International action to combat drug abuse and illicit production and trafficking, G.A. res. 48/112, 48 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No.49) at 227, U.N. Doc. A/48/49 (1993).


The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 47/98, 47/100, 47/101 and 47/102 of 16 December 1992 and 48/12 of 28 October 1993,

Gravely concerned that the illicit demand for, production of and traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances continue to threaten seriously the socio-economic and political systems and the stability, national security and sovereignty of an increasing number of States,

Fully aware that the international community is confronted with the dramatic problem of drug abuse and the illicit cultivation, production, demand, processing, distribution and trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and that States need to work at the international and national levels to deal with this scourge, which has a strong potential to undermine development, economic and political stability and democratic institutions,

Emphasizing that the problem of drug abuse and illicit trafficking has to be considered within the broader economic and social context,

Emphasizing also the need for an analysis of transit routes used by drug traffickers, which are constantly changing and expanding to include a growing number of countries and regions in all parts of the world,

Alarmed by the growing connection between drug trafficking and terrorism in various parts of the world,

Recognizing the efforts of countries that produce narcotic drugs for scientific, medicinal and therapeutic uses to prevent the channelling of such substances to illicit markets and to maintain production at a level consistent with licit demand,

Reaffirming that a comprehensive framework for international cooperation in drug control is provided by the Declaration and the Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Outline of Future Activities in Drug Abuse Control, adopted by the International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the Political Declaration and Global Programme of Action adopted on 23 February 1990, at the seventeenth special session of the General Assembly, and the Declaration adopted by the World Ministerial Summit to Reduce the Demand for Drugs and to Combat the Cocaine Threat, held in London from 9 to 11 April 1990, together with the international drug control treaties,

Stressing the important role of the United Nations and its specialized agencies in supporting concerted action in the fight against drug abuse at the national, regional and international levels,

Underlining the role of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs as the principal United Nations policy-making body on drug control issues,

Reaffirming the importance of the role of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme as the main focus for concerted international action for drug abuse control and commending its performance of the functions entrusted to it,

Affirming the proposals set out in the United Nations System-Wide Action Plan on Drug Abuse Control, and recognizing that further efforts are needed to implement and update it,

Inviting the relevant agencies of the United Nations system to make greater progress in incorporating within their programmes and activities action aimed at dealing with drug-related problems,

I

Respect for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and international law in the fight against drug abuse and illicit trafficking

1. Reaffirms that the fight against drug abuse and illicit trafficking should continue to be based on strict respect for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and international law, particularly respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States and non-use of force or the threat of force in international relations;

2. Calls upon all States to intensify their actions to promote effective cooperation in the efforts to combat drug abuse and illicit trafficking, so as to contribute to a climate conducive to achieving this end, and to refrain from using the issue for political purposes;

3. Reaffirms that the international fight against drug trafficking should not in any way justify violation of the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and international law;

II

International action to combat drug abuse and illicit trafficking

1. Reiterates its condemnation of the crime of drug trafficking in all its forms, and urges continued and effective international action to combat it, in keeping with the principle of shared responsibility;

2. Supports the focus on national and regional strategies for drug abuse control, particularly the master-plan approach, and urges the United Nations International Drug Control Programme to keep in mind that these should be complemented with effective interregional strategies;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to report on the arrangements made by the Programme to promote and monitor the United Nations Decade Against Drug Abuse, 1991-2000, under the theme, "A global response to a global challenge", and on the progress made in attaining the objectives of the Decade by Member States, the Programme and the United Nations system;

4. Welcomes the trend towards ratification and implementation of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988;

5. Requests the Programme to include in its report to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances a section on experience gained to date in implementing the Convention, which should contain recommendations and strategies for its further implementation, and invites Member States to cooperate with the Programme in this regard;

6. Encourages all countries to take action to prevent the illicit arms trade by which weapons are provided to drug traffickers;

7. Expresses its satisfaction with the efforts of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to improve the functioning and impact of the meetings of heads of national drug law enforcement agencies;

8. Requests the Programme in its report on illicit traffic in drugs to analyse world-wide trends in illicit traffic and transit in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, including methods and routes used, and to recommend ways and means for improving the capacity of States along those routes to deal with all aspects of the drug problem;

9. Emphasizes the link between the illicit production of, demand for and traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and the economic and social conditions in the affected countries and the differences and diversity of the problems in each country;

10. Calls upon the international community to provide increased economic and technical support to Governments that request it in support of programmes of alternative development that take fully into account the cultural traditions of peoples;

11. Takes note of the initiative of the Programme to study the concept of swapping debt for alternative development in the area of international drug abuse control and requests the Executive Director of the Programme to inform the Commission on Narcotic Drugs of any progress made in this area;

12. Encourages Governments to nominate experts for the roster maintained by the Programme, to ensure that the Programme and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs may draw from the widest pool of expertise and experience in implementing its policies and programmes;

13. Stresses the need for effective action to prevent the diversion for illicit purposes of precursors and essential chemicals, materials and equipment frequently used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;

