Over the past decade, worldwide production of illicit drugs has risen dramatically: opium and marijuana production has roughly doubled and coca production tripled. Street prices of cocaine and heroin have fallen significantly in the past 20 years, reflecting increased availability. Despite apparent national political resolve to deal with the drug problem, inherent contradictions regularly appear between U.S. anti-drug policy and other national policy goals and concerns. The mix of competing domestic and international pressures and priorities has produced an ongoing series of disputes within and between the legislative and executive branches concerning U.S. international drug policy. One contentious issue has been the Congressionally-mandated certification process, an instrument designed to induce specified drug-exporting countries to prioritize or pay more attention to the fight against narcotics businesses.

At the 1994 Summit of the Americas, 34 hemispheric democracies agreed to create a “Free Trade Area of the Americas” (FTAA) no later than 2005. If created, the FTAA would be a $13 trillion market of 34 countries (Cuba is not included) and nearly 800 million people. The population alone would make it the largest free trade area in the world with nearly twice the 450 million population of the now 25-nation European Union. In the nearly ten years following the 1994 summit, Western Hemisphere trade ministers have met eight times to advance the negotiating process. At the last ministerial held from November 17- 20 2003 in Miami, ministers agreed to a declaration that set a September 2004 deadline for the market access talks, created a two-tiered FTAA structure, and reaffirmed countries’ commitment to complete the entire FTAA by January 2005.