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OO RUEHWEB
DE RUEHC #2620 1630208
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 110158Z JUN 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0000
INFO UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD IMMEDIATE 0000
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL IMMEDIATE 0000
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO IMMEDIATE 0000
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS STATE 062620
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: UNSC PREL SNAR AF
SUBJECT: AFGHANISTAN -- INSTRUCTIONS FOR UNSC RESOLUTION
ON HEROIN PERCURSOR CHEMICALS
1. The Department instructs USUN to vote in favor of and
join in co-sponsoring the French-sponsored Security
Council resolution on
International Cooperation to Prevent Diversion of Chemical
Precursors of Heroin for Illicit Use in Afghanistan,
during the Security Council meeting on June 11, 2008.
USUN may support the text with or without the bracketed
language in PP 5 and 8 and OP 8, 9, and 11.
2. Begin Draft Resolution Text:
The Security Council,
1. Recalling its previous resolutions on Afghanistan, in
particular its resolutions 1659 (2006), 1776 (2007) and
1806 (2008), and the Statement of its President on 17 June
2003 (S/PRST/2003/7), and calling upon the Afghan
Government, with the assistance of the international
community, including the International Security Assistance
Force and Operation Enduring Freedom coalition, in
accordance with their respective designated
responsibilities as they evolve, to continue to address
the threat to the security and stability of Afghanistan
posed by the Taliban, Al-Qaida, illegally armed groups,
criminals and those involved in the narcotics trade;
2. Recalling its resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1735 (2006),
and reiterating its support for international efforts to
combat terrorism in accordance with international law,
including the Charter of the United Nations,
3. Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty,
independence, territorial integrity and national unity of
Afghanistan,
4. Reaffirming its continued support for the Government
and people of Afghanistan as they rebuild their country,
strengthen the foundations of sustainable peace and
constitutional democracy and assume their rightful place
in the community of nations,
5. Noting with concern the existing links between
international security and transnational organized crime,
money-laundering, trafficking in illicit drugs and illegal
arms, and in this regard emphasizing the need to enhance
coordination of efforts on national, subregional, regional
and international levels in order to strengthen a global
response to this serious challenge [and threat to
international security],
6. Reiterating its concern about the security situation in
Afghanistan, in particular the continued violent and
terrorist activities by the Taliban, Al-Qaida, illegal
armed groups, criminals and those involved in the
narcotics trade, and the links between illicit drugs
trafficking and the insurgency,
7. Welcoming the ongoing efforts of the Government of
Afghanistan in the fight against narcotic drugs and the
efforts of neighboring countries to address the impact on
the region of the production of illicit drugs in
Afghanistan, including through interdiction activities,
and encouraging the international and regional
organizations to enhance their role in the fight against
illicit trafficking in narcotics and precursors,
8. Reiterating its support for the fight against illicit
[production and] trafficking of drugs from and chemical
precursors to Afghanistan, encouraging increased
cooperation between Afghanistan, neighboring countries
and countries on trafficking routes to strengthen
anti-narcotics controls to curb the drug flow, including
through border management cooperation, and expressing its
support for the Paris Pact Initiative, for the outcome of
the Second Ministerial Conference organized in Moscow in
June 2006, and for the meeting organized in Kabul in
October 2007 in the framework of the Paris Pact
Initiative; Stressing the need for Member States to take
measures, with the support of relevant international
actors to combat the laundering of proceeds of criminal
activity, corruption and illicit trafficking in narcotics
and precursors in line with the outcome of the Moscow
Conference,
9. Recalling that achieving a sustained and significant
reduction in the production and trafficking of narcotics
with a view to eliminating the narcotics industry has been
identified as a cross-cutting priority by the "Afghanistan
Compact" adopted in London in 2006, which provides the
framework for the partnership between the Afghan
Government and the international community, as well as the
Government of Afghanistan's National Drug Control
Strategy,
10. Stressing the importance of a comprehensive approach
to address the drug problem of Afghanistan, which, to be
effective has to be integrated into the wider context of
efforts carried out in the three areas of Security,
Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights, and economic and
Social Development, stressing that the development of
alternative livelihood programs is of key importance in
the success of the efforts in counter-narcotics in
Afghanistan, and reiterating that extensive efforts have
also to be made to reduce the demand of drugs globally in
order to contribute to the sustainability of the
elimination of illicit cultivation in Afghanistan,
11. Expressing utmost concern at the increase of illegal
smuggling for illicit use to and within Afghanistan of
chemical precursors needed to produce heroin, in
particular acetic anhydride, and also hydrochloric acid
and acetone, linked to the high level of opium
cultivation, production and trafficking, and noting that
most of the opium produced in Afghanistan is now processed
in the country,
12. Recalling the Political Declaration adopted by the
General Assembly at its twentieth special session, in
which Member States decided to establish the year 2008 as
a target date for States to eliminate or significantly
reduce, inter alia, the diversion of precursors, and
recognizing that action against the world drug problem is
a common and shared responsibility requiring an integrated
and balanced approach in full conformity with the purposes
and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and
international law,
13. Acknowledging the role of the Commission on Narcotic
Drugs of the Economic and Social Council as the central
policy making and coordinating body within the UN system
on international drug control issues, and welcoming its
intention to consider the issue of precursors control as
one of the central questions to be discussed during the
high-level segment of the fifty-second session of the
Commission on Narcotic Drugs,
14. Acknowledging the mandate and the leading role played
by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), as an
independent treaty body, in the implementation of the
United Nations international drug control conventions and
the international control of precursors,
15. Stressing the central role played by the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in assisting
Member States, notably by providing technical assistance,
in the fight against illicit drugs,
1. Expresses utmost concern at the high level of
opium cultivation, production and trafficking, which