14. Commends the International Narcotics Control Board for its valuable work in monitoring production and distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances so as to limit their use to medical and scientific purposes, and for the effective manner in which it has implemented its additional responsibilities, under article 12 of the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, concerning the control of precursors and essential chemicals;

15. Expresses its satisfaction with efforts being made by the Programme and other United Nations bodies to obtain reliable data on drug abuse and illicit trafficking, including the development of the International Drug Abuse Assessment System;

16. Recommends to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs that it consider, at its thirty-seventh session, the world-wide research study on the economic and social consequences of drug abuse and illicit trafficking prepared by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in conjunction with the report of the Executive Director of the Programme on the economic and social consequences of drug abuse and illicit trafficking, and that it consider including this issue as an item on its agenda;

III

Global Programme of Action

1. Reaffirms the importance of the Global Programme of Action as a framework for national, regional and international action to combat the illicit production of, demand for and trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and its commitment to implementing the mandates and recommendations contained therein;

2. Calls upon States individually and in cooperation with other States to promote the Global Programme of Action and to implement its mandates and recommendations, with a view to translating it into practical action for drug abuse control;

3. Calls upon the relevant bodies of the United Nations, the specialized agencies, the international financial institutions and other concerned intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to cooperate with and assist States in their efforts to promote and implement the Global Programme of Action;

4. Requests the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, in discharging its mandate to monitor the Global Programme of Action, to take into account the recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation by Member States of the Global Programme of Action;

5. Requests the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the United Nations International Drug Control Programme to consider ways and means to facilitate reporting by Governments on the implementation of the Global Programme of Action, so as to increase the level of responses;

IV

Implementation of the United Nations System-Wide Action Plan on Drug Abuse Control: action by agencies of the United Nations system

1. Reaffirms the role of the Executive Director of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme to coordinate and provide effective leadership for all United Nations drug control activities, in order to ensure coherence of actions within the Programme as well as coordination, complementarity and non-duplication of such activities across the United Nations system;

2. Calls for completion of the updated United Nations System-Wide Action Plan on Drug Abuse Control, as was requested in its resolution 47/100, in full cooperation with the Administrative Committee on Coordination, in time for the review and recommendation of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs at its thirty-seventh session, and for the consideration of the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 1994 and of the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session;

3. Reiterates that the following should be included in the updated System-Wide Action Plan:

(a) An annex containing agency-specific implementing plans;

(b) A reference to the important role of the international financial institutions, as noted in chapter II of the Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Outline of Future Activities in Drug Abuse Control, and the ability of such institutions to promote economic stability and undermine the drug industry;

4. Calls upon all relevant United Nations agencies to complete their agency-specific implementation plans for inclusion in the updated System-Wide Action Plan and to incorporate fully into their programmes all the mandates and activities contained in the Action Plan and its annex;

5. Requests the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to pay particular attention to reviewing the agency-specific implementing plans of the System- Wide Action Plan for consideration by the Economic and Social Council at its coordination segment in 1994;

6. Requests the Economic and Social Council, at its coordination segment, to pay due attention to the role of the international financial institutions in supporting international drug control efforts, particularly in the field of alternative development;

7. Calls upon the governing bodies of all United Nations agencies associated with the System-Wide Action Plan to include the issue of drug control in their agendas with a view to examining the need for a mandate on drug control, assessing the activities taken to comply with the Action Plan and, as appropriate, reporting on how the issue of drug control is taken into account in the relevant programmes;

8. Requests the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, in cooperation with the relevant agencies, particularly the United Nations Children's Fund, to report on the efforts to study the impact of drug abuse and related crime on children and to recommend measures that may be taken to address this problem;

9. Recommends that the United Nations International Drug Control Programme cooperate and coordinate with the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch on activities to counter drug-related criminality, including money-laundering, to ensure complementarity and non-duplication of efforts;

10. Requests that the System-Wide Action Plan be reviewed and updated on a biennial basis;

V

United Nations International Drug Control Programme

1. Welcomes the efforts of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme to implement its mandates within the framework of the international drug control treaties, the Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Outline of Future Activities in Drug Abuse Control, the Global Programme of Action and relevant consensus documents;

2. Urges all Governments to provide the fullest possible financial and political support to the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, in particular by increasing voluntary contributions to the Programme, to enable it to expand and strengthen its operational and technical cooperation activities;

3. Welcomes the work of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on the consideration of the programme budget of the Fund of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, in accordance with the mandate contained in section XVI, paragraph 2, of General Assembly resolution 46/185 C of 20 December 1991;

4. Takes note of the note of the Secretary-General on the administrative and financial arrangements of the United Nations Drug Control Programme submitted pursuant to section XVI of resolution 46/185 C;

5. Notes with appreciation the efforts made by the United Nations International Drug Control Programme to comply with the approved format and methodology of the programme budget of the Fund of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, in particular with the relevant resolutions of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs;

6. Encourages the Executive Director of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme to continue his efforts to improve the presentation of the budget of the Fund;

VI

1. Takes note of the reports of the Secretary-General presented under the item entitled "International drug control";

2. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

85th plenary meeting
20 December 1993