[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 38 (Monday, September 20, 2004)]
[Pages 1998-2000]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major Illicit Drug 
Producing Countries for FY05

September 15, 2004

 Presidential Determination No. 2004-47

Memorandum for the Secretary of State

Subject: Presidential Determination on Major Drug Transit or Major 
Illicit Drug Producing Countries for FY05

    Pursuant to section 706(1) of the Foreign Relations Authorization 
Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-228) (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, 
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 (FAA), one of the reasons that major 
drug-transit or illicit 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.
    Pursuant to section 706(2)(A) of the FRAA, I hereby designate Burma 
as a country that has failed demonstrably during the previous 12 months 
to adhere to its obligations under international counternarcotics 
agreements and take the measures set forth in section 489(a)(1) of the 
FAA. Attached to this report is a justification (statement of 
explanation) for the determination on Burma, as required by section 
706(2)(B).
    I have removed Thailand from the list of major drug-transit or major 
illicit drug producing countries. Thailand's opium poppy cultivation is 
well below the levels specified in the FRAA; no heroin processing 
laboratories have been found in Thailand for several years, and Thailand 
is no longer a significant direct source of illicit narcotic or 
psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances significantly 
affecting the United States; nor is it a country through which such 
drugs or substances are transported.

[[Page 1999]]

    In contrast to the Government of Haiti's dismal performance last 
year under the Aristide regime, the new Interim Government of Haiti 
(IGOH), headed by Prime Minister Latortue, has taken substantive--if 
limited--counternarcotics actions in the few months it has been in 
office. Nevertheless, we remain deeply concerned about the ability of 
Haitian law enforcement to reorganize and restructure sufficiently to 
carry out sustained counternarcotics efforts.
    The decreased use of MDMA (Ecstasy) among young people in the United 
States is a hopeful sign, but we continue to place priority on stopping 
the threat of club drugs, including MDMA, of which The Netherlands 
continues to be the dominant source country. The Government of The 
Netherlands is an enthusiastic and capable partner, and we commend its 
efforts. We continue to be concerned, however, by obstacles to mutual 
legal assistance and extradition from The Netherlands. There is a need 
to work more deliberately to disrupt the criminal organizations 
responsible for the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs. 
Specifically, we urge enhanced use of financial investigation, including 
full exploitation of anti-money laundering statutes and financial 
investigators to identify and dismantle trafficking organizations, and 
to seize and forfeit the assets acquired from the drug trade.
    While the vast majority of illicit drugs entering the United States 
continue to come from South America and Mexico, we remain concerned 
about the substantial flow of illicit drugs from Canada. I commend 
Canada for its successful efforts to curb the diversion of precursor 
chemicals used in methamphetamine production. We are now working 
intensively with Canadian authorities to address the increase in the 
smuggling of Canadian-produced marijuana into the United States; however 
we are concerned the lack of significant judicial sanctions against 
marijuana producers is resulting in greater involvement in the 
burgeoning marijuana industry by organized criminal groups. Canada has 
expressed concern to us about the flow of cocaine and other illicit 
substances through the United States into Canada. United States and 
Canadian law enforcement personnel have collaborated on a number of 
investigations that have led to the dismantling of several criminal 
organizations. The two governments will continue to work closely in the 
year ahead to confront these shared threats.
    Nigeria put measures in place to increase the effectiveness of the 
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, and also arrested a trafficker 
wanted by the United States, which met the agreed-upon interdiction 
targets. However, Nigeria must take significant and decisive action to 
investigate and prosecute political corruption, which continues to 
undermine the transparency of its government. President Obasanjo took 
steps to address corruption at the G-8 meetings in Sea Island, Georgia, 
by entering into a Compact to Promote Transparency and Combat 
Corruption. Positive transparent measures will in turn benefit Nigeria's 
anti-narcotics efforts, the rule of law, and all democratic 
institutions.
    Despite good faith efforts on the part of the central Afghanistan 
government, we are concerned about increased opium crop production in 
the provinces.
    We are deeply concerned about heroin and methamphetamine linked to 
North Korea being trafficked to East Asian countries. We consider it 
highly likely that state agents and enterprises in North Korea are 
involved in the narcotics trade. While we know that some opium poppy is 
cultivated in North Korea, 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, we are working 
closely with our partners in the region to stop North Korean involvement 
in illicit narcotics production and trafficking.

[[Page 2000]]

    We appreciate the efforts of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and others in 
the region to stop the diversion of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine used 
to manufacture methamphetamine. However, considering the growing 
methamphetamine problem in North America and Asia, additional 
collaborative efforts to control these precursor chemicals are 
necessary.
    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.
                                                George W. Bush

Note: This memorandum was released by the Office of the Press Secretary 
on September 16.