§ Mr. ClaphamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what collaborative endeavours there are with other Governments to stifle the synthetic supply of drugs. [168727]
§ Caroline FlintThe United Kingdom Government have signed and ratified the United Nations 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, which establishes an international control system for such substances, including a number of synthetic drugs. It has also signed and ratified the United Nations 1988 Convention against the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, which provides comprehensive measures against drug trafficking and the diversion of precursor chemicals of synthetic drugs.
UK law enforcement agencies have well-established bi-lateral links with their opposite numbers overseas, and share both strategic and tactical intelligence on synthetic drugs and their precursor chemicals on a regular basis.
They also participate in a range of multi-lateral, operationally focused intelligence work, including, for example:
participation in and follow-up to Europol initiatives on amphetamine profiling, illicit laboratory comparison, and pill logo comparison;768Wtraining, through the European Union PHARE Project to aid the EU accession states in combating the illicit trade in precursor chemicals and synthetic drugs;leading a European Joint Unit on Precursors which co-ordinates EU member state activity in relation to illicit precursor chemicals trade;acting as joint chair to a major UN initiative to stifle the supply of precursor chemicals used in the production of amphetamine type stimulants.