Brussels, 14/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday in Brussels the Executive Director of the UN in the fight against drugs and crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa, presented the UNDOC report for 2005 to Commissioner for external relations, Benita Ferrero Waldner and Commissioner for justice Franco Frattini. The report focuses on coca growing in three countries of the Andean community, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. Ferrero Waldner pointed out that the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime was a “major problem for Andean countries” and that the question was largely discussed during the EU - Andean community ministerial meeting on 26 May in Luxembourg (EUROPE 8956). On this occasion, the Union underlined its total commitment in this shared responsibility with Andean governments in the fight against this terrible scourge, she added. She said that this combat was a “priority” for the Commission which was maintaining a specific high level dialogue on the issue and was financially supporting projects in the fight against drugs in these three countries to the tune of around EUR 140 million for 2001-06.
Presenting his report, Mr Costa underlined that the UN was extremely concerned by the situation in Bolivia, “Bolivia is being hit by a political and economic crisis, discrimination against the Indians and an inability of the government to control the situation…if you look at the situation in the world, from Afghanistan to Burma, we find this dramatic situation: the more the government is weak, the more the land is used for cultivation”. In Bolivia, the surface area used in producing coca plants has literally exploded by 35%. Cultivating coca remains, however, below the level it reached in the 1990s in this country but still represents almost 3% of its National Income. On the other hand, Colombia, the largest producer in the world over the same period, has seen coca leaf production fall by 7% and cocaine production fall by 11%. Colombia is a success given that since 2000 growing coca was reduced by half and only accounts for 0.3% of the country's GDP. In Peru, cultivated land area increased by 14% and cocaine production increased by 23% from 2003 to 2004. For all three Andean countries, cocaine crop areas increased from 153,800 to 158,000 hectares from 2003 to 2004, an increase of 3%. Cocaine production increased by 2%, from 674,000 tonnes to 687,000 tonnes. The UN report, however, welcomes the fall of nearly 30% in coca leaf crops since 2000 in these three countries, which is a “sign of the commitment shown by governments and farmers alike to eradicate drug crops”.