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The PARIS PACT A Consultative Mechanism on the Illicit Drug Routes from Central Asia to Europe.

The PARIS PACT A Consultative Mechanism on the Illicit Drug Routes from Central Asia to Europe. UNODC Vienna, Division for Operations September 2004 . The Paris Pact Initiative – Context and Background

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The PARIS PACT A Consultative Mechanism on the Illicit Drug Routes from Central Asia to Europe.

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  1. The PARIS PACT A Consultative Mechanism on the Illicit Drug Routes from Central Asia to Europe. UNODC Vienna, Division for Operations September 2004

  2. The Paris Pact Initiative – Context and Background The Ministerial Conference on Drug Routes from Central Asia to Europe, hosted by the Government of France in May 2003 in Paris, united more than 50 countries and organizations in their commitment for stronger action against Afghan heroin trafficking. A concerted strategic approach was proposed: The Paris Pact. This proposal was endorsed by the G 8 Evian Summit (June 2003) and the UN Security Council Consultations on Afghanistan (17 June 2003). UNODC has taken the lead in carrying forward this new Initiative. Since the summer of 2003, a two-pronged consultative mechanism has been working at operational and policy levels:Expert Roundtables identify action priorities for better border control, anti-trafficking measures, and new forms of regional & international cooperation, and recommend new action to the Policy Consultative Group. From September 2003 to September 2004 UNODC has organized 4 expert roundtables, with close OSCE involvement, along key heroin trafficking regions: Balkan Route countries, I.R of Iran,Central Asia, the Russian Federation.In mid October 2004, UNODC will host the annual Policy Consultative Group Meeting at the Vienna International Centre. During this event, senior level policy makers from affected countries and international organizations will review the expert proposals, agree on strategic priorities, and recommend new action to be effected by respective Governments, in direct cooperation with UNODC and all Paris Pact partners. Trafficking of Afghan Opiates – Dimensions and Risks The estimated Afghan opium production of 3,600 tons in 2003, is causing severe trafficking problems and related threats in all neighbouring countries, and in heroin transit and consumption regions further westward. Border control is the first line of defense against international trafficking and crime, and for this reason current Paris Pact action focuses on improved border control.

  3. 1,206 Km 137 Km 744 Km 2,430 Km 936 Km Protection of Borders in All Affected Countries Afghanistan alone has more than 5,000 Km of direct borders with its neighbours. Most of these require the establishment and strengthening of border points, and uncontrolled border regions need the creation of new control capacities. Tajikistan Uzbekistan China Turkmenistan 76km Pakistan Iran Altogether, many thousands of kilometers of land and maritime borders in Central Asian countries, CIS, Pakistan, I.R. of Iran, Turkey, and all those countries along the Balkan and Silk routes, and Black Sea and Mediterranean coastlines, are being strengthened, as an international response to Afghan opiates trafficking and related organized crime. Donor assistance and technical cooperation of, inter-alia, the European Commission, European countries, the United States, and other interested providers is growing steadily. UNODC’s programmes in the regions have stepped up significantly as of 2003, a trend that is expected to grow further. To ensure the best impact of these interventions and to avoid overlap and duplication of effort, Paris Pact activity in 2003 and 2004 focused on Afganistan’s neighbours, Central Asia and Iran, and on key trafficking routes involving European and CIS countries along Balkan and Silk Routes.

