BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – August 2019: On the 14th of August 2019, Decree 560/2019 was adopted, amending Article 77 of the Criminal Code of Argentina by placing additional 134 NPS and 17 chemical NPS groups (listed in Annex II, based on the UNODC NPS classification) under national control. With this amendment, the number of substances listed in Annex I reaches 462. A substance included in Annex I or in Annex II, must be considered as a “narcotic drug” under the terms of article 77 of the Criminal Code of Argentina.

Together with Brazil, Argentina is one of the few countries in South America to have adopted generic NPS definitions in their national legislation. The UNODC Early Warning Advisory contributed to the development of this legislation by providing up-to-date information on NPS trends, scientific information on individual substances and informing about options to adapt national legal frameworks to the challenges of a dynamic NPS market.

Figure 1: Examples of NPS chemical groups

Source: Boletín Oficial de la República, Decreto 560/2019, Annex II

For more information, please see:

Boletín Oficial de la República - Decreto 560/2019

UNODC Early Warning System – NPS Substance Groups

UNODC Early Warning System – Legal Responses

UNODC GSU 19 – Understanding the synthetic drug market: the NPS factor