INCB workshop for East African countries on the role of public-private partnerships in preventing the diversion of precursors

Vienna/Dar Es Salaam, 17 October 2019 - More than 40 participants from 11 countries, among them representatives from national law enforcement and regulatory authorities, and pharmaceutical industry, discussed the key roles and potential of public-private partnerships in preventing the diversion of chemicals into illicit drug manufacturing channels during a regional workshop organized by the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). Diversion of and trafficking in scheduled precursors is shifting from the international to the domestic level, and the use of non-scheduled chemicals in the illicit manufacture of drugs is increasing. While legislative changes offer long-term solutions, voluntary public-private partnerships, based on shared goals and responsibility and formalized through agreements, have an increasingly important role to play.

During the three-day workshop in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, which ended today, participants exchanged best practices in establishing and implementing public-private cooperative agreements and drew on the lessons learned by countries which have either introduced or are developing public-private cooperative agreements. Diversion of chemicals into illicit channels can occur at any stage of the distribution chain. Public-private partnerships should therefore not be limited to the chemical industry only. A representative of one of the world's leading logistic companies, DHL, attended the workshop and shared his views on the potential and challenges in preventing precursors from being diverted into illicit channels.

The workshop concluded with the adoption of recommendations aimed at developing and further enhancing the concept of the public-private partnerships, for example through the signing of memoranda of understanding and other cooperative mechanisms.

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INCB is the independent, quasi-judicial body charged with promoting and monitoring Government compliance with the three international drug control conventions: the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.

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INCB Secretariat
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Email: incb.secretariat [at]un.org
Website: www.incb.org

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