§ Mr. McMasterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are in place to ensure 497W that imports of the drug temazepam are intended for legitimate prescribed use within the United Kingdom; what plans he has to introduce further measures; and if he will make a statement. [24118]
§ Mr. Michael ForsythControls on the licit trade in temazepam are contained in schedule 4 to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 1985. Imports and exports are not controlled, but records must be kept. The supply of the drug, whatever its source, is subject to authorisation, and records are required to be kept for two years. The possession of the drug in non-medicinal form, which is the form in which most importation takes place, also requires authorisation. It is permissable to import temazepam for further processing and re-export.
The Government are continuing to give careful consideration to the recommendation that temazepam be moved from schedule 4 to schedule 3 to the regulations; this would introduce, among other things, a licensing requirement for imports and exports.