involves in particular the diversion of chemical
precursors, and stresses once again the serious harm that
it causes to the security, development and governance of
Afghanistan as well as to the region and internationally,
and to the success of the international efforts;
2. Calls upon all Member States to increase
international and regional cooperation in order to counter
the illicit production and trafficking of drugs in
Afghanistan, including by strengthening the monitoring of
the international trade in chemical precursors, including,
notably, but not limited to, acetic anhydride, and to
prevent attempts to divert the substances from licit
international trade for illicit use in Afghanistan;
3. Invites all Member States, in particular
chemical precursor producing countries, Afghanistan,
neighboring countries, and all countries on the
trafficking routes to increase their cooperation with the
INCB, notably by fully complying with the provisions of
Article 12 of the 1988 Convention, in order to eliminate
loopholes utilized by criminal organizations to divert
chemical precursors from licit international trade;
4. Urges exporting States to ensure the systematic
notification of all exports of relevant chemical
precursors, upon request from importing States, in
accordance with provisions of the 1988 Convention, and
encourages importing States to request the systematic
notification of such exports; also urges the Governments
that have not yet done so to register with and utilize the
on-line system for the exchange of pre-export
notifications
(PEN On-line);
5. Calls upon States that have not done so to
consider ratifying or acceding to, and State parties to
implement fully the multilateral treaties whose aim is to
fight against the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs,
notably the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic
Drugs, 1961, as amended by the Protocol of 25 March 1972
and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic
in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988 (the
1988 Convention), underlines the importance for all States
parties to these treaties to implement them fully, and
stresses that nothing in this resolution will impose on
State parties new obligations with regard to these
treaties;
6. Expresses its continued support to the commitment and
efforts of Afghanistan to achieve a sustained and
significant reduction in the production and trafficking of
narcotics with a view to complete elimination, Expresses
also its support to the Afghan National Drug Control
Strategy and calls on the Afghan Government, with the
assistance of the international community, to accelerate
its implementation, as discussed at the seventh meeting of
the Joint Coordinating and Monitoring Board (JCMB) held in
Tokyo in February 2008, and Calls for additional
international support for the priorities identified in
that Strategy;
7. Calls upon all Member States, in particular
chemical precursor producing countries, Afghanistan,
neighboring countries and all countries on the
trafficking routes to adopt adequate national
legislation, consistent with the requirements of relevant
international conventions to which they are parties, where
it has not yet been done, and to strengthen their national
capacities in the areas of (i) regulation and monitoring
of manufacture and trade of chemical precursors, with a
view to controlling the final destination of such
chemicals and (ii) specialized enforcement operations
against the diversion of precursors, including for their
detection and disposal in Afghanistan and the region, and
for strengthening border controls;
8. Invites the international community to provide
financial and technical assistance and support, in
building national capacity in the fields referred to in
Paragraph 4, to Afghanistan and, where appropriate [and
upon request], neighboring countries, including through
voluntary contributions to UNODC; stresses in particular
the importance of training and equipping law enforcement
agencies, including border police and custom officers, so
as to allow them to deal efficiently with such tasks as
detection, scanning, stockpiling, transportation and
destruction of chemical precursors; and encourages
Afghanistan and its neighbors to make full use of such
Assistance;
9. Reiterates its support for the Paris Pact
Initiative aimed at facilitating counter narcotics
cooperation and coordination amongst countries seriously
affected by the trafficking of narcotics drugs produced in
Afghanistan, for the outcome of the Second Ministerial
Conference organized in Moscow in June 2006 (S//2006/598),
[in cooperation with UNODC,] and for other international
and/or regional relevant initiatives, such as Project
Cohesion, and calls upon Paris Pact partners to further
promote international and regional initiatives;
10. Welcomes the launch, under the guidance of
UNODC and the Project Cohesion Task Force, of the Targeted
Anti-Trafficking Regional Communication, Expertise and
Training (TARCET) initiative, targeting precursors used in
the manufacture of heroin in Afghanistan, and urges the
Paris Pact partners to cooperate closely in a view to
achieve its successful implementation;
11. Recognizes the legitimate need of industry to
have access to precursors and its important role in
preventing the diversion of precursors, and encourages all
Member States, in particular producing countries,
Afghanistan [and its] neighbors to develop partnerships
with the private sector so as to prevent the diversion of
precursors;
12. Looks forward to the outcome of the
international conference in support of Afghanistan, which
will be held in Paris on 12 June 2008, and encourages the
participants to the Conference to makes concrete proposals
on the ways to address the problem of diversion of
chemical precursors for illicit use, in the wider
framework of the discussions on the strengthening of
counter-narcotics activities in the Afghanistan National
Development Strategy and National Drug Control Strategy;
13. Encourages Member States to submit to the
Committee established pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999)
for inclusion on the Consolidated List names of
individuals and entities participating in the financing or
support of acts or activities of Al-Qaida, Usama bin Laden
and the Taliban, and other individual, groups,
undertakings and entities associated with them, using
proceeds derived from the illicit cultivation, production,
and trafficking of narcotic drugs produced in Afghanistan
and their precursors, in order to give full effect to the
relevant provisions of resolution 1735 (2006);
14. Requests the Secretary General to include, as
appropriate, in his regular reports to the Security
Council and the General Assembly on the situation in
Afghanistan, in close consultation with UNODC and INCB,
observations and recommendations on the fight against drug
production and trafficking, notably on the issue of the
illicit traffic of chemical precursors to and within
Afghanistan;
15. Invites the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to
consider, in accordance with its mandate, ways to
strengthen regional and international cooperation to
prevent the diversion and smuggling of chemical precursors
to and within Afghanistan, and further opportunities for
Member States to support the Afghan Government in
developing capacities to tackle precursors and
trafficking;
16. Decides to remain seized of the matter.
End Text.
RICE