1990R3677 — EN — 13.04.1992 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)No 3677/90
of 13 December 1990
laying down measures to be taken to discourage the diversion of certain substances to the illicit
manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances
(OJ L 357, 20.12.1990, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Council Regulation (EEC) No 900/92 of 31 March 1992 L96 1 10.4.1992
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COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC)No 3677/90
of 13 December 1990
laying down measures to be taken to discourage the diversion of
certain substances to the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and
psychotropic substances
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European EconomicCommunity, and in particular Article 113 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,Whereas on 19 December 1988 a Convention against Illicit Traffic in
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances was adopted in Vienna,hereinafterreferredtoasthe‘UnitedNationsConvention';whereastheUnited Nations Convention is part of the world-wide efforts to combatdrugs; whereas the Community participated in the negotiation of thatConvention, showing its political will to act within the limits of itscompetences;
Whereas the United Nations Convention contains an Article 12
concerning trade in precursors, i.e. substances frequently used in theillicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;whereastheimplementationofthisArticlerepresentsacontributionbyindustrialized countries to the effort requested from drug-producingcountries, which are generally much poorer than the former; whereastheprovisionsontradeinsuchprecursorsaffecttheCommunityrulesincustomsmatters;whereas,onthisbasis,theUnitedNationsConventionwas signed on behalf of the Community on 8 June 1989; whereas, onthis basis, the Council decided on 22 October 1990 to conclude theUnited Nations Convention; whereas it is thus appropriate, in order toconcretize this political will, to lay down Community rules on tradebetween the Community and third countries;
WhereastheprovisionsofArticle12oftheUnitedNationsConvention
are based on a system monitoring trade in the substances in question;whereas most of the trade in these substances is fully legitimate;whereas documentation and possible labelling as regards consignmentsof these substances have to be sufficiently clear; whereas it is further-moreimportant,whilstprovidingcompetentauthoritieswiththeneces-sary means of action, to develop, in compliance with the spirit of theUnited Nations Convention, mechanisms which are based on closecooperation with the economic operators concerned as well as on thedevelopment of intelligence gathering;
Whereas a system of pre-notification of consignments of certain
substances providing, under certain conditions, for the operations inquestion to be forbidden, appears most appropriate to the situation;whereas several countries have already obtained very positive resultsfavouring this approach;
Whereas the competent authorities of Member States should have
comparable means of action; whereas it is indispensable, therefore, toestablishcommonobjectivesinthematteratCommunitylevel;whereasthis aspect is essential with the completion of the internal market inprospect and in order to ensure the homogeneous application of therulesestablished;whereasitisalsoimportant,inthiscontext,thateachMember State provide for sufficiently dissuasive penalties;
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Whereas machinery for administrative cooperation should be provided
forbothwithintheCommunityandwiththirdcountrieswhicharealsoPartiestotheConvention;whereasitisadvisableinthisrespect,asfarasthecompetentauthoritiesintheCommunityareconcerned,totakeasa basis Council Regulation (EEC) No 1468/81 of 19 May 1981 onmutualassistancebetweentheadministrativeauthoritiesoftheMemberStatesandcooperationbetweenthelatterandtheCommissiontoensurethecorrectapplicationofthelawoncustomsoragriculturalmatters(
1),
as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 945/87(2); whereas particular
attentionhastobepaidtotheconfidentialityofinformationreceivedorexchanged;
Whereas, in the spirit of the United Nations Convention, the
Community should contribute to efforts to combat drug trafficking byproducer countries; whereas, in this connection, special machineryshould be introduced for monitoring the products listed in Table II ofthe Annex where they are the subject of trade with those countries,despite the fact that in general these products give rise to much lawfultrade; whereas the cooperation of the countries concerned should besought to ensure better monitoring of such trade;
Whereas,inordertoexaminepossibleproblemsconcerningtheapplica-
tion of this Regulation and to enhance its implementation and thedevelopment of administrative cooperation in the matter, it is desirableto provide that the Commission should organize specific meetings,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
TITLE I
GENERAL
Article 1
1. This Regulation lays down the measures to be taken to monitor
trade between the Community and third countries in substancesfrequentlyusedfortheillicitmanufactureofnarcoticdrugsandpsycho-tropic substances for the purpose of preventing the diversion of suchsubstances.
