COLOMBIA MAY TEST ANTI-COCA FUNGUS

WASHINGTON--A fungus that destroys coca plants soon may be tested in
Colombia.

"Initially it would be a small test on the ground in Colombia,
something on a far, far smaller scale than what would be needed for
eradication," said Richard Baum, a foreign policy analyst for U.S.
drug policy office.

The fungus, a mycoherbicide, consumes coca plants whose leaves are the
raw material used to produce cocaine, an expert at the U.S. Department
of Agriculture said.

While similar to a fungus that commonly kills tomato plants in
American gardens, U.S. scientists said the fungus they have tested in
Hawaii will attack no other plant.

The fungus was discovered by researchers when coca leaf plants sent
from Peru to U.S. research centers for study arrived dead. In the
1990s, a naturally occurring fungus devastated Peruvian coca crops for
awhile.

Testing in Colombia to make sure the fungus would not be harmful to
people or animals and would not migrate to other crops could take a
year or two, Baum said.

Before the test can begin, an agreement must be signed between
Colombia and the United Nations Drug Control Policy office.

After months of discussions and research by both sides on technical
and scientific concerns, the UN and Colombia could sign the agreement
this month, said officials familiar with the negotiations.

There has been limited use of chemical herbicides against drug crops
in South America. But the fungus has proven a much more efficient
predator of coca plants in U.S. forests.

The plan to use the fungus was developed in the State Department, but
concerns that Colombia would be sensitive to any appearance of U.S.
pressure to adopt it led to a request for the UN to conduct
negotiations, a State Department official said.

The Clinton administration is urging Congress to approve a $1.6
billion aid package to Colombia. The aid is needed, in part, to help
contend with a boom in coca leaf production there, the White House
drug policy adviser, Barry McCaffrey, told Congress this week.

While Peru and Bolivia have reduced their coca crops, coca production
in Colombia has risen from 230 tons in 1995 to 520 tons last year,
McCaffrey said.