The International Narcotics Control Board enters upon its functions
MISCELLANY - MORPHINE MANUFACTURE FROM POPPY STRAW AND ITS CONCENTRATE
Pages: 49 to 50
Creation Date: 1968/01/01
On 2 March 1968, the International Narcotics Control Board took up its functions under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, replacing the former Permanent Central Narcotics Board and the Drug Supervisory Body. The date for this change had been fixed under Article 45 of the Convention by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 1106 (XL) of 4 March 1966.
The Convention requires (Article 9) that the Economic and Social Council, in consultation with INCB, "make all arrangements necessary to ensure the full technical independence of the Board in carrying out its functions ", and the Council did this by its resolution l196(XLII) of 16 May 1967 which had been recommended to it by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in agreement with the Permanent Central Narcotics Board.
Membership
Under the Convention it is the Economic and Social Council which elects the eleven members of INCB. The Council is required by the treaty to give consideration, with due regard to the principle of equitable geographical representation, to the importance of including on the Board, in equitable proportion, persons possessing a knowledge of the drug situation in the producing, manufacturing and consuming countries, and connected with such countries.
The Convention stipulates that the eleven members shall be elected as follows:
Three members with medical, pharmacological or pharmaceutical experience from a list of at least five persons nominated by the World Health Organization; and
Eight members from a list of persons nominated by the Members of the United Nations and by Parties which are not Members of the United Nations.
It is laid down that those elected shall be persons "who, by their technical competence, impartiality and disinterestedness, will command general confidence ". While in office they cannot hold any position or engage in any activity "which would be liable to impair their impartiality in the exercise of their functions ".
In conformity with these criteria the Council, on 31 May 1967, elected the following persons to the membership of the International Narcotics Control Board:
Mr. M. ASLAM
Formerly Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of Pakistan, and Representative of Pakistan at the Conference for the Adoption of the Single Convention; elected Second Vice-President of the International Narcotics Control Board.
Professor M. A. ATISSO
Professor of Pharmacy at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Dakar, Senegal, and Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Montpellier; Member of the WHO Advisory Panel on the International Pharmacopoeia and Pharmaceutical Preparations.
Dr. Amin Ismail CHEHAB
Former Director-General of the Pharmaceutical Department, Ministry of Public Health, Cairo; formerly Representative of the United Arab Republic to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and to the Conference for the Adoption of the Single Convention; Member of the Permanent Central Narcotics Board.
Professor M. A. GRANIER-DOYEUX
Chairman, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Central University of Venezuela; Member of the WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Drug Dependence; Member of the U.N. Commission of Enquiry on the Coca Leaf; elected First Vice-President of the International Narcotics Control Board.
Sir Harry GREENFIELD, C.S.I., C.I.E.
Bank and company director in the United Kingdom. Formerly Chairman, Central Board of Revenue, Government of India; Representative of India to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs; President of the Permanent Central Narcotics Board; elected President of the International Narcotics Control Board.
Dr. Tatsuo KARIYONE
Former Director of the National Institute of Hygienic Sciences, Japan; former Professor in the Department of Pharmacy, University of Kyoto.
Professor Dr. Sükrü KAYMAKÇALAN
Professor of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ankara; Member of the Turkish Medical Academy; Member of the Turkish Delegation to the Conference for the Adoption of the Single Convention.
Mr. E. S. KRISHNAMOORTHY
Formerly Chairman, Central Board of Revenue, Government of India; Representative of India to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and to the United Nations Opium Conference, 1953; Member of the Permanent Central Narcotics Board and Vice-President of the Drug Supervisory Body.
Professor Paul REUTER
Professor at the Faculty of Law and Economics at the University of Paris; Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague; Member of the U.N. International Law Commission; Vice-President of the Permanent Central Narcotics Board.
Mr. Leon STEINIG
Former Director, U.N. Division of Narcotic Drugs and Member of the League of Nations' Dangerous Drugs Section; former Acting Assistant Secretary-General, U.N. Department of Social Affairs.
Dr. Imre VERTES
Director, Pharmaceutical Centre, Budapest; Representative of Hungary and Vice-President of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs; Representative of Hungary to the Conference for the Adoption of the Single Convention.
The membership of the outgoing Permanent Central Narcotics Board consisted of Sir Harry Greenfield of the United Kingdom, Dr. Amin Ismail Chehab of the United Arab Republic, Professor George Joachimoglu of Greece, Mr. E. S. Krishnamoorthy of India, Dr. Vladimir Kuševic of Yugoslavia (who resigned in 1967 upon appointment as Director of the U.N. Division of Narcotic Drugs), Professor Décio Parreiras of Brazil, Professor Paul Reuter of France, and Mr. Leon Steinig of the United States.
Mr. J. Dittert succeeded Dr. A. Lande as Secretary of the Permanent Central Narcotics Board in August 1967 and continues as Secretary of the International Narcotics Control Board.
In the statistics given in its last report- that for 1966--the Permanent Central Narcotics Board for the first time has distinguished morphine manufactured from poppy straw as such and morphine manufactured from the concentrate of poppy straw. The figures show that in 1966, 25.7 tons of morphine were manufactured from poppy straw and 10.8 tons from concentrate of poppy straw. Out of a total morphine manufacture of 149.5 tons, 112.9 tons were manufactured from opium and 36.5 tons from poppy straw or its concentrate. In terms of percentages, the trend in morphine manufacture as from opium or from poppy straw (and concentrate) for the last five years has been:
| 1962 |
-
|
opium
|
63.5%
|
and
|
poppy
|
straw
|
36.5%
|
| 1963 |
-
|
"
|
65.6%
|
"
|
"
|
"
|
34.4%
|
| 1964 |
-
|
"
|
68.0%
|
"
|
"
|
"
|
32.0%
|
| 1965 |
-
|
"
|
71.5%
|
"
|
"
|
"
|
28.5%
|
| 1966 |
-
|
"
|
75.5%
|
"
|
"
|
"
|
24.4%
|
The poppy straw concentrate was manufactured in Argentina, Netherlands and Poland; it was used for the manufacture of morphine in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and United Kingdom. Poppy straw was used for morphine manufacture in Argentina, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France, German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Romania, USSR, United Kingdom and Yugoslavia.
Both poppy straw and its concentrate moved in international trade in 1966. The principal exporters (in quantities of over 1 ton) of poppy straw were Turkey, Yugoslavia, USSR, Switzerland, France, Belgium and Australia.
The main importers were Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Norway, France, Bulgaria, Federal Republic of Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland. The concentrate of poppy straw was exported by Netherlands and Poland, the importers being Belgium, South Africa and Switzerland. [Final report of the Permanent Central Narcotics-Board (E/OB/23/ Add.2.)]
