The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) was established in 1968 as the monitoring body for the implementation of the United Nations international drug control conventions. Tensions have arisen about the way the INCB performs its duties and about its legal interpretation of the conventions which many feel goes beyond its mandate.
-
The UN International Narcotics Control Board Releases 2011 Annual Report
Accuses Bolivia of Threatening Integrity of the Global Drug Control System by Reserving the Right to Use Coca Leaf
TNI/WOLA Press release
February 28, 2012
The UN’s International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), which monitors implementation of the global drug treaties, has trained its fire on Bolivia, this time accusing the country of threatening the integrity of the entire international drug control regime by defending traditional uses of the coca leaf.
READ MORE...
Download the press release (PDF) -
Response of Bolivia to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)
Ministry of Foreign Relation of the Plurinational State of Bolivia
La Paz, February 24, 2012In a letter to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) the Government of Bolivia rejects the judgments made by the independent agency of the United Nations after a visit in December 2011 and the conclusions of the Board on the decision to withdraw from the 1961 UN Single Convention and re-adhere with a reservation that would allow for the use of coca in its natural state within Bolivian territory an uphold the traditional practice of coca chewing. The Bolivian government says the INCB is overstepping its mandate. TNI publishes an unofficial translation of the original spanish version of the letter.
READ MORE... -
IDPC response to the 2010 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board
International Drug Policy Consortium Briefing
July 2011
The Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for 2010 reveals not only the INCB’s continuing habit of exceeding its mandate, but also an enthusiasm for censuring what it regards as moves towards the liberalization of policy practice while preferring to remain silent on other areas that are within its purview and merit attention. This IDPC report concludes that this year’s Report does reflect some positive changes in the INCB’s outlook, but these are still outweighed by familiar negative practices and positions.Download the report (PDF) -
The need for increased transparency
The country correspondence of the INCB
Dave Bewley-TaylorIDPC Briefing Paper
October 2010
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) remains one of the least transparent and most secretive of UN bodies. It meets in secret, and while agendas can now be found on the INCB’s website, no minutes of its meetings are published, nor are the analyses by which it arrives at its positions on policy issues.
READ MORE...Download the briefing (PDF) -
INCB Interferes with Countries' Sovereignty
UN's International Narcotics Control Board's Annual Report Oversteps Mandate and Interferes with Countries' Sovereignty
TNI/WOLA Drug Law Reform ProjectPress release
February 24, 2010
The UN's International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) 2009 annual report criticizes Argentina, Brazil and Mexico for moving to decriminalize the possession of drugs for personal consumption, cautioning that such moves may "send the wrong message." According to the Transnational Institute (TNI) and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the criticisms overstep the INCB's mandate and constitute unwarranted intrusions into these countries' sovereign decision-making.
READ MORE...Download the press release (PDF) -
Horse trading at the UN
Elections to Narcotics Control Board compromise its independence
International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC)Press release
May 19, 2009
NGOs in the drug policy field have criticised the outcome of the recent elections to the United Nation’s International Narcotic Control Board (INCB) because the process of trading votes between member states has led to the exclusion of some of the most highly qualified candidates, and the re-election of at least one candidate who does not fit the stated criteria, Tatyana Dmitrieva.
READ MORE...Download the Press Release (PDF)
-
Abolishing Coca Leaf Consumption?
The INCB needs to perform a reality check
Transnational InstitutePress release
March 5, 2008The Transnational Institute condemns the decision by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) in their 2007 annual report released today, which calls on countries to ‘abolish or prohibit coca leaf chewing and the manufacture of coca tea’.
READ MORE...
Download the press release (PDF) -
INCB: controversial statements on coca leaf
Read here the full text of the controversial statements on coca leaf included in this year's Annual Report of the INCB. Some highlights:> "The Board calls upon the Governments of Bolivia and Peru to initiate action without delay with a view to eliminating uses of coca leaf, including coca leaf chewing" and "each party to the Convention should establish as a criminal offence, when committed intentionally, the possession and purchase of coca leaf for personalconsumption".
> "The Board again calls on the Governments of Bolivia and Peru to consider amending their national legislation so as to abolish or prohibit activities that are contrary to the 1961 Convention, such as coca leaf chewing and the manufacture of mate de coca (coca tea)".See also: Abolishing Coca Leaf Consumption? The INCB needs to perform a reality check, Transnational Institute Press release, March 5, 2008
READ MORE... -
Response to INCB's Annual Report 2007
International Drug Policy Consortium Briefing
March 5, 2008The 2007 INCB Annual Report shows some signs of a more balanced approach by the INCB to the policy dilemmas around proportionality of sentences and harm reduction. While this is welcome, the Board still falls a long way short of what is necessary for it to play a positive and objective role in helping governments to find the right balance between their drug control obligations, and wider policy objectives related to social development, public health, and human rights protections. On the issue of the coca leaf especially, the INCB shows complete intransigence towards the issue of indigenous uses in the Andean region.
READ MORE...Download the paper (PDF) -
The International Narcotics Control Board
Current Tensions and Options for Reform
IDPC Briefing Paper 7
February 2008This briefing paper brings together material and analysis from a number of recent reports that raise questions about the role and functioning of the INCB. The IDPC analysis is that the Board mixes a rigid and overzealous approach to some aspects of its mandate, while showing a selective reticence in others. These inconsistencies do not arise automatically from the structure or role of the Board, but from the operational and policy decisions of its officers and members.
READ MORE...Download the paper (PDF)
Page 4 of 5
