22) International Drug Treaties: Chapter 19

September 16, 2024 12 min read

United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
Vienna, December 20, 1988
Entry into force	:	November 11, 1990, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 29.
Registration			:	November 11, 1990

Participant	Signature	Ratification, Accession(a), Acceptance(A), Approval(AA), Formal Confirmation(c), Succession(d)
Afghanistan	20 dec 1988	14 fevr 1992
South Africa		14 dec 1998 a
Albania		27 june 2001 a
Algeria	20 dec 1988	9 mai 1995
Allemagne	19 jan 1989	30 nov 1993
Andorra		23 jul 1999 a
Angola		26 oct 2005 a
Antigua and Barbuda		5 avr 1993 a
Saudi Arabia		9 jan 1992 a
Argentina	20 dec 1988	28 jun 1993
Armenia		13 sep 1993 a
Australia	14 fev 1989	16 nov 1992
Austria	25 sept 1989	11 jul 1997
Azerbaijan		22 sept 1993 a
Bahamas	20 dec 1988	30 jan 1989
Bahrain	28 sep 1989	7 fevr1990
Bangladesh	14 avr 1989	11 oct 1990
Barbados		15 oct 1992 a
Belarus	27 fev 1989	15 oct 1990
Belgium	22 mai 1989	25 oct 1995
Belize		24 jul 1996 a
Benign		23 mai 1997 a
Bhutan		27 aug 1990 a
Bolivia	20 dec 1988	20 aug 1990
Bosnia and Herzegovina		1 sep 1993 d
Botswana		13 aug 1996 a
Brazil	20 dec 1988	17 jul 1991
Brunei Darussalam	26 oct 1989	12 nov 1993
Bulgarie	19 mai 1989	24 sept 1992
Burkina Faso		2 juin 1992 a
Burundi		18 févr 1993 a
Cabo Verde		8 mai 1995 a
Cambodge		7 juil 2005 a
Cameroun	27 févr 1989	28 oct 1991
Canada	20 déc 1988	5 juil 1990
Chili	20 déc 1988	13 mars 1990
Chine	20 déc 1988	25 oct 1989
Chypre	20 déc 1988	25 mai 1990
Colombie	20 déc 1988	10 juin 1994
Comores		1 mars 2000 a
Congo		3 mars 2004 a
Costa Rica	25 avr 1989	8 févr 1991
Côte d'Ivoire	20 déc 1988	25 nov 1991
Croatie		26 juil 1993 d
Cuba	7 avr 1989	12 juin 1996
Danemark	20 déc 1988	19 déc 1991
Djibouti		22 févr 2001 a
Dominique		30 juin 1993 a
Égypte	20 déc 1988	15 mars 1991
El Salvador		21 mai 1993 a
Émirats arabes unis		12 avr 1990 a
Équateur	21 juin 1989	23 mars 1990
Érythrée		30 janv 2002 a
Espagne	20 déc 1988	13 août 1990
Estonie		12 juil 2000 a
Eswatini		3 oct 1995 a
État de Palestine		29 déc 2017 a
États-Unis d'Amérique	20 déc 1988	20 févr 1990
Éthiopie		11 oct 1994 a
Fédération de Russie	19 janv 1989	17 déc 1990
Fidji		25 mars 1993 a
Finlande	8 févr 1989	15 févr 1994 A
France	13 févr 1989	31 déc 1990 AA
Gabon	20 déc 1989	10 juil 2006
Gambie		23 avr 1996 a
Géorgie		8 janv 1998 a
Ghana	20 déc 1988	10 avr 1990
Grèce	23 févr 1989	28 janv 1992
Grenade		10 déc 1990 a
Guatemala	20 déc 1988	28 févr 1991
Guinée		27 déc 1990 a
Guinée-Bissau		27 oct 1995 a
Guyana		19 mars 1993 a
Haïti		18 sept 1995 a
Honduras	20 déc 1988	11 déc 1991
Hongrie	22 août 1989	15 nov 1996
Îles Cook		22 févr 2005 a
Îles Marshall		5 nov 2010 a
Inde		27 mars 1990 a
Indonésie	27 mars 1989	23 févr 1999
Iran	20 déc 1988	7 déc 1992
Iraq		22 juil 1998 a
Irlande	14 déc 1989	3 sept 1996
Islande		2 sept 1997 a
Israël	20 déc 1988	20 mars 2002
Italie	20 déc 1988	31 déc 1990 AA
Jamaïque	2 oct 1989	29 déc 1995
Japon	19 déc 1989	12 juin 1992
Jordanie	20 déc 1988	16 avr 1990
Kazakhstan		29 avr 1997 a
Kenya		19 oct 1992 a
Kirghizistan		7 oct 1994 a
