Chair: Good morning, welcome back. Agenda adapted. Composition of the bureau – following of the election of the bureau, there is a pending nomination for second vice chair from Eastern European States, please inform the Secretariat ASAP. The dates set for 62 session including the high level segment are: HLMS 14-15 March, Regular Session 18- 22 March, reconvened 12-13 December, 2019. We will also hold a series of intersessionals, the next ones will be held on the 25th , 29th February and 7th of March. Regarding the preparations for CND, the invitations for the HLMS were sent and the deadline of draft submissions will be 4 weeks prior of the commencement that is of 14 February. 1st of March to be informed about the rep for HLMS and whether they wish to address the Commission. All information are contained by the note circulated by the Secretariat. We will have minsters of Cabinets and Representatives of lower ministerial level. Should health of state or governance, they will need to submit their names on a separate box. During the general debate, statements are requested to be of 5 minutes – 500 words to allow time for everyone. Longer statements can be posted on the website of the Commission. Regarding the roundtables: the themes , as were agreed upon, pursuant of 61/10 resolution, each consist of a panel composed of 5 panellist nominated by the regional groups and one by CSTF and in addition it could include 2 speakers elected by UN. A rep from UNODC will make intro remarks. The names must be submitted a month before the commencement – 14 February. Round-tables will be co-chaired by 2 reps of regional groups. Interventions are recommended to be limited to 5 minutes, interventions from the floor to 3 minutes. Chair will summarise and present to the plenary. Further info on the matter and organisation is contained in the note prepared by the Secretariat. I see no comments.
A summary by the chairs will be presented prior to the closure of the segment. I hope that is acceptable.
During HLMS, member states called for a short concise and action oriented outcome that will send a strong political message and I am pleased to say we are progressing and are in a positive spirit. We are building on the work of the 61st session and I want to express my sincere appreciate for the work of the previous chair. Building on the feedback received on the skeleton, a zero draft document was shared with the permanent missions last Monday. We take general comments today, we will have an informal meeting to discuss this tomorrow, so we will not go into a para by para work today. With the consent of the Africa group, Ambassador Vivian Okeke of Nigeria will support me as a facilitator in the upcoming negotiations. We will only go into the first reading tomorrow, but I am happy to take any general comments right now. I open the floor for statements.
Japan: Thank you for your guidance & commending the work of Ambassador Buenrostro Massieu. Balanced document well developed on the skeleton we discussed last year. We welcome the process in which it was developed, and we are preparing in an optimistic spirit for the 62nd session. Also, the volume of the document is appropriate, but we have to keep in mind that it is a ministerial declaration, we are not making a new policy document, so we should think about setting a page limit. We don’t want to see a long document and self-repetition. We are not making a new policy document, we don’t have to repeat all the elements, we don’t have to reference all policy items. All MS have important issues, but if we want to mention all of them, we miss the purpose of the exercise. Regarding the political message, this is not a working level document, so the message is very important – from that standpoint, it would be appropriate to highlight 6 and 7 paragraphs of the political declaration: promoting and protecting health and well-being of humanity & society free of drug abuse so people can live in health and prosperity, social problems, health and so on. This would be very much appropriate as a political statement and I suggest we bring this to the top of the preamble. Without increasing the volume, we can strengthen the political message this way. Given the characteristics of the meeting, several issues are of high importance to mention: single-track, data collection, new target date – these are the key issues form the standpoint of my delegation. We should stick to this as a core.
