Drug Certification Requirements and Congressional Modifications in 2001-2002

Publication Date: October 2002

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Social conditions

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Abstract:

From the mid-1980s to 2001, Congress required the President to certify that specified drug producing and drug-transit countries were cooperating fully with the United States in counter-narcotics efforts in order to avoid a series of sanctions, including suspension of U.S. foreign assistance and financing, and opposition to loans in the multilateral development banks. The sanctions would also apply if Congress, within 30 calendar days, passed a joint resolution of disapproval to overturn the presidential certification.

Over the years, representatives from many countries complained about the unilateral and non-cooperative nature of the drug certification requirements and urged the United States to end the process and to rely upon various multilateral methods of evaluation that have been developed. Mexico, often the focus of congressional debate, particularly expressed dissatisfaction with the process, even though it was regularly certified as being a fully cooperative country. Following the July 2000 election of opposition candidate Vicente Fox as President of Mexico, legislative measures were introduced to modify the drug certification requirements, and these initiatives were mentioned when President Bush met with President Fox in Mexico in mid-February 2001, and in the United States in early September 2001.

In major legislative activity in 2001, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reported out two measures (S. 219 and S. 1401) that would have modified the drug certification procedures for three years, required the President to designate only the worst offending countries subject to sanctions, and encouraged the convening of a high-level conference to develop an effective multilateral strategy. By the end of the year, the only measure that passed was the Foreign Operations Appropriations for FY2002 (H.R. 2506/P.L. 107-115) that waived the drug certification requirements for FY2002 only, but required the President to designate and withhold assistance from the worst offending countries which had failed demonstrably to adhere to international counter-narcotics agreements, although the withholding could be waived if the provision of assistance was determined to be in the national interest.

In major legislative activity in 2002, Congress passed the Foreign Relations Authorization for FY2003 (H.R. 1646/P.L. 107-228), with Section 706 of the Act establishing new certification and designation procedures. Drawing from S. 1401, the new procedures require the President to make a report, not later than September 15 of each year, identifying the major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries. At the same time he is required to designate any of the named countries that has "failed demonstrably," during the previous 12 months, to make substantial counter-narcotics efforts. U.S. assistance would be withheld from any designated countries unless the President determines that the provision of assistance to that country is vital to the national interest of the United States or that the designated country subsequently made substantial counter-narcotics efforts. Notwithstanding the general suspension of the previous drug certification and sanctions procedures, subsection 706(5)(B) provides that the President may apply those procedures at his discretion.