Reading Room Document

Alternatives for the Imposition of Conditions on the Certification of Drug Transit and Producing Countries

The President may impose certain conditions upon a drug producing or transit country seeking certification under section 490(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. If he chooses to certify a country under section 490(b)(1)(B), he can withhold funds from the country to encourage compliance with a set of specified conditions. Alternatively, the President can determine not to certify a country in his annual certification report but inform the country that it might be recertified outside the annual cycle if it meets certain conditions. The first alternative offers greater flexibility to the President as, under the latter approach, the President is constrained in the exercise of his discretion by specific statutory requirements and his determination is subject to congressional review. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/20101/download.

February 12, 1996