Romania, on behalf of the European Union: The EU and its Member States would like to thank you for guiding our work towards a successful Ministerial Segment of the 62nd CND session. First of all, allow me to express our sincere appreciation for the ambitious and speedy manner in which you are conducting the consultation process. The informal brainstorming that you have organised and the draft skeleton of the ministerial document that you have kindly shared with delegations have been particularly helpful and have enabled our collective work to start on a positive track in the beginning of this new year. We strongly believe that our joint efforts, in line with the principle of common and shared responsibility, should be focused on achieving a balanced ministerial outcome document, to address the world drug situation in an effective and sustainable manner by 2030. We, the EU and its Member States, are glad to see that a number of important issues are covered by the zero draft. We are looking into it carefully and will be actively contributing to the consultations. For the time being, the EU and its Member States would like to reiterate the elements that we believe shall be the foundations of the outcome document of the Ministerial Segment. First, the EU and its Member States fully support the principal role of the CND and UNODC as the policy-making bodies and leading entities for addressing and countering the world drug problem. It is key for the CND and UNODC to further engage with all relevant UN entities, including the WHO, UNDP, UNAIDS, UN Women and OHCHR. Second, it is important to commit to implementing the UNGASS Outcome Recommendations in order to obtain concrete improvements and measurable progress by 2030. UNGASS broadened global drug policy, through putting an adequate focus on both demand reduction and supply reduction. We strongly believe that equal efforts shall be invested in all areas of drug policy, in full respect of the UN Drug Conventions. Building on evidence on their effectiveness, we commit to minimize the adverse public health and social consequences of drug use by effectively implementing harm reduction policies. These policies represent a key measure in reducing the incidence of HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis and other blood-borne diseases. At the same time, they promote the respect of human rights of people affected by drug problems. The UNGASS Outcome Document addresses the health side of the drugs problem: effective access to and availability of controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes, vulnerable members of society, emerging and persistent challenges and threats, and the link to human rights and the relevant Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, the UNGASS Outcome Document also reaffirms the unwavering commitment to the UN drug conventions, supply reduction and related measures, including a call to implement effective law enforcement, to counter money-laundering and to promote judicial cooperation. Therefore, the UNGASS Outcome Document is the most recent consensus and the most comprehensive agreement of the international community in the field of drugs. It is a milestone and a progressive step towards the improvement of the current situation on international drug policy. Third, the EU and its Member States uphold the principle of adequate, proportionate and effective response to drug-related offences, as highlighted in all UN documents on drug policy. We have a strong and unequivocal opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances and we consider that the death penalty undermines human dignity. Fourth, CND’s commitment to contribute to the attainment of the drug-related Sustainable Development Goals should be reaffirmed. It is important to implement the UNGASS Outcome Recommendations in line with the relevant SDGs of the 2030 Agenda, bearing in mind that the efforts to effectively address the world drug problem and to achieve the relevant SDGs are complementary and mutually reinforcing. Fifth, the EU and its Member States advocate for an integrated, balanced, and evidence- based approach. Collecting relevant and reliable data is essential to get a better overview of the drug situation worldwide, and to allow for evidence-based policy-making. Improving the quality and effectiveness of the Annual Report Questionnaire (ARQ) and enhancing the capacity of countries to report data is crucial, as the ARQ is the necessary tool to report on the implementation of the international commitments to effectively addressing and countering the world drug problem. This is why the document to be adopted by the Ministers in March 2019 shall prioritize to enhance data collection, improve capacity building, and strengthen and streamline the ARQ. Sixth, it is important to commit to the continued involvement of civil society, academia, scientific community and all relevant stakeholders in the deliberations on the international drugs policy, as they play a crucial role in providing knowledge, hands on experience and scientific evidence, respectively in support of the evaluations of drug control policies and programmes, and therefore in assessing and addressing the world drug situation. Through their efforts on raising awareness on the harmful effects of drugs and drug use and through the provision of treatment and rehabilitation services for people who use drugs, civil society demonstrates it`s important role in preventing drug use. Distinguished Chairman, Distinguished Facilitator, The EU and its Member States are pleased to continue to support you in the efforts of preparing a meaningful and action-oriented ministerial document, which broadly reflects the aforementioned elements. We are pleased to continue to work closely with you in the challenging task of defining a ministerial document which reflects a balanced, comprehensive and evidenced-based approach. Thank you very much.
Nigeria: Thank you for your trust in nominating me to work on the draft and I express my appreciation for the work of the previous Chair. I call on all the delegates to give their support for the good short and concise document with a strong political message. I would like to see at the end of our efforts that we met our goals and fight the world drug problem.