2. For the purposes of this Regulation:
(a) ‘scheduled substance' means any substance listed in the Annex,
includingmixturescontainingsuchsubstances.Thisexcludesphar-maceutical preparations or other preparations containing scheduledsubstancesthatarecompoundedinsuchawaythatsuchsubstancescannot be easily used or recovered by readily applicable means;
(b) ‘import'means any physical introduction of scheduled substances
into the customs territory of the Community;
(c) ‘export'meansanyphysicaldepartureofscheduledsubstancesfrom
the customs territory of the Community which requires a customsexport declaration;
(d) ‘transit'meansanytransportofscheduledsubstancesbetweenthird
countries through the customs territory of the Community and anytranshipment in that territory;
(e) ‘operator'means any natural or legal person engaged in the manu-
facture,production,tradeordistributionofscheduledsubstancesinthe Community or involved in other related activities such asimport, export, transit, broking and processing of scheduledsubstances.Thisdefinitionincludes,inparticular,personspursuingthe activity of making customs declarations on a self-employedbasis,eitherastheirprincipaloccupationorasasecondaryactivityrelated to another occupation;
(1) OJ No L 144, 2. 6. 1981, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L 90, 2. 4. 1987, p. 3.
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(f) ‘InternationalNarcoticsControlBoard'meanstheBoardestablished
bytheSingleConventiononNarcoticDrugs,1961,asamendedbythe 1972 Protocol.
TITLE II
MONITORING OF TRADE
Article 2
Documentation, records and labelling
Theimport,exportandtransitofscheduledsubstancesaresubjecttothe
following requirements:
1. All import, export and transit operations shall be properly docu-
mented.Inparticular,commercialdocumentssuchasinvoices,cargomanifests, customs, transport and other shipping documents shallcontain sufficient information positively to identify:
— the name of the scheduled substance as given in the Annex,
— thequantityandweightofthescheduledsubstanceand,whereit
consistsofamixture,thequantityandweightofanysubstanceorsubstances listed in the Annex,
— thenameandaddressoftheexporter,theimporter,thedistributor
and, if known the ultimate consignee.
2. Where operators affix labels indicating the type of product or its
trade name to scheduled substances in import, export or transitoperations, such labels must show the names of the substances asgiven in the Annex.
3. Operators involved in import, export and transit of scheduled
substances shall keep detailed records of those activities.
4. Thedocumentsandrecordsreferredtoinpoints1and3shallbekept
foraperiodofnotlessthantwoyearsfromtheendofthecalendaryear in which the operation referred to in point 1 took place, andmustbereadilyavailableforinspectionbythecompetentauthoritiesupon request.
Article 3
Notification
TheMemberStatesshalltakethenecessarymeasurestoestablishclose
cooperation between the competent authorities and operators, so thatoperators notify the competent authorities immediately of any circum-stances, such as unusual orders and transactions involving scheduledsubstances, which suggest that such substances intended for import orexport may be diverted for the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs orpsychotropic substances.
Article 4
Pre-export notification
Substances listed in Table I of the Annex
1. Full particulars relating to exports of scheduled substances listed
in Table I of the Annex must be supplied in advance to the competentauthoritiesoftheMemberStateinwhichthecustomsexportformalitiesaretobecompleted.InadditiontotheobligationswhichariseforthemunderArticle3,theoperatorsconcernedmustensurethatthoseauthori-ties have actually received the particulars in question at least 15working days before any customs export declaration is lodged.
The competent authorities shall immediately confirm receipt of the
particulars referred to in the preceding subparagraph.
2. The particulars referred to in paragraph 1 must contain the
following information:
— the name and address of the exporter, the importer in the third
country and any other operator involved in the export operation or
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shipment, and also of the ultimat consignee if at all known to theoperator concerned,
— the name of the scheduled substances as given in Table I in the
Annex,
— the quantity and weight of the scheduled substance and, where it
consists of a mixture, the quantity and weight of any substance orsubstances listed in the Annex,
— details of the shipment such as expected date of dispatch, name of
the customs office where the customs export formalities will becarried out, transport arrangements and, where known, itinerary,expected point of exit from Community customs territory and,possibly, point of entry into the importing country.
3. Without prejudice to any possible implementation of technical
repressivemeasures,iftherearereasonablegroundsforsuspectingthatscheduledsubstanceslistedinTableIoftheAnnexareintendedfortheillicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances, theexportofsuchsubstancesshallbeforbidden,bywrittenorderfromthecompetent authorities, confirmation of receipt of which must be dulyprovided.
4. A decision must be taken on the particulars supplied by the
operatorswithintheperiodof15workingdayslaiddowninparagraph1, where appropriate by issuing an export permit.
Export shall be authorized:
— where, within the said period, there has not been any decision to
extendit,anyrequestforfurtherinformationoranyorderpursuantto paragraph 3, or
— on presentation of a formal export permit, where the competent
authority makes provision for the issue of such a document.
Inallcases,theconfirmationofreceiptreferredtoinparagraph1orthe
export permit, where the competent authority makes provision for theissueofsuchapermit,mustbeproducedforinspectionbythecustomsauthorities when the customs export declaration is lodged.