Koweït	2 oct 1989	3 nov 2000
Lesotho		28 mars 1995 a
Lettonie		24 févr 1994 a
Liban		11 mars 1996 a
Libéria		16 sept 2005 a
Libye		22 juil 1996 a
Liechtenstein		9 mars 2007 a
Lituanie		8 juin 1998 a
Luxembourg	26 sept 1989	29 avr 1992
Macédoine du Nord		13 oct 1993 a
Madagascar		12 mars 1991 a
Malaisie	20 déc 1988	11 mai 1993
Malawi		12 oct 1995 a
Maldives	5 déc 1989	7 sept 2000
Mali		31 oct 1995 a
Malte		28 févr 1996 a
Maroc	28 déc 1988	28 oct 1992
Maurice	20 déc 1988	6 mars 2001
Mauritanie	20 déc 1988	1 juil 1993
Mexique	16 févr 1989	11 avr 1990
Micronésie (États fédérés de)		6 juil 2004 a
Monaco	24 févr 1989	23 avr 1991
Mongolie		25 juin 2003 a
Monténégro		23 oct 2006 d
Mozambique		8 juin 1998 a
Myanmar		11 juin 1991 a
Namibie		6 mars 2009 a
Nauru		12 juil 2012 a
Népal		24 juil 1991 a
Nicaragua	20 déc 1988	4 mai 1990
Niger		10 nov 1992 a
Nigéria	1 mars 1989	1 nov 1989
Nioué		16 juil 2012 a
Norvège	20 déc 1988	14 nov 1994
Nouvelle-Zélande	18 déc 1989	16 déc 1998
Oman		15 mars 1991 a
Ouganda		20 août 1990 a
Ouzbékistan		24 août 1995 a
Pakistan	20 déc 1989	25 oct 1991
Palaos		14 août 2019 a
Panama	20 déc 1988	13 janv 1994
Paraguay	20 déc 1988	23 août 1990
Pays-Bas	18 janv 1989	8 sept 1993 A
Pérou	20 déc 1988	16 janv 1992
Philippines	20 déc 1988	7 juin 1996
Pologne	6 mars 1989	26 mai 1994
Portugal	13 déc 1989	3 déc 1991
Qatar		4 mai 1990 a
République arabe syrienne		3 sept 1991 a
République centrafricaine		15 oct 2001 a
République de Corée		28 déc 1998 a
République démocratique du Congo	20 déc 1988	28 oct 2005
République démocratique populaire laos		1 oct 2004 a
République de Moldova		15 févr 1995 a
République dominicaine		21 sept 1993 a
République populaire démocratique de Corée		19 mars 2007 a
République tchèque		30 déc 1993 d
République-Unie de Tanzanie	20 déc 1988	17 avr 1996
Roumanie		21 janv 1993 a
Royaume-Uni de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande du Nord	20 déc 1988	28 juin 1991
Rwanda		13 mai 2002 a
Sainte-Lucie		21 août 1995 a
Saint-Kitts-et-Nevis		19 avr 1995 a
Saint-Marin		10 oct 2000 a
Saint-Siège	20 déc 1988	25 janv 2012
Saint-Vincent-et-les Grenadines		17 mai 1994 a
Samoa		19 août 2005 a
Sao Tomé-et-Principe		20 juin 1996 a
Sénégal	20 déc 1988	27 nov 1989
Serbie		12 mars 2001 d
Seychelles		27 févr 1992 a
Sierra Leone	9 juin 1989	6 juin 1994
Singapour		23 oct 1997 a
Slovaquie		28 mai 1993 d
Slovénie		6 juil 1992 d
Soudan	30 janv 1989	19 nov 1993
Soudan du Sud		20 oct 2023 a
Sri Lanka		6 juin 1991 a
Suède	20 déc 1988	22 juil 1991
Suisse	16 nov 1989	14 sept 2005
Suriname	20 déc 1988	28 oct 1992
Tadjikistan		6 mai 1996 a
Tchad		9 juin 1995 a
Thaïlande		3 mai 2002 a
Timor-Leste		3 juin 2014 a
Togo	3 août 1989	1 août 1990
Tonga		29 avr 1996 a
Trinité-et-Tobago	7 déc 1989	17 févr 1995
Tunisie	19 déc 1989	20 sept 1990
Türkiye	20 déc 1988	2 avr 1996
Turkménistan		21 févr 1996 a
Ukraine	16 mars 1989	28 août 1991
Union européenne	8 juin 1989	31 déc 1990 c
Uruguay	19 déc 1989	10 mars 1995
Vanuatu		26 janv 2006 a
Venezuela	20 déc 1988	16 juil 1991
Viet Nam		4 nov 1997 a
Yémen	20 déc 1988	25 mars 1996
Zambie	9 févr 1989	28 mai 1993
Zimbabwe		30 juil 1993 a

