Page:Title 3 CFR 2002 Compilation.djvu/336

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Other Presidential Documents "narcotics suppression coordination stations" at major crossing points on the border. That cooperation has since been interrupted by tensions on the border, but both governments have made clear that they look forward to re- suming cooperation once these tensions have been cleared away. Finally, Burma has participated in multilateral efforts to control narcotics trafficking in the Golden Triangle. Since November 200% Burma has par- ticipated in ACCORD, the ASEAN and China Cooperative Operations in Re- sponse to Dangerous Drugs, which serves as an umbrella for a variety of global programs aimed at strengthening the rule of law, promoting alter- native development, and increasing civic awareness of the dangers of drugs. It also signed UNDCP's 1993 Memorandum of Understanding among the six regional states--Burma, China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia--to control narcotics production. Finally, as China and Thailand have become more active multilaterally, Burma has joined the trilateral and quadrilateral programs organized by either to coordinate counternarcotics efforts among the four states of the Golden Triangle (Laos, Burma, China, and Thailand). Under pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which des- ignated Burma as a "non-cooperating" state in June 200% the Government of Burma has also begun to take action on money laundering issues. In June 2002, it enacted a new and potentially powerful money laundering law, which, if properly enforced, should address many of the FATF's concerns. That legislation criminalizes money laundering in connection with vir- tually every kind of serious criminal activity and levies heavy responsibil- ities on banks with regard to reporting. Penalties are also substantial. The police, in cooperation with the Central Bank and the Attorney General's of- rice, are now training their first financial investigators and should begin prosecutions under the new law within the next few months. Despite these steps, the United States judged earlier this year that Burma's visibly improving counternarcotics efforts were not yet commensurate with the scale of the problem. To encourage further progress, we have sustained a program of operational cooperation between police authorities in Burma and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. We have also continued to work with the GOB on annual opium yield surveys in Burma, and with UNDCP and other donors on opium reduction and crop substitution pro- grams. In September 200% the United States pledged an additional $%000,000 to support UNDCP's Wa Alternative Development Project, which has helped reduce opium production in the territories of the United Wa State Army. Notwithstanding the lack of Burmese financial resources and capacity, we do not, as a matter of law, provide bilateral narcotics as- sistance. HIV/AIDS In July, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) con- ducted an in-depth assessment of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Burma, in- cluding among high-risk groups and pregnant women. The CDC assessed capacity at various levels in preventing the spread of HIV and providing care and treatment for those infected. The CDC concluded that the data, while limited, on HIV/AIDS in Burma indicates a widespread epidemic of 323