  4. Entry routes Exit routes Acute trafficking points Bilateral assistance UNODC assistance Assistance required Drug Trafficking in the Balkan Region (Expert Roundtable, September 2003) Countries along the Balkan Route, and those connecting through maritime ports in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, have been traditional heroin trafficking countries. The proportions and increasing amounts of heroin seizures in Balkan countries reflect the importance of this region. The Balkan Route Expert Roundtable concluded that established heroin routes remain highly active, and that recent shifts involve the vulnerable countries still recovering from crisis and conflict. A noticeable return of heroin trafficking to the traditional Balkan Route:Istanbul-Sofia-Belgrade-Zagreb-Ljubljana-Western Europe, less prominent during the crisis time, is shadowing the return of licit trade routes to this shortest and most economical transit route. Land border crossings of Bulgaria -Turkey, Bulgaria -Serbia and Montenegro, and Bulgaria -Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and in Albania require attention. Current facilities and operational capacity on these crucial points need to improve for better control of commercial trucks and other traffic. Trafficking in maritime containers is an emerging problem, as evidenced by several recent heroin and cocaine seizures in commercial containers. Sea containers enter the Balkans either through seaports or via lorry arriving further south In Piraeus or Thessalonica. A number of Black Sea Ports are key entry points, and need upgrades of search and interdiction capacities. The same is needed for key Adriatic ports.   Other needs in Balkan countries include a further harmonization of legislation for better information exchange and direct operational cooperation, strong measures to counter corruption, and pro-active control of precursors to combat illicit manufacture of drugs.

  5. LEGEND - Entry routes - Exit routes - Bilateral assistance - UNODC assistance - Priorities identified Drug Trafficking through the Islamic Republic of Iran (Expert Roundtable, October 2003) The Islamic Republic of Iran makes a significant contribution to the interdiction of opiates trafficking westward, through Central Asia, and their onward transport to Europe. Annual seizures amounted to more than 26 tons in 2003, or 25% of global seizures. The investment in drug law enforcement by the Islamic Republic of Iran has been enormous. Violent confrontations between drug traffickers and Iranian authorities have seen a tragic death toll of more than 3,000 officers who have been killed in the line of duty. The Expert Roundtable identified areas in which coordination between Iranian law enforcement bodies would further improve their effectiveness. Closer inter-agency communication, improved agency procedures to support national and regional reporting and analysis was seen as part of a the future response. Continued and new assistance to the capacity building of Iranian law enforcement agencies should focus on the understanding for, and application of new enforcement techniques. A comprehensive study of the licit flow of trade goods between Afghanistan and its neighbours & trading partners (land, sea and air) was called for, to assess where specifically illicit opiates routed shadowed trade routes. New effective control structures should then be applied there. More direct operational cooperation between I.R.of Iran, Pakistan and the Gulf States, and the deployment of law enforcement liaison officers to neighbouring States or key trading partners were proposed. This would greatly assist the establishment of operational cooperation, and in the identification and subsequent delivery of bi-lateral assistance opportunities. To curb growing trafficking through the Persian Gulf, operational maritime control structures along the Makran coast into the Islamic Republic of Iran are needed.

  6. RUSSIA Available -39.6 MT Seized – 2.6 MT (Seizures rate – 6.5%) Domestic consumption – 10 MT Outgoing –27.0 MT 39.6.MT AVAILABLE FOR RUSSIA FROM CENTRAL ASIA TURKMENISTAN NO DATA AVAILABLE UZBEKISTAN Seized – 0.36 MT Seizures rate – 0.8% KAZAKHSTAN Seized – 0.9 MT Seizures rate – 2.2% KYRGYZSTAN Seized – 0.1 MT Seizures rate – 0.2% 41.MT AVAILABLE FOR CENTRAL ASIA TAJIKISTAN Available -46.8 MT Seized – 5.8 MT (Seizures rate – 12%) Outgoing –41.0 MT Central Asia, CIS Countries and the Russian Federation (Expert Roundtables 2004) The direct access to Afghanistan from its northern provinces with its growing opium production levels, have turned Central Asia into the key trafficking region between the West & Central Asia regions and European countries. Central Asia reported opiate seizures of 6.9 tons in 2003, accounting for 13% of global heroin seizures, and up from 5% in the late 1990s. The volume of Afghan opiates trafficked through Central Asia, according to expert estimates presented at the Roundtable in Moscow in June 2004, amounted to more than 40 tons in 2003. Of these, most entered the Russian Federation and roughly 27 million tons, according to the same estimates, were trafficked further west into European countries. In Central Asia, Drug Control Agencies (DCA) created in Tajikistan and, recently, in Kyrgyzstan have been key to largely improved enforcement results at national levels, notably in Tajikistan. Due to the effectiveness of the DCA’s, successes were not limited to national results, but extended across the region. Law enforcement authorities, nevertheless, need to respond with appropriate strategies to growing trade and increased commercial ties throughout the region, through the strengthening / expansion of existing, and the creation of new border points, so as to ensure proper control capacities. Experts identified specific areas where the infrastructure and facilities of border points required upgrading in terms of new and increasingly sophisticated control equipment. Priority borders and crossings in need of more human resources, expertise and training were also identified. The creation of mobile law enforcement units, such as those to be established by Tajik authorities, should be considered for other locations, as it provides authorities with more flexibility to respond to changing modus operandi and routes of traffickers.

