CELEX: 22009A0228(02)
Language: en
Date: 2009-01-30 00:00:00
Title: Agreement between the European Community and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on drug precursors and substances frequently used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances

L 56/8                 EN                               Official Journal of the European Union                                        28.2.2009
                                                                     AGREEMENT
               between the European Community and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on drug
               precursors and substances frequently used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or
                                                              psychotropic substances
               THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY,
               hereinafter referred to as ‘the Community’,
               on the one part, and
               THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA,
               hereinafter referred to as ‘the Chinese Government’,
               on the other part,
               hereinafter referred to as the ‘the Parties’,
               WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK of the United Nations Convention of 1988 against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and
               Psychotropic Substances, signed on 20 December 1988 in Vienna, hereinafter referred to as the ‘1988 Convention’ and in
               accordance with legal provision in force in the People’s Republic of China and in the Member States of the Community;
               DETERMINED to prevent and to combat the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances by
               preventing the diversion of drug precursors and substances frequently used for such purposes (hereinafter referred to
               as drug precursors);
               ACKNOWLEDGING Article 12 of the 1988 Convention;
               CONVINCED that international trade may be used for the diversion of drug precursors, and that it is necessary to
               conclude and implement agreements between the regions concerned, establishing wide cooperation and, in particular
               linking export and import controls;
               RECOGNISING that drug precursors are also mainly and widely used for legitimate purposes and that international trade
               must not be hindered by excessive monitoring procedures;
               HAVE DECIDED to conclude an Agreement on the prevention of diversion of drug precursors and substances frequently
               used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances,
               HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
                                 Article 1                                      — monitoring the trade between them in the drug precursors
                                                                                    referred to in paragraph 3, with the aim of preventing their
                     Scope of the Agreement                                         diversion to illicit purposes,
1.     This Agreement sets out measures to strengthen adminis­
trative cooperation between the Parties to prevent the diversion
of drug precursors and substances frequently used in the illicit
                                                                                — providing mutual administrative assistance ensuring that
manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances,
                                                                                    their respective drug precursors trade control legislation is
without prejudice to the normal activities of trade and the
                                                                                    correctly applied.
due recognition of the legitimate interests of industry.
                                                                                3.    Without prejudice to possible amendments which might
2.     For this purpose, the Parties shall assist each other, as set            be made pursuant to Article 10, this Agreement applies to the
out in this Agreement, in particular by:                                        substances listed in the Annexes to this Agreement.
 ---pagebreak--- 28.2.2009             EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                                             L 56/9
                             Article 2                                     manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances and
                                                                           shall investigate cases of suspected diversion. Where necessary
                        Trade monitoring                                   they shall adopt appropriate precautionary measures to prevent
1.     The Parties shall consult and inform each other on their            diversion.
own initiative whenever they have reasonable grounds to believe
that drug precursors may be diverted to the illicit manufacture
of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances, in particular when
an import or export shipment occurs in unusual quantities or               2.     Any request for information or precautionary measures
under unusual circumstances.                                               shall be complied with in time.
                                                                           3.     Requests for administrative assistance shall be executed in
2.     With regard to the drug precursors listed in Annex A to
                                                                           accordance with the legal or regulatory provisions of the
this Agreement, the competent authority of the exporting Party
                                                                           requested Party.
shall forward a pre-export notification to the competent
authority of the importing Party. The reply in writing by the
importing Party shall be provided within 15 working days after
the receipt of the message from the exporting Party. The                   4.     Duly authorised officials of a Party may, with the
absence of a reply within this period shall be considered                  agreement of the other Party and subject to the conditions
equivalent to a non-objection to sending the shipment. An                  laid down by the latter, be present at the inquiries carried out
objection shall be notified in writing to the exporting Party              in the territory of the other Party.
within this period, giving the reasons for refusal.
                                                                           5.     The Parties shall assist each other to facilitate the
3.     With regard to the drug precursors listed in Annex B to             provision of evidence if based upon a request for mutual
this Agreement, the competent authority of the exporting Party             administrative assistance.
shall determine whether to conduct international checks
according to its domestic legislation.
                                                                           6.     Administrative assistance provided under this Article shall
                                                                           not prejudice the rules governing mutual assistance in criminal
4.     The Parties undertake to reply in writing as soon as                matters, nor shall it apply to information obtained under
possible, in respect of any information provided or measure                powers exercised at the request of a judicial authority, except
requested under this Article.                                              where communication of such information is authorised by that
                                                                           authority.
