TNAG-0414-FCO40-460-Review-of-narcotics-problem-in-Hong-Kong-1973 — Page 11

During this discussion generous tribute was paid to the work of Sir Harry Greenfield, the 1972 Report was considered in detail, and the draft Resolution on administrative arrangements was agreed (25 (United Kingdom), 1 (Mexico), 3(USSR, Hungary, Indonesia)). The United Kingdom delegation took the opportunity to pay tribute to Sir Harry Greenfield and his colleagues and to draw the attention of the Commission to the need for member nations to nominate for election to the Board this year candidates of the calibre of Sir Harry,

ATTITUDES TO THE CONVENTIONS

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9 There was a discussion on member states' attitudes to the Conventions, during which the United Kingdom made a short statement on the United Kingdom position vis a vis the 1971 Convention in accordance with its brief (see paragraphs 20 of IOC(73)5) This discussion was followed in the last week by a lengthy, and at times tedious, debate upon draft resolutions to FC050C urging member states to ratify the international instruments. Turkey, supported by other developing countries, by India and by the Communist Bloc, proposed a resolution calling upon nations to ratify the 1971 Psychotropic Substances Convention. The United States (who told me privately that they might be in some difficulty with Congress in obtaining agreement to ratify this Convention) wanted to have a resolution which referred to all of the treaties and they persuaded Sweden (the only country which has already ratified all of the treaties) to propose an amendment to the Turkish Resolution to this effect. This was strenuously opposed by the sponsors and after a long and indeterminate discussion it was put to a drafting committee (which comprised the Steering Committee plus Sweden and Argentina) to attempt to draft a compromise resolution. In the drafting committee the co-sponsors of the resolution on the 1971 Convention succeeded in forcing to the vote a proposal that there should be two resolutions. This was agreed (United Kingdom abstained). In plenary session Sweden introduced a second resolution covering the 1961 Convention and the 1972 amending protocol. Both draft resolutions were passed (although Turkey, India and the USSK abstained on the resolution on the 1961 and 1972 instruments). The United Kingdom voted for both resolutions, but did not intervene in the debates, judging it impolitic unnecessarily to draw attention to our position in respect of the 1971 Convention. Turkey made it clear that they would not ratify the 1972 amending protocol until the manufacturing countries had ratified the 1971 Convention; they were supported in this by a number of other producing countries.

ILLICIT TRAFFIC

10 A substantial amount of time was devoted to illicit traffic and to decisions about means of developing regional co-operation to control illicit traffic. The debate on illiciḥ traffic lasted for two days and consisted in the main of statements about the 1972 position. There was much criticism of the fact that the information before the Commission related only to 1970, and this was used as ammunition in the later debates on the periodicity of the Commission's meetings.

REGIONAL ORGANISATIONS · GENERAL

11 The main items of contention were the establishment of regional organisations related to the Commission which would facilitate local co-operation in the fight against drug trafficking. The Americans had indicated beforehand that they intended to try to obtain the establishment of regional sub-commissions not only in the Near and Middle East, as was recommended by the report of the ad hoc Committee on that area, but also in South East Asia and Latin America. Their intentions in respect of the latter two areas were frustrated by the opposition of the countries concerned. In both of these regions of the world there are already in existence embryonic organisations for facilitating co-operation and it is upon these that the regional members wished to build. The Australians had already sounded out their colleagues in South East Asia and it was clear from the start that it would not be possible for

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CONFIDENTIAL

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