S.E. Asian govts make deal on drug control

S.E. Asian govts make deal on drug control

By Tiffany Bown

BEIJING (AFP): Six regional countries signed here yesterday
their first joint action plan to tackle Southeast Asia's booming
drugs trade, pledging three years of close cooperation in 11
specific areas.

At ministerial-level talks, delegates also signed a protocol
accepting Vietnam and Cambodia into the framework of a memorandum
of understanding on drugs control that was initialed by China,
Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and the UN International Drug Control
Program (UNDCP) in 1993.

In a Beijing Declaration signed at the end of the three-day
conference, the six nations said "the drugs situation in Asia
requires immediate attention" and acknowledged that no country
could solve the problem in isolation.

The action plan is expected to cost US$10 million, of which
$7.5 million is to be sought from international donors, while the
six nations are to make the most of their contributions in kind,
mostly by providing personnel, said Vincent McClean, director of
the UNDCP's regional center.

Detailed drafts for two collaborative projects outlined in the
program -- which covers demand and supply reduction, as well as
strengthening law enforcement -- were also approved yesterday.

Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, who is heading
his country's delegation, hailed the achievements of the meeting
as a significant step in boosting regional cooperation.

In order to fight the drug scourge "we need to operate as a
single unit because we need to share experiences and resources
and help each other in implementing some of the obligations that
have been signed," he said.

Zhuo Feng, Deputy Secretary-General of China's National
Narcotics Control Commission, said, "I think that if all
countries work hard to cooperate well together, there is a great
hope of solving the drugs problem."

"It is not something that can be solved overnight, but
progress can be made in controlling and limiting the problem," he
said.

Giorgio Giacomelli, Executive Director of the UNDCP, estimated
there were now 40 to 50 million drug addicts worldwide, but added
that more worrying than the numbers was the trend of addiction
from rich to poor nations that are less equipped to tackle the
problem.

"I think things are going badly, they will probably get worse
before they start to improve," said Giacomelli, but added that
agreements such as those signed yesterday were helping to build a
"solid foundation" in the long fight against the global problem.

"We begin to have people working together, we have countries
that have probably never in history sat together around a table
expressing a firm commitment to cooperate," he said.

While the abuses faced by the six countries varied, they are
"problems that are complementary that have to be solved with
mutual support," he said.

Trafficking remains the main problem in China and Cambodia,
but there is a serious threat of addiction spreading and of them
developing into production bases like Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and
Thailand.

Of the two projects agreed on in detail yesterday, one
envisages a program to control the availability of precursors and
essential chemicals required for making drugs, while the second
aims to improve procedures for operational collaboration between
law enforcement agencies.

Other planned areas of cooperation include stepping up
exchanges of information on trafficking, creating alternative
forms of income for drug producers, enhancing drug abuse
prevention and rehabilitation activities, and carrying out joint
training.

Myanmar, Cambodia and China are represented respectively by
Home Minister Lieutenant General Mya Thin, Minister of Justice
Chem Snguon and Minister of Public Security and National
Narcotics Control Commission director Tao Siju.

Minister of the prime minister's office of Laos Khamxay
Soupanouvong and Vietnamese Vice Minister Than Tanh Xuan are
leading their countries' delegations.