For information only - not an official document
UNIS/NAR/1383
20 May 2019
VIENNA, 17 May 2019 (UN Information Service) - The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has concluded its 125th session in Vienna, Austria.
During the two-week session, the Board continued its work monitoring the compliance of governments with the three international drug control treaties and ensuring the functioning of the international drug control system. As part of its ongoing cooperation with Member States, the Board reviewed the findings of its country missions to Chile, Côte d'Ivoire, Montenegro, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan. The Board agreed on recommendations to convey to the governments of those countries with a view to safeguarding health and well-being through improved implementation of the three international drug control conventions.
As part of its dialogue with international organizations, the Board held consultations with the President and Bureau of the Economic and Social Council, the Chair of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and senior officials of the World Health Organization (WHO). Discussions focused on cooperation in supporting Member States in implementing the outcome document of the 2016 special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem and on the Ministerial Declaration of the 62nd session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, held earlier this year.
The Board held a meeting with civil society on the topic of young people and drugs, noting that it had decided to include a thematic chapter on this important topic in its Annual Report for 2019.
The members of the Board reiterated their commitment to ensuring availability of internationally controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes, with its Standing Committee on Estimates continuing its work in this area, particularly by reviewing submissions by governments of their estimated licit requirements for these important substances.
The Board also continued to focus on the developments in a small number of countries concerning the legalization of the non-medical and non-scientific use of cannabis. In closing the session, the President of the Board, Mr. Cornelis de Joncheere, noted "the commitment of the Board to fulfil the important task assigned to it by Member States to monitor and promote the implementation of the treaties, which had been designed by States to promote the wellbeing and health of all."
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INCB is the independent, quasi-judicial body charged with promoting and monitoring Government compliance with the three international drug control conventions: the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Established by the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, the thirteen members of the Board are elected in a personal capacity by the Economic and Social Council for terms of five years.
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For further information, please contact:
INCB Secretariat
Telephone for media inquiries: (+43-1) 26060 4163
Email:
incb.secretariat@un.org
Website: www.incb.org
