26 May 1987

14th plenary meeting

Preparation of an international convention against illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances

The Economic and Social Council,

Taking note of General Assembly resolution 39/141 of 14 December 1984, in which the Commission on Narcotic Drugs was requested to initiate, as a matter of priority, the preparation of a draft convention against illicit traffic in narcotic drugs,

Taking note also of General Assembly resolutions 33/168 of 20 December 1978, 35/195 of 15 December 1980, 36/132 of 14 December 1981, 36/168 of 16 December 1981, 37/168 of 17 December 1982, 37/198 of 18 December 1982, 38/93 and 38/122 of 16 December 1983, 39/143 of 14 December 1984, and 40/120, 40/121 and 40/122 of 13 December 1985,

Recalling the Declaration on the Control of Drug Trafficking and Drug Abuse, in which it is stated, inter alia, that the eradication of trafficking in narcotic drugs is the collective responsibility of all States, and that States shall utilize the legal instruments against the illicit production of and demand for, abuse of and illicit traffic in drugs and adopt additional measures to counter the new manifestations of this crime,

Recalling also Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolution 1 (S-IX) of 14 February 1986 on guidance on the drafting of an international convention to combat drug trafficking, by which the Secretary-General was requested to compile comments and/or textual changes received from Governments and to circulate them for consideration at the thirty-second session of the Commission, so that the Commission might give direction on the further development of the draft convention,

Considering General Assembly resolution 41/126 of 4 December 1986, by which the Commission, through the Economic and Social Council, was requested to continue at its thirty-second session, its work on the preparation of the draft convention against illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances in the most expeditious manner, so that it might be effective and widely acceptable and enter into force at the earliest possible time,

Bearing in mind the Quito Declaration against Traffic in Narcotic Drugs of 11 August 1984, the New York Declaration against Drug Trafficking and the Illicit Use of Drugs of 1 October 1984, and the Lima Declaration of 29 July 1985, in which profound alarm was expressed at the seriousness of the problem,

1. Expresses its thanks to the Secretary-General for the efficient way in which he dealt with the request made in paragraph 4 of Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolution 1 (S-IX);

2. Also expresses its thanks to the States that responded to the appeal made in paragraph 5 of Commission resolution 1 (S-IX) to submit their comments on the draft convention or proposals for textual changes thereto;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to prepare a working document that would consolidate the draft prepared by the Secretary-General in response to paragraph 4 of Commission resolution 1 (S-IX), the comments made by Governments as well as the comments made by States participating in the thirty-second session of the Commission, and information on the results of the session and the working group, and to circulate that document to States by 1 May 1987; the document should also include a draft preambular part, a section on the implementation mechanism and draft final provisions;

4. Decides to establish an open-ended intergovernmental expert group to meet in 1987, twice if necessary (perhaps in July and October), each session lasting one to two weeks, within available resources, to review the working document, to reach agreement on the articles of the draft convention, wherever possible, and to prepare a revised working document;

5. Invites all interested States to submit any comments on and/or textual changes to the working document to be circulated for consideration at the meetings of the expert group;

6. Requests the Secretary-General to inform the International Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, to be held at Vienna in June 1987, on the progress made in the preparation of the draft convention;

7. Requests the Secretary-General to distribute to States, by 1 November 1987, the revised draft prepared by the expert group, for review;

8. Also requests the Secretary-General to report to the next session of the Commission on the results of the expert group and to provide any comments from Governments on the revised draft;

9. Requests the Commission, at its next session, to consider the report of the Secretary-General on the progress achieved by the expert group and the comments from Governments on the work of the group, and to make recommendations on the steps to be followed in the further elaboration of the draft convention, including the possibility of convening a plenipotentiary conference in 1988 to adopt it;

10. Requests the Secretary-General to allocate sufficient funds from the programme budget for the biennium 1986-1987 for the expert group to meet; if necessary, the Secretary-General should seek to provide the funding from voluntary contributions or from the proposed programme budget for the biennium 1988-1989;

11. Also requests the Secretary-General to make provisions for the convening of a plenipotentiary conference during the biennium 1988-1989.