  7. Tyumen St.Petersburg Yekaterinburg Moscow Kazan Chelyabinsk Novosibirsk Omsk Samara Barnaul Saratov Astrakhan For Central Asia, experts strongly recommended to focus new and tougher measures on the illicit traffic of precursors through Central Asia to Afghanistan. Closing down the supply of raw materials and chemicals to clandestine heroin production laboratories in the border regions of Afghanistan, was considered a priority. The Expert Roundtable also confirmed the need for the establishment of the Central Asian Information and Coordination Centre (CARICC) under the umbrella of UNODC. This agency was an important and much needed new step in the region, as it would create the operational platform for the timely and secure circulation of information gathered on trafficking routes and organizations operating in Central Asia, and allow the elaboration of strategic analysis and operational planning for the region as a whole. All experts expressed strong support for the continuation and expansion of ongoing national and sub regional assistance and cooperation initiatives from donors and international organizations, including EC, WCO, OSCE, IOM, and UNODC. However, an improved coordination of bi-lateral and multi-lateral assistance was called for. Afghan Opiates Routes via the Russian Federation The Expert Roundtable on the illicit opiates trafficking through the Russian Federation, noted changes in the operations, sophistication, and modus operandi of traffickers, including larger consignments (up to 300 kg of heroin). In response to law enforcement measures, traffickers used different routes, both for entry into Russia and further routing within Russia. Drug profits formed the link between trafficking, corruption and terrorism. Russian Federation: Opiates Seizures (kg) 1998-2003: The more than 60,000 km long border of the Russian Federation, still porous between CIS countries, needs to be the focus of new law drug law enforcement strategies. The Expert Roundtable identified specific areas in need of upgraded equipment and training in modern interdiction techniques, particularly in the 7,600 km long border regions with Kazakhstan.

  8. Experts noted that law enforcement authorities from the Russian Federation could support Central Asian countries in their increased precursor control operations, through direct bilateral support, as well as through increasing regional initiatives. The important role of the Russian border guards in the strengthening of controls across the Tajik-Afghan was recognized, and the need flagged for international assistance in supporting appropriate control measures along the Tajik-Afghan border, after the withdrawal of the Russian border guards. Overall, the Expert Roundtable confirmed the need for donor support for Russian law enforcement training academies, so as to enable instructors to pass on new best practice and approaches for effective drug and crime countermeasures. Paris Pact Strategic Priorities and Targets for 2005 The Paris Pact initiative will further expand the collective and concerted delivery of action against the drug threat originating from Afghanistan. Border management and security issues of Central Asian and other neighbouring countries will remain high on the agenda. Increased collaboration between UNODC and international organisations mandated with border control will remain a key to reach ambitious targets and impact significantly upon the performance of affected countries in the region. In response to the call for better coordination and cooperation among donors, UNODC will seek cooperation from Paris Pact partners in the implementation of a new coordination mechanism for the region. This mechanism, to be fed with accurate information by all parties, is to provide a full and accurate picture of assistance and support requirements in key countries/areas, and of new assistance needs. This Coordination Mechanism will facilitate focused strategic decision making at policy levels, and open new avenues for partnerships between countries in the region and assistance providers, as well as among donors. For further information on the Paris Pact Initiative, please contact: UNODC Vienna, Partnership in Development Branch Vienna International Centre 0043/1-26060/5725 or 4730

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