United Nations Natîons Unies UNRESTRICTED ECONOMIC CONSEIL E/CN.7 /159 15 April 194-9 AND ECONOM~QUE SOCIAL COUNCIL ET SOCIAL ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

COMMISSION ON NARCOTIC DRUGS Fourth session

METHODS OF DETERMINING THE ORIGIN OF OPTIJM BY CHEMIC.AL AND PHYSICAL MEANS Note by the Secretary-General: The Secretary­ General has the honour to communicate to the Membe~s of th~ Commission on Narcotic Drugs a

summa~y of the replies by Governments to circular·letters dispatched by the Secretary­ General concerning the methods of determining the origin of opium (Econumic and Social Council resolution 159 (VII), IIC).

Summar,y of the Replies by Governments

At its third session held at Lake Succe71s (3 May to 22 ),

the Comm~ssiqn on Narcotic Drugs, after having examined the document

~ntitled "Methods of Determinirig the Origin of OpiUîrl. by Chemical and Physical Mel:).ns" (È/CN. 7 /117) decided to submit for adoption, by the Economie and Social Counc.il a resolution on this subject (E/799 ,' pages 22-23). This resolution, approved by the Council at its seventh session (19 July to 29 ), reads as follows: "The Economie and Social Council, "Having noted the work undertaken-with regard to determining the origin of opium by chemical and physical means as outlined in document ËjCN. 7/117, Decides: 1. To instruct the Secretary-General to transmit to Governments all available documentation on this matter; 2. To invite Governments to send to the Secretary-General all pertinent-information in their possession and, in particular,

~e Governments which have the ,nece?sary experts and R-E C E I V E ~Jratory facilities, to inf~rm the Secretary-General w ,;;-: R 2 0 194g thet are willing to participate in a joint programme of res arch and ta submit proposals concerning the methods of UNITED NATIONS ' · A~ cH ave: s co-· peration which they may recornmend; .-.... --- _,.. . ..,,= =- m~ To invite E/CN.7 /159 Page 2

3· To invite the Governments of the producing countries to furnish, subject to the provisions of chapter V of the Geneva

Convention of 1925, samples of ~he opium prodùced in their countries, on the request of the Governments which are participating in the joint research programme". (E/1065, resolution 159 (VII) IIC, 3 August 1948) In pursuance of this resolution, circular letters -vrere dispatched by the Secretary-General té Governments on 20 Augu.st 1948 (C.N.ll0.1948 Narcotics) ana, 13 (CN.112.1948.Narcotics)~/ So far the United Nations Secretariat has received thirty replies, which are classified in the following groups: I· Countries which have replied merely by.acknowledging receipt of one or both of the above circular letters from the Secretary- General-2/ : Australia (18 October 1948); (13 October 1948); Bolivia (8 ,26 Octobe·r 1948); Burma (5 ); China (16 October 1948); Co1ombia (26 October 1948); Dominican Republic (6 ); El Salvador (18 October 1948, 29 November 194Ç3); Finland (27 AU:gust 1948, 19 October 1948); . ' Guatamala (24- September 1948, 16 ); Nepal (27 October 1948); Nicaragua (1 September 1948, 16 November 1948); (9.September 1948, 6 January 1949); Panama (1 November 1948); Saudi !\rabia ( 31 January 1949); · Switzer1and (1 September 1948); Vatican (18 October 1948); Venezuela (13 December 194-8). Receipt was also acknowledged by the United States representative at the seat of the United Nations on 30 August 1948 and 19 October 1948, on behalf of the Commanding General of the United States Forces pf Occupation in Korea, to whom the circular letters were transmitted. II. Countries which have replied stating that they are not in a position to take part in the proposed programme of collaborative research: Haiti.- 4 November 1948. The Haitian ~v-erP.Jnènt stated tha:t the;r have no expert or suitable laboratory capable of furnish1ng the desired

information nor are they in a position to participa~e in the suggested programme of collaborative research. Iraq.- 19 October 1948. It would bedifficult for Iraq to take art in this programme as they have insufficient experts _and laboratories. New Zealand - 14- Decembèr 194-8. The Minister of External Affaira