                             Article 3
                                                                           7.     One Party may, on a case-by-case basis and through
                    Suspension of shipment                                 consultation, provide, on request by the other Party, infor­
                                                                           mation in respect of substances which are frequently used in
1.     Without prejudice to any possible implementation of
                                                                           the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic
technical enforcement measures, shipments shall be suspended
                                                                           substances but which are not included in the scope of this
if, in the opinion of either Party, there are reasonable grounds
                                                                           Agreement.
to believe that drug precursors may be diverted to the illicit
manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances, or
where, in the cases described in Article 2(2), the importing Party
requests in writing the suspension, and where appropriate,                                               Article 5
provides documents of evidence and ensuring measures to be
taken within five working days.                                                       Information exchange and confidentiality
                                                                           1.     Any information communicated in whatsoever form
                                                                           pursuant to this Agreement shall be of a confidential or
                                                                           restricted nature, depending on the rules applicable in each of
2.     The Parties shall cooperate in supplying each other with            the Parties and shall be covered by the obligation of official
any information relating to suspected diversion operations if              secrecy.
based upon a request for mutual administrative assistance.
                                                                           2.     Personal data may be exchanged only where the Party
                             Article 4                                     which may receive it undertakes to protect such data in at
               Mutual administrative assistance                            least an equivalent way to the one applicable to that particular
                                                                           case in the Party that may supply it. To this end, Parties
1.     The Parties shall provide each other upon request for               communicate each other information on their applicable rules,
mutual administrative assistance with any information to                   including legal provisions in force in the Member States of the
prevent the diversion of drug precursors to the illicit                    Community.
 ---pagebreak--- L 56/10                EN                            Official Journal of the European Union                                          28.2.2009
3.     Information obtained under this Agreement shall be used                                             Article 7
solely for the purposes of this Agreement. Where one of the
Parties wishes to use such information for other purposes, it                              Technical and scientific cooperation
shall obtain the prior written consent of the authority which                The Parties shall cooperate in the identification of new diversion
provided the information. Such use shall then be subject to any              methods as well as appropriate countermeasures, including
restrictions laid down by that authority.                                    technical cooperation and in particular, training and exchange
                                                                             programmes for the officials concerned, to strengthen adminis­
                                                                             trative and enforcement structures in this field and to promote
                                                                             cooperation with trade and industry.
4.     The use in proceedings instituted for failure to comply
with legislation on drug precursors referred to in Article 3, of
information obtained under this Agreement, is considered to be
solely for the purposes of this Agreement. Therefore, the Parties                                          Article 8
may in proceedings use as evidence information obtained and
documents consulted in accordance with the provisions of this                                    Implementation measures
Agreement. The use of evidence is subject to the prior                       1.     The Chinese side, the European Commission and each
permission of the competent authority which supplied that                    Member State of the Community shall appoint respectively a
information or gave access to those documents.                               competent authority to coordinate the implementation of this
                                                                             Agreement. These authorities shall communicate directly with
                                                                             one another for the purposes of this Agreement.
                              Article 6
      Exceptions to the obligation to provide assistance
                                                                             2.     The Parties shall consult each other and subsequently keep
1.     Assistance may be refused or may be subject to the satis­             each other informed of the detailed rules of implementation
faction of certain conditions or requirements, in cases where a              which are adopted in accordance with the provisions of this
Party is of the opinion that assistance under this Agreement                 Agreement.
would:
                                                                                                           Article 9
(a) be likely to prejudice the sovereignty of the People’s                                        Joint Follow-Up Group
     Republic of China or that of a Member State of the
     Community which has been requested to provide assistance                1.     A Joint Follow-Up Group is hereby established, hereinafter
     under this Agreement; or                                                referred to as ‘the Joint Follow-Up Group’, in which the Parties
                                                                             shall be represented.
(b) be likely to prejudice public policy, security or other
     essential interests, in particular in the cases referred to             2.     The Joint Follow-Up Group shall act by mutual agreement.
     under Article 5(2); or
                                                                             3.     If necessary, the Joint Follow-Up Group shall meet, with
(c) violate an industrial, commercial or professional secret.                the date, place and programme being fixed by mutual
                                                                             agreement.
