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The co-operation with the United States was continued also in the Fifth Committee, where the same Delegation, as consultative members of the Committee, have taken an interested part in our discussions. This co-operation will, I am sure, be welcomed by all Governments as being of great importance for the success of our fight against the abuse of narcotic drugs.
The Fifth Committee, after having examined the two reports laid before it by the Advisory Committee, considering all the valuable facts therein contained and all the interesting resolutions forming together a practical programme of further action, proposes to the Assembly to express its deep appreciation of the work performed by the Advisory Committee and to adopt its report and resolutions, requesting the Council to take the necessary steps to put these resolutions into effect. (Resolution 1.)
The Fifth Committee has, however, also found it necessary to emphasise some points of great importance for the whole work and in a series of resolutions to propose a special action to be taken: (a) With regard to the ratification of the Opium Convention of 1912, progress—even if slow-can be reported among the States Members of the League.
A further step forward of great importance is the fact that, by the Treaty of Lausanne, Turkey has now undertaken to adhere to the Convention. In view of the great importance of Turkey as an opium-producing country, the Committee has considered it desirable to recommend that Turkey should be invited by the Council, as soon as she has actually ratified the Convention and put it into force, to send a representative to the Advisory Committee. (Resolution 2.)
(6) The Fifth Committee has learnt from the reports of the Advisory Committee that it is still waiting for the ratification of the Convention by Switzerland which had been expected in consequence of the declaration made last year by M. Ador on behalf of the Swiss Government and mentioned in the report of this Committee to the Assembly. The same is the case also with Persia, although the Persian Delegation has repeatedly recommended to the Government to withdraw its reservation.
The urgent importance to the whole work of such ratification was emphasised in the Fifth Committee by several Delegates, while on the other hand the Delegates of Switzerland and of Persia have both explained, in declarations annexed to the Minutes of the Committee, the reasons which until now have made it difficult for their Governments to ratify the Convention of 1912. In Switzerland the question of ratification of the Opium Convention has raised problems partly juridical and partly economic. The juridical problem concerning the power of the Federal Govern- ment in relation to the sovereignty of the cantons has, however, already been solved, while the economic side of the question is still under discussion. In Persia the greatest difficulty consists in finding some lucrative cultivation for the peasants which might replace the cultivation of the poppy. Persia would welcome the calling of an economic conference to study such practical difficulties. Both Delegates have again confirmed the interest and endeavours of their Govern- ments in overcoming such difficulties, and the declaration of M. Ador finishes with an assurance that "the Federal Council is still faithful to the principle expressed in the declaration of last year" and that "its active co-operation in the great task undertaken by the League of Nations in the field of dangerous drugs" will, it is hoped, soon be established.
The importance of ratifications by countries so deeply interested in the production of and trade in opium and other drugs as those just mentioned is clearly evident, the endeavours of the Advisory Committee to bring about a control of production and limit of abuse being more or less hopeless so long as a full co-operation between interested Powers has not been attained. The adherence even of countries which can be counted neither among producers nor among manufacturers of opium, etc., is also of great importance, such countries easily becoming centres of illicit traffic1.
The Fifth Committee therefore recommends that the Council should, once more, make an appeal to the Governments concerned. (Resolution 3.)
(c) With regard to the system of import certificates, unanimously approved by the Assembly in 1921 and again recommended in 1922, the information has been given that at present twenty States have adopted this system and put it into force, while thirteen other States have acceptedl the principle. The Advisory Committee regrets, however, that a number of States Members of the League, and Parties to the Opium Convention, have not yet signified their adoption of this system'.
A resolution was passed by the Assembly last year, asking the Advisory Committee to examine the question of the measures to be taken towards countries not adopting the import certificate system. The complicated and technical character of the issues involved in the resolution men tioned was examined by the Advisory Committee at its extraordinary meeting in January this
year.
As, however, the adherence of the three important countries, Switzerland, Persia and Turkey, would make the solution of the whole question much easier, and as these countries had all given hopes of their ratification of the Convention at an early date, Switzerland having declared itself willing to adopt also the import certificate system, the Advisory Committee resolved to postpone a final decision in regard to the Assembly's resolution.
The following countries Members of the League have not yet ratified the Opium Convention; Albania, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Lithuania, Paraguay, Persia, Switzerland.
