Distinguished Vice-President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am honoured to present the 2025 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board.
International cooperation through the framework of the three international drug control conventions safeguards the health and welfare of people globally, and is the focus of the thematic chapter of this year’s Report.
The global system of estimates and assessments for narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances is a success story for international cooperation, demonstrated by the very low level of diversion of licitly produced controlled substances.
However, global progress in improving availability is yet to be reflected in data reported to INCB. Despite morphine being one of the most affordable opioids for pain treatment and palliative care, 86 per cent of global consumption is concentrated in Europe and North America. 82 per cent of the world population, mainly in low- and middle-income countries, consumed only 14 per cent of the morphine used globally for pain management in 2024.
Similarly, there are still substantial regional disparities in the consumption of psychotropic substances used in the treatment of neurological and mental health conditions.
Barriers include regulatory requirements, cultural issues and inadequate training. Improving availability, including during humanitarian emergencies, requires an integrated approach that also addresses affordability. The INCB Learning programme helps Governments to implement the drug control conventions with the aim of improving availability for medical purposes.
To support Governments in preventing illicit drug manufacture and trafficking in highly potent synthetic drugs, such as fentanyls and nitazenes, the INCB precursor control and GRIDS programmes offer training and advanced technological tools. As of 2025, over 125,000 government intelligence pieces involving over 3 million trafficking signals were exchanged in real time through the INCB IONICS tools.
In March 2025, use of the INCB PEN Online platform prevented the diversion of three tons of 1-boc-4-piperidone, a fentanyl precursor which could have been used to manufacture up to 1.6 billion potentially fatal doses of fentanyl.
The 2025 Precursors Report provides an update of the world precursor situation and action taken to implement articles 12 and 13 of the 1988 Convention on precursors, materials and equipment used in illicit drug manufacture.
Both Reports set out recommendations for a balanced approach to international drug control. While the conventions provide flexibility in the choice of measures, national systems must ensure that the use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances is limited exclusively to medical and scientific purposes, and that implementation measures take into consideration the principle of proportionality, the rule of law and human rights.
INCB is committed to reinforcing the cooperative efforts of countries to implement the drug control conventions, address emerging challenges and ultimately safeguard health and welfare. However, the impact of the Board’s efforts is dependent upon the active participation and support of Member States, and sustained resources.
The continuing regular budget liquidity crisis has resulted in the postponement of critical INCB country missions and staffing shortages in the Board’s secretariat. A lack of reliable regular budget resources has the potential to compromise the Board’s ability to approve and process estimates and assessments for hundreds of tons of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances used in anaesthesia, pain management, opioid agonist therapy and for the treatment of neurological and mental health disorders, with potentially disastrous consequences for people worldwide. Similarly, predictable extrabudgetary resources are crucial to ensure the continued activities of INCB Learning and the precursor control and GRIDS programmes.
Thank you.
