Facebook
Twitter
Flickr
YouTubeInternational workshop gathers public and private sectors to discuss control and repression of diversion of chemical products
24 April 2013 - The International Workshop on Control, Prevention and Repression of Deviation of Chemical Products was held this week in São Paulo, gathering representatives of Brazil's Federal Police (PF), the program for Prevention of Diversion of Drugs Precursors in Latin American and the Caribbean (PRELAC), and private entities to discuss the diversion of chemical products for drug trafficking. The workshop was aimed at promoting the improvement of control mechanisms through a joint effort of the private, public and international spheres, in a strategy for combating drug trafficking focused on hampering the acquisition of chemical inputs for the production of illicit drugs, especially crack.
|
| From left to right: Rubens Medrano (ASSOCIQUIM), Roberto Troncon (Federal Police), Julio Danilo Ferreira (Federal Police) and Flavio Mirella (UNODC) |
"The exchange of good practices is without doubt the right way to move forward. This workshop, because of the quality of its participants, will help us give a step forward towards a better control of chemical products", said the superintendent of São Paulo's Federal Police, Roberto Troncon, during the workshop's opening. "We have to guarantee the use of chemical inputs for the purposes for which they were created - that is, to make medical and cosmetic products that are useful and make our lives easier - but which can, once diverted, be used in the production of psychoactive and illicit drugs, which affect human health and are a problem that global society has been facing, still without an appropriate solution".
On 22 and 23 April, three panel discussions were held at the FECOMÉRCIO Auditorium in São Paulo, with the participation of foreign panelists who shared the experience of European and Latin American countries. "The problem of precursors diversion has been increasing with globalization, which has multiplied the challenges related to control", said Flavio Mirella, representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Peru and general coordinator of PRELAC, a program financed by the European Union (EU) and implemented by UNODC.
|
"PRELAC seeks a more active cooperation with the EU, not just technical cooperation, but also with electronic registration systems and with the strengthening of cooperation between Government entities and private organizations", said Mirella.
He also highlighted that there is still a perception in many countries that the registration of chemical products is only an administrative issue: "PRELAC will continue to work so that can change from an administrative issue to one of control based on risk profiles and information exchange between countries, emphasizing a more active role for the Government, in order to facilitate trade instead of hampering it".
The president of the Brazilian Association of Distributers of Chemical and Petrochemical Products (ASSOCIQUIM), Rubens Medrano, was also present at the workshop's opening. "We will renovate our responsibility over the chemical products we commercialize. This is the moment for all of us here, representing the private sector, to renew our commitment and engagement with the Federal Police to improve control and develop our activities". The event was organized by the Chemical Products Control Division of the Federal Police, in partnership with UNODC and ASSOCIQUIM.
Related information:
INCB Annual Report for 2012: We must halt unprecedented proliferation and abuse of 'legal highs'