MEASURES AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING TO BE REVIEWED BY INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD
Press Release
SOC/NAR/715
MEASURES AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING TO BE REVIEWED BY INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD
19951103 VIENNA, 2 November (UN Information Service) -- Measures taken by governments to control and stem money laundering, particularly in the context of the global fight against drug trafficking, will be reviewed by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) during its fifty-ninth session which began here today in a closed meeting.The Board, an independent body whose 13 members serve in their individual capacities, is charged with monitoring States' compliance with international drug control treaties.
Progress in achieving proper national and international supervision of capital movements and financial markets -- an effort required under the terms of the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and spurred by recent growing awareness of the need for multilateral cooperation against organized transnational crime -- was expected to be the main focus of the Board's report for 1995, to be issued early next year.
The Board, which also regularly reviews States' adherence to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, that treaty's 1972 Protocol and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, reports annually to the Economic and Social Council through the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. Its 1995 report, to be completed at the current session which ends on 16 November, will also include a review of world drug abuse and trafficking and of measures taken by governments throughout the world to combat those problems. In that context, the Board also recommends actions to be taken nationally and internationally to improve controls.
Since the issuance of the Board's 1994 report last February, it has sent investigative missions to the following countries: Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Iran, Kazakstan, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Switzerland, Togo, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates.
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Its mission to Colombia, led by Board President Oskar Schroeder, had been asked by the Government to evaluate the effects of recent policy changes and new strategies against illicit production and trafficking in that country, with emphasis on drug-related legislation.
Also, during the current session, the Board will discuss a number of issues related to trial programmes involving the non-medical use of heroin, and is expected to give an opinion on that subject in its 1995 report. The INCB and the World Health Organization (WHO) were asked to provide opinions on that question in response to a resolution adopted by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs earlier this year.
Members of the Board are: Sirad Atmodjo (Indonesia), Edward Babayan (Russian Federation), Dr. Hamid Ghodse (Iran), Dil Jan Khan (Pakistan), Antonio Laurenco Martins (Portugal), Gottfried Machata (Austria), Mohammed A. Mansour (Egypt), Bunsom Martin (Thailand), Herbert Okun (United States), Alfredo Pemjean (Chile), Manuel Quijano Narezo (Mexico), Mr. Schroeder (German) and Elba Torres Graterol (Venezuela).
In view of the special character of its deliberations, the proceedings of the Board are confidential.
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