* Amongst such States are: France, Roumania, Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
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In view of the urgency of this matter, the Fifth Committee proposes to the Assembly a resolution in which the Advisory Committee is requested to proceed with its investigations of the question and to report specially to the next Assembly on the whole situation. (Resolu- tion 4.)
(d) During the past year the Advisory Committee has further been engaged in this work of investigating the question of the world's needs of the manufactured drugs for medicinal and scientific uses with a view to the eventual limitation of the productions of those drugs. Much valuable material has been sent to the Committee in annual reports and otherwise; a series of documents now exists for the first time regarding the cultivation of opium in the world (Docu- ment O. C. 109), its production in China (Document O. C. 117), the quantities of narcotic drugs considered as necessary by the Governments (Document O. C. 115), the world's requirements of such drugs (Document 0. C. 116),
The Committee is, however, still without the statistics of the production of the drugs in France and Holland, and a number of countries have failed to supply the Committee with estimates of the amount of the drugs required for the internal consumption of their countries, as recommended by the third resolution of the Assembly last year. The failure to supply this information creates a great difficulty for the Advisory Committee.
The Delegate of the Netherlands has reminded the Fifth Committee of the declaration, made at an earlier date also by the Netherlands delegate before the Advisory Committee, with regard to the reasons which make it impossible for the Government of that country to publish the statistics of manufacture of morphine and cocaine, so long as other countries parties to the Convention are not yet co-operating in the same manner.
The Delegate of France, on his side, declared that, as soon as possible, the statistics would be sent to the Advisory Committee by the French Government.
(e) A few words must be said as to the position in the Far East. It is satisfactory to note that the efforts made to stop the illicit traffic in the drugs in this part of the world has not been without result and that large seizures have been made by the authorities. The situation appears, however, to remain very grave. In China, the cultivation and sale of opium have increased and it would appear from the latest reports that they are now being carried on to an enormous extent. The smuggling of the manufactured drugs also continues, in spite of the measures taken by the Japanese and other Governments. It will be seen from the fifth report of the Advisory Committee that new and more stringent regulations have been brought into force in Japan and we may perhaps express a hope that the Japanese Government will be able, even in the terrible catastrophe which has fallen upon that country, to maintain the efforts which it has begun to stop this evil.
In accordance with a recommendation made last year by the Advisory Committee with the approval of the Council (July 21st, 1922), the authorities of Japan and China have now, as com- municated to the Fifth Committee by the Japanese delegate, er tered into negotiations with a view to establishing a mixed Commission of Control of the traffic in opium and other drugs.
(The Fifth Committee has learned from the reports of the Advisory Committee that it has found the time ripe for taking measures towards a more effective application of Chapter II of the Opium Convention concerning the "gradual suppression" of the use of prepared opium in territories where such use has not yet been prohibited, as well as to a reduction of the quantity of raw opium imported into these territones for the purpose of smoking.
Basing itself on a resolution passed by the Advisory Committee, the Fifth Committee pro- poses that a Conference should be called for this purpose (Resolution 5).
This resolution was passed in the Fifth Committee by a majority, a division of opinion having been expressed with regard to the question of the composition of the Conference, as well as to the words "for the purpose of smoking".
The American Delegation, while agreeing with the resolution as carried, made, with regard to the meaning of these words, the following reservation, with which the French delegate associated himself:
"The representative of the United States of America desires to place on record that the term 'opium for smoking' appearing in Resolution 2, does not occur in Chapter II of the Hague Convention of 1912, which refers only to prepared opium, and that the use of the said term 'opium for smoking' is not to be construed as an interpretation of the Convention."
(g) With great satisfaction, we read in the report that the Advisory Committee, in review- ing the work carried out during the past two years, has found that the information now available makes it possible to take steps towards a limitation of the production of the drugs. It has proposed that the Governments concerned in such production should enter into immediate negotiations to consider whether an agreement could be reached on this point.
The Fifth Committee recommends a resolution to be passed to the effect that a conference should be called also for this purpose, suggesting at the same time, for the consideration of the Council, the advisability of enlarging this Conference so as to include within its scope all countries which are Members of the League, or Parties to the Convention of 1912, with a view to securing their adhesion to the principles that may be embodied in any Agreement arrived at. (Resolution 6.) With regard to this suggestion, the Delegate of the Netherlands declared that, although in full sympathy with the object of the proposed conference, the reasons for its extension did not appear
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