Drug Precursors 6 th April 2011

1. Drug Precursors 6th April 2011

2. Contents • Relevant Acquis • Icelandic Legislation • International Conventions • Legal Environment • Competence of Customs Act • Alignment • Import Procedure • Operational Competence • Responsibilities of Customs • Record Keeping • International Co-operation • Co-operation • Investigation and Prosecution • Offence Provisions • Administrative Capacities

3. RelevantAcquis • Regulation (EC) No 273/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 on drug precursors (Text with EEA relevance) • Council Regulation (EC) No 111/2005 of 22 December 2004 laying down rules for the monitoring of trade between the Community and third countries in drug precursors (Text with EEA relevance) • Commission Regulation (EC) No 1277/2005 of 27 July 2005 laying down implementing rules for Regulation (EC) No 273/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on drug precursors and for Council Regulation • (Text with EEA relevance)

4. Icelandic Legislation • Act on Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances with later amendments, No 65/1974 • Regulation on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and Other Controlled Substances, • No 233/2001 • “Other controlled substances” refers to precursors as mentioned in the Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances from 1988

5. Icelandic Legislation cont. • Secondary legislation No 794/2010 [6th of October 2010] on the implementation of several regulations of the European Union concerning medicines and drug precursors • Inter alia implementing: Commission Regulation No 1277 of 27 July 2005 laying down implementing rules for Regulation (EC) No 273/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on drug precursors and for Council Regulation (EC) No 111/2005 laying down rules for the monitoring of trade between the Community and third countries in drug precursors (Text with EEA relevance)

6. International Conventions • United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (New York, 1961) • Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (Geneva, 1972), • United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances (Vienna, 1971) • United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances • (Vienna, 1988)

7. Legal Environment • According to § 1 of the Act on Narcotics and Psychotropic substances with later amendments, No 65/1974, the Icelandic Government can accede to international Conventions on drugs and drug precursors • Minister of Welfare has legal powers to issue secondary legislation, through authority embedded in primary legislation, to implement and administer requirements considered necessary in international conventions and internal law (see Regulation on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and other controlled substances, No 233/2001)

8. Competence of Customs Act • According to the Customs Act the customs authorities have the authority to: • monitor implementation of previously mentioned law • perform customs control activities • examine and inspect the goods • verify the authenticity and reliability of submitted documents

9. Import Procedure • Importer informs the Icelandic Medicines Agency about the intention of importing drug precursors from a certain producer or wholesaler • Agency acknowledges the receipt of this information and issues a certificate for the importer and a copy for Customs

10. Validity and Renewal • Certificate is valid for imports of the precursor from the stated producer/wholesaler until the end of the calendar year it is issued • Importer reports to the Agency at the end of the year the total amount of precursor imported during the year • Renewal of licence only possible when information has been delivered to the Agency

11. Customs Clearance • A copy of all import licences are submitted to Customs • Importer obliged to state a licence-number in the customs declaration • Filters are built into the centralised Customs IT System (system of automatic procession of customs declarations) • Due to these filters correctly classified and declared goods cannot be clarified through the customs system

12. Customs Electronic Surveillance • Subsequently shipments are detained and will only be released if the correct licence number is stated in the customs declaration or if a new licence is issued by the Agency for Medicines • The filters are used on parameters in the customs declarations and the cargo manifests to detect goods that have been declared to customs and are subject to import restrictions or import control • The Agency for Medicines can order a list of all shipments that are customs cleared in certain Customs Tariff heading numbers

13. Parameters in the IT System • Parameters that are controlled in IT system are inter alia the personal identification number of companies or individuals (existing for all legal entities in Iceland, natural persons as well as legal persons), country of origin and Customs Tariff headings numbers etc. • In order to monitor and control the import of drug precursors the tariff headings numbers are filtered in the IT system • Due to this control, all shipments that are correctly classified are detained and are subject to inspection

14. Certificate Issued Retrospectively • If there is no suspicion of malconduct, the importer can also hand in a certificate from the Agency for Medicines retrospectively • It is possible to add filters on any relevant parameters from the customs declaration and the cargo manifest based on risk management and the customs strategy

15. Cooperation with other Agencies • A close and effective cooperation exists between the customs authorities, the Agency for Medicines and the Ministry of Welfare • Customs and Police intelligence units exchange information concerning drug cases and ongoing investigations • This co-operation of Police and Customs is underlined with provisions both in the Police Act and the Customs Act

16. Investigation and Prosecution • According to § 8 of the Icelandic Police Act No 90/1996, the main legal principle is that the Police investigates all offences in consultation with the prosecuting authority • All offenses connected to drugs or drug precursors are solely investigated by the police • Icelandic Customs has nevertheless a small investigation department that investigates minor customs offences and in some cases executes preliminary investigations for the Police • The National Commissioner of Police collects data on seizures of drugs and drug precursors from Customs and all the Police forces in Iceland

17. Offence Provisions Penalty clauses are found in § 173 A of the General Penal Code no 19/1940 and § 4 and 5 of the Act on Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances no 65/1994 The provisions of the Penal Code are stricter and used for more serious offencse – Maximum penalty, persons are subject to imprisonment for up to 6 years The provisions of the Act on Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances are used for less significant offences – Maximum penalty, persons are subject to imprisonment for up to 6 years Pecuniary Penalties are also applied in minor cases

18. Gap Analysis • Legislation on control of drug precursors supposed to be fully in line with EU Acquis • Commission Regulation (EC) No 1277/2005 was implemented into Icelandic law 6th of October 2010 thereby transposing Regulations No 273/2004 and No 111/2005 in Iceland as foreseen in EEA agreement • Some fine-tuning of implementation of the legal environment

19. Administrative Capacity • Activities include control and surveillance of precursor consignments, prevention of precursors abuse, and precursors seizure in case of offence • Customs Directorate has sufficient administrative capacity for implementing any improvements ensuing from the Community Acquis or Community indications • Additional training of customs officers is required

20. Thank you for your attention Merci de votre attention Vielen Dank für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit Grazie per la vostra attenzione Dziękuję za uwagę Takk fyrir athyglina