5. Withregardtorequestsforpre-exportnotificationaddressedtothe
CommunitybyathirdcountrypursuanttoArticle12(10)oftheUnitedNations Convention:
(a) the Commission shall immediately communicate to the competent
authorities of the Member States any such request received;
(b) the competent authorities of the Member State concerned shall,
prior to any export of scheduled substances to the requestingcountry, supply the information specified in paragraph 2 to thecompetentauthoritiesofthatcountry.Acopyofthisreplyshallbecommunicated to the Commission for circulation to the otherMember States;
(c) the authority furnishing such information may require that the
authorityinthethirdcountryreceivingtheinformationensurestheconfidentiality of any trade, industrial, commercial or professionalsecret or any trade process referred to therein.
Article 5
Specific export machinery
Substances listed in Table II of the Annex
For the purposes of supplementing the arrangements for monitoring
internationaltradeinscheduledsubstancesbetweentheCommunityandthird countries, Article 4 shall apply mutatis mutandis to exports of
scheduled substances listed in Table II of the Annex wherever theyappeartobeintended,directlyorindirectly,foranycountrywhichhasinformed the Commission, that it wishes to be notified in advance ofanyshipmenttoitofthesaidproductsbecausetheymightbeusedforthe illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances inits territory.
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TITLE III
CONTROL MEASURES
Article 6
Legal powers of competent authorities
1. In order to ensure the correct application of Articles 2, 4 and 5,
each Member State shall adopt within the framework of its domesticlaw the measures necessary to enable the competent authorities:
(a) to obtain information on any orders for or operations involving
scheduled substances;
(b) toenteroperators’businesspremisesinordertoobtainevidenceof
irregularities.
2. Without prejudice to the measures laid down in Article 4 (3),
Article5andparagraph1ofthisArticlethecustomsauthoritiesorothercompetentauthoritiesofeachMemberStatemayprohibittheintroduc-tionofscheduledsubstancesintoCommunityterritoryortheirdeparturefrom it, if there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that thesubstances are intended for the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs orpsychotropic substances.
TITLE IV
ADMINISTRATIVE COOPERATION
Article 7
For the purposes of applying this Regulation and without prejudice to
Article 10, the provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 1468/81 and inparticular those on confidentiality shall apply mutatis mutandis . Each
MemberStateshallcommunicatetotheotherMemberStatesandtotheCommission the name of the competent authorities appointed to act ascorrespondents in accordance with Article 2 (2) of Regulation (EEC)No 1468/81.
TITLE V
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 8
Each Member State shall determine the penalties to be applied for
infringementoftheprovisionsofthisRegulation.Thepenaltiesshallbesufficient to promote compliance with those provisions.
Article 9
1. To permit any necessary adjustments to the arrangements for
monitoring trade in scheduled substances between the Community andthird countries, the competent authorities in each Member State shalleach year communicate to the Commission all relevant information ontheimplementationofthemonitoringmeasureslaiddowninthisRegu-lation,inparticularasregardssubstancesusedfortheillicitmanufactureof narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances and methods of diversionand illicit manufacture.
2. Onthebasisofthecommunicationsmadepursuanttoparagraph1,
theCommissionshall,pursuanttoArticle12(12)oftheUnitedNationsConvention and in consultation with the Member States, draw up anannual report to be submitted to the International Narcotics ControlBoard.
Article 10
TheCommissionshallorganizemeetingswiththerepresentativesofthe
Member States in order to examine any questions concerning theapplicationofthisRegulationraisedeitheronitsowninitiativeorattherequest of a Member State.
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Article 11
Each Member State shall inform the Commission of the measures it
takes pursuant to this Regulation.
The Commission shall communicate this information to the other
Member States.
▼M1
Article 11a
TheCommissionisherebyauthorizedtoadoptaposition,onbehalfof
the Community, in favour of amendments to Tables I and II of theAnnex to the United Nations Convention which conform to the Annexto this Regulation.
▼
B
Article 12
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1991.It shall apply from 1 July 1991.
ThisRegulationshallbebindinginitsentiretyanddirectlyapplicablein
all Member States.
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ANNEX
TABLEI TABLEII
— Ephedrine,
— Ergometrine,— Ergotamine,— Lysergic acid,— 1-phenyl-2-propanone,— Pseudoephedrine.The salts of the substances listed in
this table whenever the existence ofsuch salts is possible.— Acetic anhydride,
— Acetone,— Anthranilic acid,— Ethyl ether,— Phenylacetic acid,— Piperidine.The salts of the substances listed in
this table whenever the existence ofsuch salts is possible.