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

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 133 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

The United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances adopted in Vienna on 19 December 1988, hereinafter referred to as the ‘United Nations Convention’, is part of the worldwide effort to combat illegal drugs. Within its sphere of competence, the Community participated in the negotiation and concluded the Convention on behalf of the Community by means of Council Decision 90/611/EEC⁽¹⁾.
Article 12 of the United Nations Convention concerns trade in substances frequently used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. As provisions on trade in drug precursors affect Community rules in customs matters, it is appropriate to lay down Community rules on trade between the Community and third countries.
Article 12 of the United Nations Convention requires a system to monitor international trade in drug precursors, taking account of the fact that, in principle, trade in these substances is lawful. Consequently, measures have been taken to strike an appropriate balance between the desire to exploit all possible means to prevent drug precursors reaching illicit drug manufacturers and the commercial needs of the chemical industry and other operators.
To implement the requirements of Article 12 of the United Nations Convention and, taking account of the report of the Chemical Action Task Force created by the Houston Economic Summit (G-7) on 10 July 1990, Council Regulation (EEC) No 3677/90 of 13 December 1990 laying down measures to be taken to discourage the diversion of certain substances to the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances⁽²⁾, established a system for reporting suspicious transactions. This system, which is based on close cooperation with operators, is reinforced through measures such as documentation and labelling, licensing and registration of operators as well as procedures and requirements governing exports.
Following the European Union Action Plan on Drugs 2000 to 2004, endorsed by the European Council at Feira in June 2000, the Commission organised an assessment of the Community control system of trade in drug precursors to draw conclusions from the implementation of Community legislation in this field.
According to that assessment and in order to improve the control mechanisms aiming at preventing diversion of drug precursors, it is necessary to extend monitoring requirements with regard to operators based within the Community facilitating trade between third countries, to introduce a Community approach with regard to procedures for granting licences and to strengthen monitoring requirements governing suspensive customs procedures.
Procedures and requirements for exports should be further intensified to target and concentrate controls on the most sensitive drug precursors, whilst reducing excessive administrative burden through simplified procedures for exports of high volume substances. While the effectiveness and practicability of pre-export notifications is fully recognised, a strategy should be developed striving to exploit the system to the fullest extent possible.
In order to address the heightened concern about the production of amphetamine-type stimulants, import control mechanisms for the main synthetic drug precursors should be further strengthened through common procedures and requirements allowing individual consignment-based controls to be carried out.
So as to allow operators to fulfil these requirements, provisions governing external trade in drug precursors should, to the extent possible, be aligned with the provisions governing intra-Community trade in drug precursors wholly obtained or produced, or released for free circulation, in the Community.
Taking account of the requirements of the internal market, and in the interests of this Regulation’s effectiveness, uniform application of the provisions should be ensured through adoption of comparable and converging means of action by Member States.
Mutual assistance between the Member States and between the Member States and the Commission should be reinforced, in particular by recourse to Council Regulation (EC) No 515/97 of 13 March 1997 on mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and cooperation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs and agricultural matters⁽³⁾.
In accordance with the principle of proportionality, it is necessary and appropriate for the achievement of the basic objective of preventing the diversion of drug precursors for the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances to lay down rules for the thorough monitoring of trade between the Community and third countries of these substances. This Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve the objectives pursued, in accordance with the third paragraph of Article 5 of the Treaty.
The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission⁽⁴⁾.
Regulation (EEC) No 3677/90 should therefore be repealed.
This Regulation respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised, in particular, by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I SUBJECT MATTER AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

This Regulation lays down rules for the monitoring of trade between the Community and third countries in certain substances frequently used for the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (hereinafter referred to as drug precursors) for the purpose of preventing the diversion of such substances. It applies to imports, exports and intermediary activities.

This Regulation shall be without prejudice to special rules in other fields pertaining to trade in goods between the Community and third countries.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:

‘scheduled substance’ means any substance listed in the Annex, including mixtures and natural products containing such substances, but excluding medicinal products as defined by Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽⁵⁾, pharmaceutical preparations, mixtures, natural products and other preparations containing scheduled substances that are compounded in such a way that such substances cannot be easily used or extracted by readily applicable or economically viable means;
‘non-scheduled substance’ means any substance which, although not listed in the Annex, is identified as having been used for the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances;
‘import’ means any entry of scheduled substances having the status as non-Community goods into the customs territory of the Community, including temporary storage, the placing in a free zone or free warehouse, the placing under a suspensive procedure and the release for free circulation within the meaning of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code⁽⁶⁾;
‘export’ means any departure of scheduled substances from the customs territory of the Community, including the departure of scheduled substances that requires a customs declaration and the departure of scheduled substances after their storage in a free zone of control type I or free warehouse within the meaning of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92;
‘intermediary activities’ means any activity to arrange purchase and sale or supply of scheduled substances carried out by any natural or legal person who aims to obtain agreement between two parties or to do so through acting on behalf of at least one of these parties without taking these substances into its possession or taking control of the carrying out of such transaction; this definition shall also include any activity carried out by any natural or legal person established in the Community involving purchase and sale or supply of scheduled substances without these substances being introduced into the Community customs territory;
‘operator’ means any natural or legal person engaged in import, export of scheduled substances or intermediary activities relating thereto, including persons pursuing the activity of making customs declarations for clients on a self-employed basis, either as their principal occupation or as a secondary activity related to another occupation;
‘exporter’ means the natural or legal person chiefly responsible for export activities by virtue of the economic and legal relationship to the scheduled substances and to the consignee and, where appropriate, who lodges the customs declaration or on whose behalf the customs declaration is lodged;
‘importer’ means the natural or legal person chiefly responsible for the import activities by virtue of the economic and legal relationship to the scheduled substances and to the consignor and who lodges the customs declaration or on whose behalf the customs declaration is lodged;
‘ultimate consignee’ means any natural or legal person to which the scheduled substances are delivered; this person may be different from the end-user;
‘committee procedure’ means the procedure provided for in Article 30(2);
‘International Narcotics Control Board’ means the Board established by the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol.