2006/233

INCB EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER ILLEGAL MANUFACTURE OF HEROIN IN AFGHANISTAN DURING ANNUAL SESSION

TEHRAN, 5  November 2006 (UNIC)  --  The  International Narcotics  Control  Board (INCB) during its ongoing 87th session in Vienna, Austria,  has  expressed  concern  over  alarming increase in illicit opium poppy  cultivation  in Afghanistan and the illegal manufacture of heroin in the country.

“Although  acetic  anhydride,  which  is  needed  to manufacture heroin, appears  to  be available in the country, the sources and routes from where the  chemical  is smuggled have not been identified. The Board is extremely concerned  that  hardly  any  of  the  countries bordering Afghanistan have reported  seizures  of  acetic  anhydride  during  2005 and 2006. The Board therefore  urges  all  Governments  in the neighbouring countries to ensure that  acetic  anhydride  transiting  through  their countries illicitly, is intercepted,” said Dr. Philip O. Emafo, INCB President in Vienna last Friday.

The  Board, during its present session, will adopt its Annual Report for 2006 which will be released in February 2007.     The Board has also expressed concern over attempts to legalize coca leaf production  and  consumption  for non-medical purposes in some countries in the  Andean subregion. The Board believes that such attempts do not reflect the  collective  will  of  the international community to address the world drug problem in a concerted manner.

The Board’s deliberations will include: the abuse of prescription drugs, such  as  the pharmaceutical preparations containing controlled substances, in  particular  in  North  America and Europe; the theme of the 2006 Annual Report,  which is the issue of unregulated markets; the problems associated with  counterfeit  medicines  and the sale of controlled substances through

the  Internet; and, a review of global trends in drug abuse and trafficking with  a  view  to  recommending  actions  to  improve international control measures.

The  Board  will  review  a  report of the Board’s Advisory Expert Group (AEG),  which  met in Vienna from 9 to 13 October 2006, to discuss a number of  issues  related  to the Board’s mandate under article 12, including the review  of  the  adequacy  and propriety of the current scheduling of a few chemicals  such  as safrole and ephedra which have been diverted from licit trade for use in the illegal manufacture of drugs.

Through  its  Standing  Committee  on  Estimates, which met earlier this week,  the  Board  reviewed  the  worldwide  supply and demand situation of narcotic  drugs  and  psychotropic  substances  for  medical and scientific purposes.  For  the first time, estimates for licit annual requirements for some  internationally-controlled precursor chemicals frequently used in the illegal  manufacture  of  amphetamine-type  stimulants  (eg.  ephedrine and pseudoephedrine)  were  reviewed, in response to the relevant Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolution.

Since  its  last  session in May 2006, the Board has sent missions to 11 countries  (Argentina,  Belarus, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, El  Salvador,  Estonia,  Gambia,  Honduras,  Latvia, Luxembourg, Malawi and Myanmar). The reports of these missions will assist the Board to assess how Governments  are  implementing  the  provisions  of  the international drug control treaties.

The  Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and  representatives  of  the  World Health Organization, the World Customs Organization  and the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) will also share their latest information with the Board.

The  Vienna-based  Board is an independent body, established by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs to monitor Governments' compliance with the  international drug control treaties. Its 13 members are elected by the United  Nations  Economic  and  Social Council to serve in their individual capacities for a term of five years. Its sessions are closed to the public.

The  current  members  of  the  Board are: Joseph Bediako Asare (Ghana), Sevil  Atasoy  (Turkey),  Madan  Mohan  Bhatnagar (India), Elisaldo Luiz de Araújo  Carlini (Brazil), Tatyana Borisovna Dmitrieva (Russian Federation), Philip  O.  Emafo  (Nigeria),  Gilberto Gerra (Italy), Hamid Ghodse (Iran), Melvyn  Levitsky  (United  States),  Robert  Lousberg (Netherlands), Rainer Wolfgang Schmid (Austria), Camilo Uribe Granja (Colombia) and Brian Watters (Australia).

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