2.     Assistance may be postponed by the requested authority
                                                                             Extraordinary meetings of the Joint Follow-Up Group may be
on the ground that it will interfere with an ongoing investi­
                                                                             convened by mutual agreement of the Parties.
gation, prosecution or proceeding. In such a case, the requested
authority shall consult with the applicant authority to determine
if assistance can be given subject to such terms or conditions as
the requested authority may require.                                                                      Article 10
                                                                                           Role of the Joint Follow-Up Group
                                                                             1.     The Joint Follow-Up Group shall administer this
3.     Where the applicant authority seeks assistance which it
                                                                             Agreement and ensure its proper implementation. For this
would itself be unable to provide if so requested, it shall
                                                                             purpose:
draw attention to that fact in its request. It shall then be for
the requested authority to decide how to respond to such a
request.
                                                                             — it shall be informed by the Parties of their experience in
                                                                                 applying this Agreement,
4.     For the cases referred to in this Article, the decision of the
requested authority and the reasons therefore must be commu­
nicated to the applicant authority as promptly as possible.                  — in cases provided for in paragraph 2, it shall take decisions,
 ---pagebreak--- 28.2.2009              EN                       Official Journal of the European Union                                             L 56/11
— it shall study and develop technical cooperation measures,            may be concluded between individual Member States and the
                                                                        People’s Republic of China insofar as the provisions of the latter
                                                                        are incompatible with those of this Agreement.
— it shall study and develop other possible forms of
     cooperation.
                                                                        3.     In respect of questions relating to the applicability of this
                                                                        Agreement, the Parties shall consult each other to resolve the
2.     The Joint Follow-Up Group may adopt by mutual consent            matter in the framework of the Joint Follow-Up Group.
decisions to amend Annexes A and B. Such decisions shall be
implemented by the Parties in accordance with their own legis­
lation.                                                                 4.     The Parties shall also notify each other of any measures
                                                                        on controlled substances taken with other countries.
3.     The Joint Follow-Up Group may recommend to the
Parties:
                                                                                                     Article 12
                                                                                                 Entry into force
(a) other amendments to this Agreement;
                                                                        Each Party shall give written notification that it has completed
                                                                        its internal legal procedures for the entry into force of this
(b) measures required for the application of this Agreement.            Agreement to the other Party. This Agreement shall enter into
                                                                        force 60 days from the date on which the last written notifi­
                                                                        cation is received.
                            Article 11
     Other obligations imposed under other agreements
                                                                                                     Article 13
1.     Taking into account the respective competencies of the
Community and its Member States, the provisions of this                                    Duration and denunciation
Agreement shall:                                                        1.     This Agreement shall be concluded for five years and,
                                                                        unless a Party notifies in writing the other Party of its
— not affect the obligations of the Parties under any other             intention to terminate the Agreement at least six months
     international agreement or convention,                             before the expiration of that period, it will be tacitly
                                                                        renewable for successive periods of five years.
— not affect the communication between the competent
     services of the European Commission and the relevant               2.     This Agreement may be amended by mutual consent of
     services of the Member States of the Community of any              the Parties.
     information obtained under this Agreement which could
     be of interest to the Community.
                                                                        Done in duplicate in the Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch,
                                                                        Estonian, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian,
2.     Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, the               Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese,
provisions of this Agreement shall take precedence over the             Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish and Chinese
provisions of any bilateral agreement on drug precursors and            languages, all these texts being equally authentic. In case there
other substances frequently used in the illicit manufacture of          is any divergence of interpretation of this Agreement, the
narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances which have been or           English and the Chinese texts shall be determinative.
 ---pagebreak--- L 56/12         EN                            Official Journal of the European Union             28.2.2009
        Съставено в Брюксел на тридесети януари две хиляди и девета година.
        Hecho en Bruselas, el treinta de enero de dos mil nueve.
        V Bruselu dne třicátého ledna dva tisíce devět.
        Udfærdiget i Bruxelles den tredivte januar to tusind og ni.
        Geschehen zu Brüssel am dreißigsten Januar zweitausendneun
        Kahe tuhande üheksanda aasta jaanuarikuu kolmekümnendal päeval Brüsselis.
        Εγινε στις Βρυξέλλες, στις τριάντα Ιανουαρίου δύο χιλιάδες εννιά.
