14 July 2026
VIENNA (14 July) - It is with great sadness that the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has learnt of the passing of Mr. Raymond Yans, who served as President of the Board from 2012 to 2014.
Mr. Yans was born in 1948 in Liège, Belgium. After graduating with a degree in Germanic philology and philosophy in 1972, Mr. Yans joined the Belgian Foreign Service in 1978, serving as an Attaché in Indonesia until 1981. He served as Deputy-Mayor of Liège between 1982 and 1989. From 1989 to 1994, Mr. Yans served as Consul in Tokyo. From 1999 to 2003, he served as Consul and Chargé d’affaires in Luxembourg.
As Head of the Drug Unit in the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1999 and from 2003 to 2007, Mr. Yans was responsible for the national coordination of the ratification and implementation of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
As Chair of the Dublin Group (2002-2006), he spearheaded coordination efforts of European Union drug policy with the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and Norway, as well as UNODC.
As a representative of the European Union, Mr. Yans led Drug Control Cooperation Conferences with Southern African states (1995 and 1998), as well as the High-Level Dialogue on Drugs with the Andean Community (2005). His role within the United Nations commenced as Member of the Belgian Delegation to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (1995-2007), strengthened by his involvement in the preparatory sessions for the twentieth special session of the General Assembly, as well as his role in the UNODC/Paris Pact Talks in Brussels (2003), Tehran and Istanbul (2005).
The United Nations Economic and Social Council elected him to serve as Member of INCB from 2007, and in the same year became a Member of the Board’s Committee on Finance and Administration (until 2009), and a Member of the Board’s Standing Committee on Standing Estimates (until 2010). In 2010, he served as Rapporteur, and in 2011 as First Vice-President of the Board. He was elected as President of the Board in 2012 and 2013.
Mr. President Yans’ service to INCB and the broader international community endures.
INCB extends its heartfelt condolences to Mr. Yans’ family, friends, and colleagues.
