FUNGUS TESTS TO STEP UP WAR ON COCAINE

Colombia has for the first time signalled that it is ready to accede to
American pressure that it explore the use of a potent fungus to attack the
coca fields that flourish across its territory.

The country is the source of 80 per cent of the world's cocaine, most of it
flowing to the US and western Europe.

The shift in stance by Bogota, which will be decried by environmentalists,
comes as US President Bill Clinton is preparing to sign a bill for a new
aid package for Colombia. Worth US$1.3 billion (HK$10.1 billion), its key
aim is to finance a military campaign against anti-government insurgents,
who draw income from the cocaine trade.

Meanwhile, Spain pledged to sendUS$100 million in aid to Colombia yesterday
at a European Union ministerial meeting in Madrid, part of a European
initiative to help restore peace to the country.

The conference discussed President Andres Pastrana's request for US$1
billion in "social aid" from European donors. The assistance will help
finance Mr Pastrana's proposed US$7.5 billion "Plan Colombia", aimed at
stemming drug-trafficking and funding an eventual peace deal with Marxist
rebels.

The US reported this week that there has been a dramatic increase in
cocaine use in Europe in recent years, most notably in Spain, Germany and
Italy.

Senior Colombian officials said they were prepared to begin testing whether
the fungus under consideration, called Fusarium oxysporum , is already
detectable in the country's coca crops. If it is not, the Government will
not permit its introduction to the ecosystem artificially, they said.

US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Thursday the fungus
was expected be tested over a two-year period and then "it will be up to
the Government of Colombia to evaluate the results and determine the next
steps".

The testing, funded by a US$3 million American contribution, would be
carried out by Colombian officials and the UN Drug Control Agency.

Colombia's environment minister, Juan Mayr, clarifying published reports
about the issue, said in a statement: "The Government of Colombia, after
consulting with experts on the matter, did not accept the proposal for
conducting tests of the fungus . . . because any agent foreign to the
native ecosystems of our country could present grave risks to the
environment and human health."

The statement was in a letter to the New York Times , which first reported
the planned tests in Thursday's edition. Mr Mayr was quoted by the Times as
saying in an interview: "What we want is a programme of research - and only
research - on the use of biological controls against these crops."

Mr Mayr claimed in his letter, a copy of which was circulated Thursday by
his office in Bogota, that his remarks had been misinterpreted.

Advocates say the fungus could be the answer in the long search for a means
of reversing what has been a steady growth in the production of coca leaf
and opium poppy in Colombia.

Colombian drug cartels have been able to offset extensive chemical spraying
by opening up new areas for cultivating narcotics plants.

The proponents say a big advantage of the fungus is that it grows
naturally, is safe for the environment, and that decades must pass before a
treated area is suitable again for growing narcotics plants.

Agriculture Department tests have shown that the fungus will kill narcotics
plants without harming other plants or animal life, advocates says.