Afghanistan: We don’t have many things say – about the political message, we believe in its importance and we shouldn’t keep it only as a message, we need clear commitments on the political level that are measurable and guarantee that this will be delivering something in achieving our goals, otherwise it is just words. We strongly agree with the delegation of Romania in reaffirming UNGASS, it is the most recent document indeed but unsure about 2009 as we need to reevaluate the goals. There are differences between UNODC and EU reports, UNODC is the most reliable for us, but they need support from the MS. So, it is important to create measures that guarantees UNODC’s enhanced and independent data collection and reporting. These are the most reliable data on the planet and we should keep them away from the influence of states – the strong, the small, the good, the bad. We welcome Europol latest report, it clearly says there are a lot of heroin routes across Europe. Compared to the ones in our region are miniscule but we commend the EU’s transparency and genuine treatment of this issue and we encourage other states to do the same instead of playing the victim and destroying the true picture. A new regime to solve the problem should be adopted, it is all of our problems – we can’t close our eyes to it. Thank you.
Pakistan: We sincerely commend your work in preparing the draft. We have mixed feelings – we are satisfied and concerned, we are also optimistic and fully prepared. We are happy that we have in our hands a good starting point, a document we can build on and transform it to an ambitious declaration. We are satisfied because the zero draft contains many important elements that were previously highlighted on the floor, including Pakistan. We are sad because some of the points, some points that we debated in lengths, core issues are not reflected. We are concerned that the operative part doesn’t contain strong and clear ambitious political messages. It is not just a routine resolution, this should be an important reference doc for the next 10 years. We would like this to contain strong political messages. We are surprised… we seen elements that are not part of the mainstream debate, for example we don’t understand where the notion comes from regarding single track goals. We look forward to a more specific discussion tomorrow.
Russia: We expected to provide addition impetus… The nature of the ministerial document implies necessity of strong political measures. We see a potential for further discussions. This should be strong concise and action oriented and also strengthen commitments and guide the international community. The zero draft contains most elements we discussed, and it is a good starting point. Let me comment on some elements that are of utmost importance to my delegation: the goal of eliminating or eliminate or significantly reduce drug markets, production, trafficking, consuming etc. We need more consolidated efforts from all stakeholders and send a strong message to the international community, so we welcome the inclusion of those goals in the document. The UNGASS document developed technical tools to achieve those goals and offers strategies. The paragraph 8, way forward, seems controversial. We don’t believe that in 2 years the time will be right to revise these goals. As expressed by many delegations, the emphasis beyond 2019 should be on implementation on bridging gaps. We should be more precise what we mean by bridging gaps and new challenges – plant based drugs should not be overlooked, they continue to pose serious threats to our societies. In our view, one of the most serious threats is posed by the legalisation of drugs, it cannot be tolerated or excused by our community. The document should put emphasis on complying to the conventions. We thank you for your efforts, Mr. Chair.
USA: Thank you for the draft, we support the document overall. The key is the high level political message – each of the pivotal points not just in the US but in this room. This should be ambitious to curve the drug problem but recognise to be effective, governments should implement national. We recognise that this current draft affirms support for conventions and 2009, 2014 and 2016 – the latest consensus. These serve as the framework to guide our work and underscores the leading role of CND, UNODC, INCB and WHO. Protecting these will be a US red line in the future. The political commitment should carry beyond 2019: urgent and intensified national action including multilateral cooperation. On data collection, we should include specific guidelines. Any language in the deliverable should not stray too far in the weeds. Regarding the single track approach, we do believe this could be based on the OP1 60/1 – the efforts to streamline ARQ, share data already collected and consider that MS will continue to find solutions on the next intergovernmental meetings on ARQ. 2030 data and single-track should be separate. CND work requires specific expertise, the 2030 is wide ranging. Here we should focus on drug, a too wide. Many aspects of our work is related to the broader agenda but we should focus so we can work on an expert level. CND regular session can serve as a vehicle to operationalise this intensified collaboration to discuss technical level resolutions and real action to address health and well-being, in particular youth our most precious asset.
