U.S. WANTS NEW WAY TO GET COUNTRIES TO FIGHT DRUGS

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration, weary of the bruising annual
debate with Congress over whether to certify that Mexico and other nations
are cooperating in the war on illicit drugs, wants to drop that process
altogether and replace it with an international treaty.

A Western Hemisphere treaty on drugs has been discussed for several years.
For the first time, however, the Clinton administration has said it regards
the treaty as a substitute for certification -- rather than an extra weapon
in the drug fight.

``I hope in five years the United States, as one of 31 or 30 countries, has
become part of a multinational attack,'' said Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the
White House anti-narcotics czar. ``As we do, that will bury the
certification process.''

Vision of an alliance

The proposed anti-drug treaty would create a Western Hemisphere alliance to
fight the production and transportation of drugs and set up a secretariat
to make sure that alliance members comply with its provisions. The treaty
will have a prominent other Western Hemisphere l place on the agenda when
President Clinton and eaders meet at the Summit of the Americas in
Santiago, Chile, in April.

The certification system was slipped into the Reagan administration's
omnibus anti-drug law in 1986 by members of Congress who believed a weapon
was needed to pressure other countries into preventing the production or
transport of drugs on their territory. The measure was barely noticed in
news reports at the time but has since become one of the most controversial
aspects of U.S. drug policy.

The prospects for dropping certification are uncertain. There is still
strong support for it within Congress, which has the power under the law of
reversing the president's certification rulings within 30 days. It will
take time for the United States and the other Western Hemisphere countries
to work out a tough treaty that might persuade Congress that there was an
effective substitute for the process.

Persuasive presence

But the willingness of McCaffrey -- who is highly respected by Congress --
to talk for the first time about burying certification means that the
Clinton administration is convinced that an alternative to the combative
system must be found.

Any change in the certification system would come too late to head off this
month's certification report card and a probable repetition of last year's
battle over Mexico.

Under the law, the State Department must certify by March 1 every year
whether countries where drug production and transport occur are cooperating
fully with the United States to halt the trade. Countries that fail are
subject to a cut in U.S. foreign aid and other sanctions.

The department certified Mexico last year, as it had in the past. Refusal
to do so would have created a foreign-policy mess, humiliating Mexico,
damaging its cooperation in the anti-drug effort and poisoning U.S.-Mexican
relations on many issues.

Even so, many members of Congress berated the administration for the
decision. As evidence that Mexico had failed as a cooperative partner in
the drug fight, they cited endemic corruption and the shocking disclosure
that Mexico's federal anti-narcotics czar had actually been on the payroll
of a drug cartel.

Some State Department officials and members of Congress insist that
certification has worked in that it has pressured countries to become
aggressive in anti-drug campaigns.

But it has generated resentful anger every year as foreign countries
bristle at the prospect of the United States sitting in judgment of them
and issuing a public report card. Moreover, it has created tension between
the White House and members of Congress who feel the administration
certifies some countries for fear of offending them.

Mexico's disdain

Mexican officials have consistently opposed the process as unilateral and
inappropriate.

Among those in favor of scrapping the certification process is Sen. Paul
Coverdell, R-Ga., who describes the nation's strategy in the international
battle against drugs as flawed.

Coverdell, a former Peace Corps director, is chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, and, according to his
staff, has been in close contact with McCaffrey about the proposed
international treaty.

Coverdell has scheduled a hearing before the end of this month to review
the certification process. The administration is expected to release this
year's decisions on certification before then.