, 1999]
    [Pages 38-39]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting a Certification Required by
    the Ratification Resolution of the Chemical Weapons Convention
    January 13, 1999

    Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)
        In accordance with the resolution of advice and consent to
    ratification of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,
    Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their
    Destruction, adopted by the Senate of the United States on April 24,
    1997, I hereby certify in connection with Condition (7)(C)(i),
    Effectiveness of Australia Group, that:

          Australia Group members continue to maintain an equally effective
            or more comprehensive control over the export of: toxic
            chemicals and their precursors, dual-use

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            processing equipment, human, animal, and plant pathogens and
            toxins with potential biological weapons applications, and dual-
            use biological equipment, as that afforded by the Australia
            Group as of April 25, 1997; and

          The Australia Group remains a viable mechanism for limiting the
            spread of chemical and biological weapons-related materials and
            technology, and the effectiveness of the Australia Group has not
            been undermined by changes in membership, lack of compliance
            with common export controls and nonproliferation measures, or
            the weakening of common controls and nonproliferation measures,
            in force as of April 25, 1997.

        For your information, the Australia Group has not loosened its
    controls on chemical and biological weapons-related items since the
    entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
            Sincerely,

                                                          William J. Clinton

    Note: Identical letters were sent to J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the
    House of Representatives, and Albert Gore, Jr., President of the Senate.
    This letter was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on January
    14.