Turkey: Thank you & welcome the draft. We are disappointed that there is no paragraphs mentioning the connection to other forms of crime. We know terrorist groups benefit from drugs and this linkage is one of the reasons we cannot achieve our goals. I will address this more specifically tomorrow.
Egypt: Thanks, and well wishes for the Chair. The zero draft is an excellent base for our deliberations in the coming weeks. The main points we think are crucial to highlight are: need to continue to achieve a society free of drug abuse, universal adherence to the conventions and full implementation is key to the functioning of the international drug control system – especially following 2009, 2014, 2016, these are complimentary and mutually enforcing documents, so we should focus on a single track approach. Achieving that approach, we reaffirm our commitments to the goals in the political declaration … and op 36. This will get our efforts streamlined with the ARQ reflecting it. Thank you again for your work, we fully support your work Mr. Chair.
Singapore: Thank you, generally we are happy with the document, it is comprehensive and balanced, but we believe can work towards a better document. We think a strong political message is appropriate as this will serve as a reference point for the coming years.
Algeria: MS have different positions it seems some of those are not included in here, but we see the zero draft as a good starting point. We are satisfied with the structure, we see the conventions are mentioned as a cornerstone and full respect to the sovereignty of states. We noticed that the security based approach should be more balanced, and I join the delegation of Turkey emphasising the linkage of drug trafficking to other crimes. Further comments will be proved tomorrow.
Portugal: We fully align with EU. Inter-agency cooperation deserves a clear deference in the document. Reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in is missing – the reduction of suffering and stigma is an important goal. Regarding the, ARQ I will not repeat what others have said, but maybe we clear up what one-track means. We understand the balance you try to strike in here, but we think a reference to a specific op is not suitable for a ministerial document.
Namibia: Thank you for your work, supporting Chair.
Italy: Fully aligned with EU statement & thanks, we welcome the zero draft. There are many elements that should be easy to find consensus on as it is based on agreed language. On the other hand, there are aspects that probably requires more in-depth discussion. We would like to see a more prominent standing for UNGASS recommendations, this is not simple a document among the others, but a milestone, the most recent consensus as recognised by this Commission. It is the most comprehensive set of commitments, it has been recognised that its implementation contributes to 2009. We need to make sure the langue in this document is suitable for a high level ministerial declaration and we are afraid some elements reflect technical level conversations, in particular singling out a paragraph and the single track… we need to refine the language and put these into context. It’s important to reference the determination of MS to work together to combat national and trans-national criminal organisations – this could be one of the underlying political messages we consider important. We are optimistic and look forward to contributing further.
Austria: Thanks. We see a fruitful continuation of the previous sessions and happy to enter into this year. We align ourselves with the EU statement and want to echo US, Japan, Turkey, Italy but we will go into detail tomorrow. Regarding the structure, we support the idea of highlighting the political message and agree that some of the text might be a bit too technical. Focus on international cooperation might be a good idea, mutual assistance should be stressed also with UN agencies. As a political message, referencing criminal groups and the linkage to drug issues… we have to think about what kind of press release could come out of the segment. We also have to underline that we have two target groups when we discuss the world drug problems: victims who need our support, we want to see their protection highlighted, and crime groups.
Germany: Thank you for producing this zero draft. Addition to the EU statement, along with Pakistan and Italy, we remark that the length of the document is basis for happiness, but the language lacks the character of message and political resolve. We have to work together to include this. One, to the wider public, dramatically increase our commitment and resources. Second, addressing young people, target group pf utmost importance, message of prevention and taking care of our youth. In this sense, some references to previous documents don’t fit in this document. Japan and Austria, the first 10 lines are the most important and we have to focus the core of the message there.
