Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

13-November-2011 17:16 IST

Second Paris Pact Expert working group meeting on Precursors begins Tomorrow

The Government of India is hosting for the first time a Paris pact meeting, the second Expert Working Group meeting on Precursors, which will be held on 14-15 November 2011 in New Delhi with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The event is being coordinated by the Central Bureau of Narcotics, Gwalior.

In the meeting , the experts will focus during two days on priority action to be taken to counter the diversion of chemical precursors, used in the illicit manufacture of heroin (in particular acetic anhydride), the recent trafficking trends as well as challenges concerning measures to prevent their diversion from licit markets. This meeting brings together national competent authorities responsible for regulatory and law enforcement control from the Paris Pact partners.

The meeting in Delhi is a follow-up to the discussions between Paris Pact experts at the first meeting on precursors held in Paris in 2010. The Paris meeting stressed the importance of a political mobilization of all the partners of the Paris Pact and international operational cooperation and special measures to disrupt the illicit flow of precursors which are essential to the production of heroin in Afghanistan.

The Paris Pact Initiative is a partnership of more than 55 countries and international organizations, which aims at combating Afghan opiates trafficking, consumption and related problems in the affected priority countries along the Afghan opiates trafficking routes. The partnership mechanism is supported by UNODC.

Expert Working Group meetings take place regularly under this consultative mechanism, which facilitates periodical consultations at the expert and policy level between partners, in order to jointly discuss, identify and set in motion concrete measures to stem the increasing level of opiates trafficked from Afghanistan.

SS

Precursor control to prevent diversion of chemicals for illicit heroin manufacture through coordinated regulatory and enforcement action. Focus on preventing diversion of chemical precursors used in illicit heroin manufacture, notably acetic anhydride, through strengthened regulatory controls and law enforcement coordination. Emphasis on precursor control measures combining licensing, monitoring of chemical commerce, and targeted enforcement to interrupt supply chains feeding production of Afghan opiates.