UNIS/NAR/1012
31 October 2007
Principle of Proportionality and Drug-related Offences Focus of 90th Session of International Narcotics Control Board
VIENNA, 31 October (UN Information Service) - The principle of proportionality and drug-related offences is one of the main issues being discussed at the 90 th session of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). The session is currently being held in Vienna, and will conclude on 16 November 2007. The issue of proportionality will be highlighted in the Board's Annual Report for 2007, to be adopted during this session and released in February 2008.
The forthcoming Annual Report will also review worldwide trends in drug abuse and trafficking and recommend measures that Governments and international bodies can take to improve controls. In addition, the Board will finalize its technical publications which highlight licit manufacture and consumption of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances around the world and its annual report on chemicals used in the illicit manufacture of controlled drugs.
The Board will also consider the overall drug control situation in Afghanistan. Since 2000, the Board has had formal consultations with the Government of Afghanistan in line with article 14 of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol, to achieve full compliance of Afghanistan with the treaties.
Through its Standing Committee on Estimates, the Board will review the worldwide supply and demand situation of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical purposes. It will also reaffirm, and where necessary, establish quotas for drugs for every country in the world. Representatives from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Health Organization and the World Customs Organization will discuss drug-related issues during this session with INCB.
Since its last session in May 2007, the Board has undertaken missions or technical visits to seven countries (Albania, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Haiti, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom and Viet Nam). The Board will review the reports of these missions and examine how governments and territories are implementing the provisions of international drug control treaties.
The Vienna-based INCB 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), Tatyana Borisovna Dmitrieva (Russian Federation), Philip O. Emafo (Nigeria), Hamid Ghodse (Iran), Carola Lander (Germany), Melvyn Levitsky (United States), Maria-Elena Medina-Mora (Mexico), Sri Suryawati (Indonesia), Camilo Uribe Granja (Colombia), Brian Watters (Australia), Raymond Yans (Belgium) and Xin Yu (China).
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For further information, please contact:
INCB Secretariat
Tel.: (+43-1) 26060-4163
