Counternarcotics issues

Russia, Moscow, 26-28 June 2006

The Ministerial Conference on the drug routes from Central Asia to Europe was held in Paris three years ago. It was organized following a French initiative with active participation of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and is now referred to as "Paris I" Conference.

The 2003 Conference gave a strong political impetus to the so-called "Paris Pact process" which has been a framework for a number of important events and vigorous practical measures aimed at mobilizing efforts of the international community to suppress the drug trafficking via Central and South-West Asia.

Progress achieved so far through that process convinces us that the way we have chosen is the right one. However, the time has come to review the implementation of the "Paris I" outcomes, to draw initial conclusions and to establish targets for our further joint efforts aimed at achieving practical results.

On the initiative of the Russian Federation, in furtherance of the "Paris Pact process", the Foreign Ministers and heads of delegation of 55 countries seriously affected by the traffic and abuse of opium and heroin produced in Afghanistan and 23 international organizations held in Moscow on 26-28 June 2006 their second conference on the subject. Bearing in mind the global character of the drug threat from Afghanistan, the Conference was entitled "Second Ministerial Conference on Drug Trafficking Routes from Afghanistan". The Conference was prepared by the Government of the Russian Federation in cooperation with the UNODC. The participants in the Conference were welcomed by the President of the Russian Federation. The Conference focused specially on issues related to the illicit production and trafficking of narcotics and their precursors into and out of Afghanistan via neighboring regions to the countries of destination, and measures to further strengthen international and regional cooperation in the framework of the "Paris Pact Process" including health and social issues such as drug abuse, and treatment of HIV/AIDS caused by intra-venous drug use.

The Conference stressed that the spread in the use and trafficking of illicit drugs and the risk that narcobusiness may become fused with terrorist and extremist activities, including, first of all, in the context of financing such activities, makes it urgent to intensify joint efforts to address that global threat. By adopting this Declaration, the Participants confirmed the continuing validity of the main provisions of the "Paris I" final document and their readiness to step up efforts aimed at mobilizing the potential of the States concerned with a view to solving the global narcoproblem in the interests of international peace and security, and spoke in favor of holding ministerial meetings of that kind on a regular basis.

Conference outcomes.

1. Members of the international community will continue to undertake efforts to support IRA - which has the ownership and the primary responsibility of this process - in implementing its National Drug Control Strategy and in meeting the benchmarks set out in the Afghanistan Compact. This includes activity to target the traffickers, strengthen and diversify rural livelihoods, reduce domestic demand, treat drug users and build efficient counter narcotics institutions. It was noted that some progress had been achieved by the Afghan authorities with the support of the international community in combating narcotraffic and Afghanistan was ready to cooperate with other States and international organizations in that area in an open and constructive manner. However, bringing about sustainable drug elimination and drug control strategies takes time, particularly when the challenges are as severe as the ones we face in Afghanistan. The total output of opiates still exceeds 400 tons a year in heroin equivalent. The Government of Afghanistan will need the continued support of the international community as it works to implement its National Drug Control Strategy.
   It was also noted that it was imperative to strengthen cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbors with a view to achieving a modern and effective border management system. It was recommended to follow up on the results of the Doha conferences (May 2004 and February 2006) and to support the building up of the Afghanistan border police. In this respect Afghanistan and its neighbours China, Iran and Pakistan signed in Doha a joint Agreement to enhance coordination on border management, prevention of trafficking, and information/training exchanges.
2. According to the studies conducted by the United Nations, other international organizations and competent national authorities, the illicit trafficking in opiates, including, first of all, heroin, has resulted in increased drug abuse in transit countries along the trafficking routes. That concerns, first of all, the countries of Central, South and West Asia and Eastern and Central Europe. In this context, the world community should pay due attention to all three major heroin routes from Afghanistan the Northern route (via Central Asia and Russia), the Western route (via Iran-Turkey-Balkans) and the Southern route (via Pakistan, Iran and further by sea).
3. The importance of conducting law-enforcement and special service operations to suppress the channels of illicit trafficking in drugs and precursors was reaffirmed.
   It was noted that the Central Asian Regional Information and Coordination Center (CARICC) for combating drug trafficking and related crimes with its headquarters in Almaty (Kazakhstan) would become an important element in setting up internationally accepted standards in the region for the exchange of strategic and tactical information between the participants in the Central Asian Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and their external partners, and the hope was expressed for Afghanistan’s future membership.
   An emphasis was made on the important role of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and its subsidiary bodies, including, first of all, the Meeting of Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies (HONLEA), in dealing with the entire range of issues related to the prevention of the narcothreat originating from Afghanistan. It was also recommended that those mechanisms should be more focused on achieving concrete results.
   The Conference was provided with convincing data on heavy economic and social consequences of drug trafficking and drug abuse, such as increased crime rate, high mortality, increased disability among the most productive age groups, proliferation of the shadow economy, weakening of governments due to corruption at various levels, etc.
4. The progress in the implementation of the "Paris Pact Process" which served as a framework for holding round tables on combating illicit drugs of Afghan origin trafficked through the territories of Russia, Central Asia, Pakistan, Iran, South Eastern Europe and the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council was positively assessed. Those Round Tables should continue to provide a systematic review of the existing drug situation in the countries and regions concerned and develop detailed recommendations for the Policy and Consultative Group.
   Decisions taken by the Policy and Consultative Group have materialized in concrete projects to provide assistance to countries most heavily affected by that traffic. To further promote that process, it will be necessary to increasingly tap the potential of appropriate regional drug control bodies.
5. The conclusion was made that more attention should be paid to the issue of the diversion of chemical precursors used to produce heroin. It was agreed that the Paris Pact process should encourage systematic exchange of information on diversion of precursor chemicals. This would imply enhanced coordination amongst affected states including: source countries where diverted precursors are produced, transit countries across which the chemicals are trafficked, and destination countries where heroin is illegally produced.
   The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and World Customs Organization (WCO) should play a key role in implementing efficient policies to control chemical precursors, in particular within the framework of multilateral project "Cohesion" and WCO operation "Tamerlan".
6. It was recognized that steps were required to strengthen interaction among justice, judicial and supervising bodies of the States participating in the "Paris Pact Process" in order, inter alia, to secure extradition of drug lords to the States concerned and ensure that they are brought to justice for the crimes they committed wherever they are.
7. The problem of illicit trafficking in Afghan-produced heroin should be viewed on the basis of the principles adopted by the United Nations, in particular by the 1998 20th Special Session of the General Assembly on drugs. The commitment to relevant UN drug control instruments was reaffirmed, and the special role of the United Nations, in particular the UNODC, whose mission is to implement major international policy guidelines in the field of drug control and technical assistance programs for countries that require it was emphasized.
8. The recommendation was made for States that have not yet done so to promptly ratify the 2003 Convention Against Corruption making international cooperation in this very important sphere more concrete and efficient, and to actively apply the provisions of the 2000 Palermo Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime to combat illicit drugs and related crimes.
9. Due attention was paid to the health aspects, in particular prevention and treatment of drug addiction and diseases transmitted through intravenous injection, such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. The information on drug addiction and communicable diseases available in most participating countries reveals alarming situation. In this context, all governments should consider the fight against drug abuse as an integral part of their public health policies, taking into account the fact that in some regions the HIV virus is spreading at an alarming rate. In this connection, sweeping regional measures are required to prevent communicable drug-related diseases from spreading across nations.