Netherlands: Align to EU. Zero draft builds well on our previous discussions. I don’t have detailed instructions yet but tomorrow we can discuss the details. From the Dutch perspective, we think a certain balance is missing in the document. We see UNGASS as the most recent and comprehensive agreement and it is not reflected here, in particular attention to human rights which is key to the functioning of the drug control system. IT is a ministerial document, so I agree the language needs to be less technical and it should start with clear political messages. One of the main elements that we have to work on beyond 209 is the single track approach but it will be difficult for minsters to work with this if we don’t define what we mean by this. We think more should be added to this element besides data collection.
Morocco: Thanks, good basis. Three political documents are important. The UNGASS represents the latest consensus, we should focus more on this as it captures new realities and details operational recommendations. We agree with Japan and assure you of our full support Mr. Chair.
Guatemala: We agree with Austria and Germany, we have to start the declaration by showing strength and saying what we are willing to do and the goals we are trying to achieve besides the 2030 agenda. We are ready to work.
Jordan: Support for the zero draft.
Tunisia: Good work on the zero draft, looking forward to the further debates.
Mexico: Thank you for your kind works, support for your work Mr. Chair the fine tuning will be easier with this basis, including gender and prevention, the draft goes in the right direction in setting the tone for the future work for the commission. Data collection
Brazil: Thanks, and support. I will make specific recommendations tomorrow, today I welcome the draft and your work. We echo previous statements about the language and political messages, so this is suitable for a ministerial level discussion. We have to work on translating the message to translate to the work outside of the CND and position these on top of the text. We feel we should highlight UNGASS as the most recent consensus and the work that can be done to implement the recommendations.
China: Thank you for the zero draft, it is a good basis, we fully support your leadership. We will provide our comments tomorrow.
France: Fully aligned to the EU and thank you for your work. Utmost importance to commitment to implement the recommendations of the UNGASS outcome document that focuses on the health aspect of the world drug situation, it is a milestone therefore it is not only the most recent consensus but a most comprehensive policy document. Our priority should be taking stock of this implementation. To achieve a meaningful work, we have to strengthen data collection and improve capacity building and streamline the ARQ. Human rights have to be mentioned and promote proportional sentencing and policies responding to drug related offences, this has been emphasised by the INCB in November and he has particularly stressed the importance of human rights, he invited MS to abolish the death penalty. We need to recognise the important contribution if civil society, academia and the scientific community and their meaningful involvement has to be emphasised Inter-agency cooperation and other international and regional organisations is a key element in achieving a comprehensive work in the next decade. Joint commitments and progress toward addressing the root causes of the world drug problem should be considered. We look forward to working with you on this.
Australia: We consider this document to be a balanced one and a good starting point. We look forward to a meaningful HLMS and further international cooperation. Heading into CND 62, we are focused on international drug control regime, 2009 and 2016 – we consider these complimentary and don’t see a need to negotiate a new policy document at CND but more on the implementation. Access to controlled drugs, cross cutting issues – human rights with focus on vulnerable groups and we aim to build on previous efforts.
Uruguay: Thank you. UNODC and INCB – we have to say something about what happened in the last 10 years, the progress and failures to have a clear picture of where we are and where we want to go. Uruguay thinks we need to have more emphasis on human rights in the declaration, and mention the abolishment of death penalty. We don’t think a mentioning of a specific paragraph is needed as we have the UNGASS outcome document to reference. We have to think about the language, but we need to look forward too.
Colombia: Thank you and we support your work. This is a great starting point, concise, compact and action oriented. There are two issues that are not mentioned, and we think should be considered: NPS and the use of IT in drug trafficking. Traffickers are always one or more steps ahead of us. We are discussing policies that don’t take into account new trends. There is no normal process for CND in preparation for the next decade, we should allow all delegations to speak their own languages.
Iran: Thank you for your work, good base for negotiations. We have happiness and concerns as Pakistan, we will share it in detail tomorrow.
Philippines: Congratulations on your work, we fully support the Chair. In as much this is a ministerial statement, strong message in combatting the world drug problem, we wish to point out the key elements we believe are: comprehensive balanced approach, focusing on supply and demand reduction, emphasize on effectivity of supply reduction strategy, taking away the reach of the public with particular focus on youth. Drugs know no border so international collaboration, capacity building technical assistance, data sharing is important.
