[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 9 (Monday, March 2, 1998)]
[Page 343]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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Memorandum on Certification for Major Illicit Drug Producing and Drug 
Transit Countries

February 26, 1998

Presidential Determination No. 98-15

Memorandum for the Secretary of State

Subject: Certification for Major Illicit Drug Producing and Drug Transit 
Countries

    By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 490(b)(1)(A) of 
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, (``the Act''), I hereby 
determine and certify that the following major illicit drug producing 
and/or major illicit drug transit countries/dependent territories have 
cooperated fully with the United States, or have taken adequate steps on 
their own, to achieve full compliance with the goals and objectives of 
the 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic 
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances:
      Aruba, The Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Dominican 
      Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, 
      Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela, 
      and Vietnam.
    By virtue of the authority vested in me by section 490(b)(1)(B) of 
the Act, I hereby determine that it is in the vital national interests 
of the United States to certify the following major illicit drug 
producing and/or major illicit drug transit countries:
      Cambodia, Colombia, Pakistan, and Paraguay.
    Analysis of the relevant U.S. vital national interests, as required 
under section 490(b)(3) of the Act, is attached.
    I have determined that the following major illicit drug producing 
and/or major illicit drug transit countries do not meet the standards 
set forth in section 490(b) for certification:
      Afghanistan, Burma, Iran, and Nigeria.
    In making these determinations, I have considered the factors set 
forth in section 490 of the Act, based on the information contained in 
the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report of 1998. Given that 
the performance of each of these countries/dependent territories has 
differed, I have attached an explanatory statement for each of the 
countries/dependent territories subject to this determination.
    You are hereby authorized and directed to report this determination 
to the Congress immediately and to publish it in the Federal Register.
                                            William J. Clinton