Conclusions of the Presidency

1. The international community should reassert its commitments regarding Afghanistan and, in particular, provide comprehensive support to the Government of Afghanistan in implementing its National Drug Control Strategy, including its law enforcement component, as well as to take action aimed at promoting sustainable alternative development. Therefore, the States were called upon to make - to the extent possible - a contribution to the Counter Narcotics Trust Fund (CNTF) for Afghanistan, which provides an effective and transparent means of supporting the Government of Afghanistan’s priorities for counter-narcotics activity.
2. In the countries affected by the drug routes from Afghanistan, strategies to fight drug trafficking should reflect a balanced approach between prosecution of traffickers, prevention of drug use and its treatment, in compliance with the United Nations recommendations.
3. The central role of the UNODC in the fight against drug threat should be further reinforced. Thus, the Office should further seek to combine the "Paris Pact Process" with drug control efforts within Afghanistan and to avoid duplication of functions of various international organizations engaged in the counter narcotic efforts in this region.
4. Informational and operational interaction among law enforcement agencies and special services of the States concerned should be improved, with a view to tracing transnational criminal groups engaged in drug and precursor smuggling both in Afghanistan and beyond.
5. It is deemed desirable to take, where necessary, further steps to bring national legislation in the field of drug control closer together in line with the requirements of international conventions.
6. The fight against the laundering of money from criminal activities, including precursors and drugs trafficking and corruption, should be strengthened. All States are urged to put in place relevant legislation based on international standards and establish a financial intelligence unit. In this context, the activities of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) working in close cooperation with the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) and the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) should be highly commended. The importance of compliance with 40+9 FATF recommendations was stressed.
7. The health aspects of drug use, including heroin use, should become a priority in policies implemented by States in this field. Information campaigns aimed at young people should be systematically carried out in primary schools and educational establishments as well as in the leading media to alert them to the dangers of drug abuse.
   Due to the cross-border spread of diseases linked to intravenous drug use, joint regional awareness campaigns and exchanges of experience and best practice by the World Health Organization (WHO), Joint United Nations Programme on Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (UNAIDS) and the UNODC should be undertaken.
8. The need to ensure sustainable reduction of the illicit cultivation and trafficking of opium was specially stressed.
   A sharp rise in drug seizures on the borders with Afghanistan, in transit states and consumption states, a large-scale reduction of precursor trafficking to that country, undermining the financial base of narco business and demand reduction measures could, inter alia, contribute to the achievement of this goal.
   The confidence was expressed that discussions and recommendations of the Moscow conference will become an element of the "Paris 2 - Moscow 1 process". Experts were given relevant instructions.