Thailand: Thank you for this good basis of discussions. We attach great importance to these elements: strong, simple, universal political message and the placement of these on the top of the document; focus on unresolved significant issues, such as the implementation of the single-track approach and how to improve data collection. We will share detailed recommendations in the days to come.
Ecuador: This draft zero is a good basis, the way forward section will be ratified by the ministers, so it needs to include a strong political message.
Chair: There are no other flags raised, so I will inform you all that following the proposal of the Mexican delegation, we invited Ms. Me to present on data collection. We will also have a statement from VNGOC in the agenda point other business.
Changes in the scope of control in the scope of substances – Secretariat to update.
Secretariat: In response of the many requests, we have been following up with the WHO referencing their presentation at the reconvened. The inquiries regarding the timing of when we can receive the notification of the WHO, the recommendation 41 ECDD are undergoing a clearance press, there is not much I can say at this time. As soon as we receive any notification from the DG of the WHO that will be brought immediately to your attention.
Egypt: Having a decision on the recommendation at CND – is there a specific time in which the WHO has to present their recommendation so that they will be taken up at the regular session?
Secretariat: Conventions themselves don’t set a specific timeline, but the commission has been looking at it and there is a resolution that encouraged WHO, I can share this resolution after the meeting, to share the notification 3 months in advance to give enough time to MS to make informed decisions. It will be up to the commission to decide if it wants to take any decisions or ant to postpone their consideration.
Egypt: Are there any precedents of postponing to the reconvened for example?
Secretariat: In recent history we have not been in a similar situation. The meeting of the ECDD took place relative late in the year… the ECDD as such is an advisory body for the WHO, the notification has to come from WHO itself. As far as I can go back in history, there is no precedent … to be honest, we don’t know if the notification will come in a matter of days to we have to give time to the WHO too.
Chair: ECOSOC has invited us last year to input on the thematic review on the high level political forum – a central forum for the 2030 follow-up. It will meet in New York 9-18 July 2019 with the ministerial segment 16-18. 70/1 HLPF conducts thematic reviews on SDGs including cross cutting issues to be supported by functional commissions. It seems to be empowering people and ensure qualities, it will review SDG4, 8, 10, 13, 16. The secretariat will prepare a draft thru the chairs of regional groups, 10 January I participated with CCPJ vice chair in the annual discussion with the expert bodies and functional commissions.
Secretariat: As we are waiting for Ms. Me, to give information on side events during CND62, the guidelines were shared on the 28th of November. Application period January 7th to 24th. Within the 1st week, we received 73 applications for which 12 were eligible for high level events.
As to what ministerial participation means, it is cabinet ministers. When it comes to events during the regular session, they are also accommodated on the first come first serve basis.
VNGOC: Vienna Civil Society Hearing 26th February, 10:00-13:00, C1 VIC
Angela Me, UNODC: On the work responding to review existing data collection: July 8-10 an expert consultation: invite national experts to take recommendations and how concretely these can translate to capacity building & ARQ review. We are preparing a draft with UNODC to prepare for this. We have submitted a paper to the UN Statistical Commission on drug statistics, this should be out soon on the website. Basically, we recall all what happened in Vienna and the importance of 2019. It is for the Statistical Commission how they can support our work, for example, national experts would like to be included to benefit from statistical expertise. SDG indicators relevance for drugs, we tried to promote that agencies that report on SGD indicators relevant to drug use they could desegregate the data by drug use to complement the work we do with the ARQ… of course we should avoid data duplication, so the group that oversees that data collection have made a call to consider desegregating data collection regarding people who use drugs.
Chair: I open the floor for comments
Austria: Date of the statistical committee’s meeting?
Angela Me: 5th of March.
Chair: Any other business?
Secretariat: Due to our financial situation, the travel budget is on a strong decrease. We have been receiving travel support requests, we can only provide those who really need support, with economy class tickets.
Mexico […]
Chair: About tomorrow’s informal: we will read the document para by para and will be chaired by ambassador Okeke. Meeting adjourned.