U.S., MEXICO MOVING AWAY FROM DRUG CERTIFICATION

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico and the United States announced Tuesday they
were hammering out new ways to measure progress in the drug war that would
throw the controversial U.S. policy of certification on the scrapheap.

Officials of both nations said they wanted to move away from the U.S.
policy of annually passing judgment on other countries' anti-drug efforts,
a process that has angered U.S. allies in Latin America and clouded other
issues, such as trade and immigration.

White House anti-drug chief Gen. Barry McCaffrey ended two days of work
with top Mexican officials developing concrete ways to evaluate performance
in stopping the multibillion-dollar flow of drugs from South America to the
United States.

``We do believe, many of us, that the evidence, the reality of genuine
progress over time will make irrelevant the U.S. process of
certification,'' McCaffrey told a news conference at the end of his visit.

Mexico and other Latin American nations bristle each year when the White
House decides which countries did enough to stop the flow of illegal
narcotics, mostly cocaine, from South America to the United States.

Latin American countries point to the nearly insatiable demand of U.S.
drug consumers. McCaffrey estimated the U.S. illegal drug market at $50
billion a year.

Those who are not certified, such as Colombia in 1995 and 1996, are subject
to curbs on U.S. aid and sanctions.

But McCaffrey, who is Clinton's top drug policy official, said the
certification policy was likely to continue for a few years.

``I don't think certification will disappear in the near future,''
McCaffrey said. ``We shouldn't be worried about the evaluation but rather
cooperation. The important thing is to make advances together.''

McCaffrey has said before he would rather see certification -- which is
mandatory under U.S. law -- dumped and replaced by a multilateral system
that would probably be run by the Organization of American States.

Mexican Attorney General Jorge Madrazo publicly supported the proposal
Monday.

Mexican Foreign Minister Rosario Green told the news conference that drug
trafficking would be a major topic of discussion among 34 heads of state
scheduled to meet in Santiago, Chile, next week in the second Summit of the
Americas.

``We're going to Chile with a lot of expectations,'' Green said. ``We're
looking to establish an American continent free of drugs.''