        Done at Brussels on the thirtieth day of January in the year two thousand and nine.
        Fait à Bruxelles, le trente janvier deux mille neuf.
        Fatto a Bruxelles, addì trenta gennaio duemilanove.
        Briselē, divtūkstoš devītā gada trīsdesmitajā janvārī.
        Priimta du tūkstančiai devintų metų sausio trisdešimtą dieną Briuselyje.
        Kelt Brüsszelben, a kétezer-kilencedik év január harmincadik napján.
        Magħmul fi Brussell, fit-tletin jum ta’ Jannar tas-sena elfejn u disgħa.
        Gedaan te Brussel, de dertigste januari tweeduizend negen.
        Sporządzono w Brukseli, dnia trzydziestego stycznia roku dwa tysiące dziewiątego.
        Feito em Bruxelas, em trinta de Janeiro de dois mil e nove.
        Încheiat la Bruxelles, la treizeci ianuarie două mii nouă.
        V Bruseli tridsiateho januára dvetisícdeväť.
        V Bruslju, dne tridesetega januarja leta dva tisoč devet.
        Tehty Brysselissä kolmantenakymmenentenä päivänä tammikuuta vuonna kaksituhattayhdeksän.
        Som skedde i Bryssel den trettionde januari tjugohundranio.
 ---pagebreak--- 28.2.2009         EN                         Official Journal of the European Union L 56/13
          За Европейската общност
          Por la Comunidad Europea
          Za Evropské společenství
          For Det Europæiske Fællesskab
          Für die Europäische Gemeinschaft
          Euroopa Ühenduse nimel
          Για την Ευρωπαϊκή Κοινότητα
          For the European Community
          Pour la Communauté européenne
          Per la Comunità europea
          Eiropas Kopienas vārdā
          Europos bendrijos vardu
          Az Európai Közösség részéről
          Għall-Komunitá Ewropea
          Voor de Europese Gemeenschap
          W imieniu Wspólnoty Europejskiej
          Pela Comunidade Europeia
          Pentru Comunitatea Europeană
          Za Európske spoločenstvo
          Za Evropsko skupnost
          Euroopan yhteisön puolesta
          För Europeiska gemenskapen
          От името на правителството на Киtайската народна република
          Por el Gobierno de la República Popular China
          Za vládu Čínské lidové republiky
          For Folkerepublikken Kinas regering
          Im Namen der Regierung der Volksrepublik China
          Hiina Rahvavabariigi valitsuse nimel
          Για την κυβέρνηση της Λαϊκής Δημοκρατίας της Κίνας
          For the Government of the People’s Republic of China
          Pour le gouvernement de la République populaire de Chine
          Per il governo della Repubblica popolare cinese
          Ķīnas Tautas Republikas vārdā
          Kinijos Liaudies Respublikos Vyriausybės vardu
          A Kínai Népköztársaság kormánya részéről
          Għall-Gvern tar-Repubblika Popolari taċ-Ċina
          Voor de Regering van de Volksrepubliek China
          W imieniu rządu Chińskiej Republiki Ludowej
          Pelo Governo da República Popular da China
          Pentru Guvernul Republicii Populare Chineze
          Za vládu Čínskej ľudovej republiky
          Za Vlado Ljudske republike Kitajske
          Kiinan kansantasavallan hallituksen puolesta
          På Folkrepubliken Kinas regering vägnar
 ---pagebreak--- L 56/14          EN                           Official Journal of the European Union                    28.2.2009
                                                              ANNEX A
                                   Substances subject to the measures referred to in Article 2(2)
        N-Acetylanthranilic Acid
        Acetic Anhydride
        Anthranilic Acid
        Ephedrine
        Ephedra extract
        Ergometrine
        Ergotamine
        Isosafrole
        Lysergic Acid
        3,4-Methylenedioxyphenyl-2-propanone
        Norephedrine
        Phenylacetic Acid
        1-Phenyl-2-propanone
        Piperonal
        Potassium Permanganate
        Pseudoephedrine
        Safrole
        Safrole rich oils
        Note: The list of substances must always include a reference to their salts, where appropriate.
                                                               ANNEX B
                                   Substances subject to the measures referred to in Article 2(3)
        Acetone
        Ethyl Ether
        Hydrochloric Acid
        Methyl Ethyl Ketone
        Piperidine
        Sulphuric Acid
        Toluene