!_f See E/CN. 7/157 Y The date in brackets is the date of the reply. /confir.med E/CN.7 /159 Page 3

confirmed the advice given provisionally in his note No. 216 of 11 Octocer to the effect tha·t the facili t ies and :personnel availa"ble in New Zealand would not enable .the New Zealand Government to participate in the progr8Jlllll.e ~n research on this subject. Philippines - 5 November 194.8. "Much as it desired to participate in the joint programme of research with regard to the methods of determining the origin of raw opium by chemical and pbysical means, this Government cannat do so because of the lack of necessary experts and laboratory facilities." III. Countries which have replied stating that they are willing to participate or to co-operate in the proposed programme of collaborative research: - 6 November i948. Austria is willing to participate in a joint programme of research. The Federal Government requested further

information concerning the method of co-operation in orde~ to inform the Austrian scientists' 1vho have agreed to co-operate. Bulgaria - 14 . The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the Secretary-General that the competent Bulgarian authorities have declared themselves ready to collaborate with the United Nations in the sense of the resolution. Canada - 25 October 1948. "While research work of this kind has not been undert~ken to any appreciable extent in Canada previously 1aboratory facilities and technical personnel are available to

participate in any joint program of resea~ch which the Economie and r Social Council may recommend. The Canadian Government would be happy to co-operate in any such program of research. It is assumed that if and when such a research prograni is developed arrangements will be made for the procurement of the largest possibl'e nùmber of ·opium samples of authentic origin for distribution to governments able and willing to co-operate in the proposed research program. 11 - 17 November 1948. The Norwegian authorities are interested in taking part in a joint programme of research with regard ta determining the origin of opium. Norway has the necessary laboratory facilities and one expert, Professor A. Jermstad, the Director of the 'Farmasoytiske Institutt', Blindern, Oslo. United Kingdom- 25 January 19l19. "In His Majesty's Governments view, there are v:aluable possibilities latent in the pursuit of work on the determination of the origins of opium by chemical and physical means. They recognize that the effective pursuit of inquiries into the illicit traffic in opium could be greatly facilitated by the sure determination of the origins of seized samples: it has certainly been

/the ir E/CN. 7/159 Page 4.

their experience in the past, that this work of determination, utilizing methods detective rather than scientific in character, has rarely been a matter of certainty. "His Majesty's Government welcpme the new approach to the question; but, while recognizing the interesting work which has peen carried out, _notably in the United.States of America, they are disposed to view the results achieved with some caution. There is a dang~r, ~n t'heir view,. in the possibility that a new scientific approach may, ·in its early stages and until thoroughly tested by experience, be based on fallacious premises or argument and tend to premature dogmatism. They are therefore inclined towards a cautious approach to the matter. "Suph work as has as yet been dons in the United Kingdom has be en sporadic in character. Funds for organized research are not readily available and hitherto it has rather fallen to a few distinguished scientists, working individually, to pursue their own lines of enquiry. His Majesty's Government doubt if such work as has been done in the United Kingdom c-ould yet justify any consiùered communication to the Secretary-General on their part; and they accordingly attempt no such communication. For the same reason, while anxious to C?-operate to the fullest of their powers in this valuable -vrork, they feel that it may yet be premature to embark on a joint programme of Fesearch on international lines". United States of America - 19 November 1948. "The Treasury

Department is prepared to participate in a joint programme of researc~ 'tbrough assignment of a qualified chemist or chemists, with suitable laboratory facilities, for furtherwork upon, and collaborative study

of, the pro1ject. "It is respectfully proposed (l) that such other governments as are willing to participate in the joint programme likewise assign a qualified chemist or chemists, with suitable laboratory facilities, for work upon, and collaborative study of, the project; (2) that the

goverrrments of the producing count~ies, pursuant to the invitation xpressed in paragraph 3 of the Council's resolution, furnish to each goverrrment participating in the joint research programme a number of

representative urrmi~ed samples of opium collected from different areas of production within each of their res~ective countries; and (3) that the chemist or group of chemists assigned to the research project by each partic-ipating government shall proceed to de:termine, with respect to each sample of opium thus made available to his government by each producing country, at least the codeine content, microscopie test, porphyroxine-meconidine color, and morphine content, and the same determinations should be made by the chemist. or group of chemists with /resueçt E/CN.7/159 Page 5 respect ta a sample of opium taken from all important seizures of opium by his government ,· even though the circumstances may already indicate the country where the seized opium originated. "The name and address of each chemist, o:t; of the chief chemist of a group, assigned to,this research project by each participating government, should be communicated through the Secreta~y-General of the United Nations ta the governments of all participating countries, with the understanding that the respective chemists or chief chemists could correspond directly with each other for the purpose of collaborative study and comparison of results. At the expiration of a reasonable time to be allowed for completion of all collabora ti ve studies, the gover!llf.lent of each participa ting country l'fOUld be expected, of course, to submit a report of the result of its research work on the' project and its recommendation thereon, through the Secretary-General, to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs for such further action as might be deemed appropriate." The SUpreme Commander for ·the Allied Pm·rers in - 2 November 1948. At the present time the necessary experts and laboratory·facilities in Japan are limited. Research will, however, be conducted by chemical and physical means concerning the origin of any opium seized in Japan. All ·available documentation wi th regard to the methods of determining the origin of opium is requested to enable officiels in Japan ta co-operate in a joint.programme of research working toward the suppression of illicit traffic in narcotic drugs which is considered a matter of the utmost importance.