Crime Prevention: International Cooperation
Home Department

James Brokenshire (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; Hornchurch, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps she has taken to (a) monitor compliance with those United Nations conventions on drug control which have been ratified by the UK and (b) assist the work of the International Narcotics Control Board.

Alan Campbell (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Tynemouth, Labour)

The UK has ratified three United Nations conventions on drug control—the 1961 single convention on narcotic drugs, the 1971 convention on psychotropic substances and the 1988 convention against the illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The 1961 and 1971 conventions form the basis of drug control in the UK and are given effect through the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Compliance with the UN conventions is, therefore, an ongoing process through the daily operation of the 1971 Act and its subordinate legislation. As custodian of the UN conventions, the Home Office supports the work of the International Narcotics Control Board by supplying manufacturing and transaction data and ensuring industry adherence to the statutory controls, both national and international, through a system of vetting and licensing of those companies involved in the manufacture and trade of controlled substances.