Endnote

The German Democratic Republic signed and ratified the Convention on June 21, 1989, and February 21, 1990, respectively. The instrument of ratification was accompanied by the following declarations:

Requests for judicial assistance based on Article 7 shall be addressed to the German Democratic Republic through diplomatic channels in one of the official languages of the United Nations or in German, unless otherwise provided by mutual legal assistance agreements or when a direct communication procedure between judicial authorities has been agreed upon or decided jointly.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall have the authority to receive a request from another State to board or inspect a vessel suspected of engaging in illicit trafficking and to rule on such a request (Art. 17).
See also note 2 under "Germany" in the section "Historical Information" in the preliminary pages of this volume.

The former Yugoslavia signed and ratified the Convention on December 20, 1988, and January 3, 1991, respectively. See also note 1 under "Bosnia and Herzegovina," "Croatia," "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," "Former Yugoslavia," "Slovenia," and "Yugoslavia" in the section "Historical Information" in the preliminary pages of this volume.
On July 7, 1999, the Portuguese Government informed the Secretary-General that the Convention would apply to Macau. Subsequently, the Secretary-General received communications from the Chinese and Portuguese Governments regarding the status of Macau (see also note 3 under "China" and note 1 under "Portugal" in the section "Historical Information" in the preliminary pages of this volume). Upon resuming sovereignty over Macau, the Chinese Government notified the Secretary-General that the Convention would also apply to the Macau Special Administrative Region.
On June 6 and 10, 1997, the Secretary-General received communications from the Chinese and British Governments regarding the status of Hong Kong (see also note 2 under "China" and note 2 under "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" in the section "Historical Information" in the preliminary pages of this volume). Upon resuming sovereignty over Hong Kong, the Chinese Government notified the Secretary-General that the Convention would also apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Additionally, the notification from the Chinese Government included the following declaration :

The reservation made by the People's Republic of China regarding paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 32 of the Convention shall also apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

See note 1 under "Montenegro" in the "Historical Information" section of the preliminary pages of this volume.
See note 1 under "New Zealand" regarding Tokelau in the "Historical Information" section of the front matter of this volume.
The signature was affixed on behalf of the Kingdom in Europe, the Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba. The instrument of acceptance specifies that it concerns the Kingdom in Europe. From March 10, 1999, it applies to the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba with the following reservation: "The Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands can accept the provisions of paragraphs 6, 7, and 8 of Article 3 only insofar as the obligations set forth in these provisions are in accordance with the criminal legislation of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba and the criminal policy applied by the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba." See also note 2 under "Netherlands" in the section "Historical Information" regarding the Netherlands Antilles in the preliminary pages of this volume.
Czechoslovakia signed and ratified the Convention on December 7, 1989, and June 4, 1991, respectively. See also note 1 under "Czech Republic" and "Slovakia" in the section "Historical Information" in the preliminary pages of this volume.
On December 2, 1993, the Government of the United Kingdom notified the Secretary-General that the Convention had been extended to the Isle of Man with the following reservation :

Article 7, paragraph 18: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will only consider granting the immunity referred to in paragraph 18 of Article 7 with respect to the Isle of Man if it is expressly requested by the person to whom it would apply or by the designated authority, in accordance with paragraph 8 of the same article, by the requested party. The judicial authorities of the Isle of Man will refuse immunity if they deem that granting it would be contrary to the public interest.
Subsequently, on February 8, 1995, the Government of the United Kingdom notified the Secretary-General that the Convention would apply to the following territories: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos Islands. With respect to these territories, the granting of immunity provided for in paragraph 18 of Article 7 of the Convention will only be considered if expressly requested by the person seeking to benefit from it or by the designated authority of the requested party, in accordance with paragraph 8 of Article 7. Requests for immunity will not be granted if the judicial authorities of the concerned territory deem that granting it would be contrary to the public interest.
On May 15 and July 7, 1997, respectively, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland notified the Secretary-General that the Convention was extended to Hong Kong (see also note 3 of this chapter) and to the Bailiwick of Jersey. The application of the Convention to the Bailiwick of Jersey is subject to the following reservations :

Article 7, paragraph 1: Jersey will consider granting the immunity provided for in paragraph 18 of Article 7 only when expressly requested by the person seeking to benefit from it or by the designated authority of the requested party, in accordance with paragraph 8 of Article 7. Immunity requests will not be granted if the judicial authorities of the concerned territory deem that granting it would be contrary to the public interest.

On 3 April 2002, the Government of the United Kingdom informed the Secretary-General that the Convention would apply to Guernsey, with the following reservation :

Article 7, paragraph 18 (Reservation): The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with respect to Guernsey, will consider granting the immunity provided for in paragraph 18 of Article 7 only when expressly requested by the person seeking to benefit from it or by the designated authority of the requested party, in accordance with paragraph 8 of Article 7. Immunity requests will not be granted if the judicial authorities of Guernsey deem that granting it would be contrary to the public interest.

On 2 July 2014, the Government of the United Kingdom notified the Secretary-General that the Convention had been extended to the territory of Gibraltar with the following reservation :

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland wishes the ratification of the Convention by the United Kingdom to be extended to the territory of Gibraltar, for whose international relations the United Kingdom is responsible. The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland understands that the extension of the Convention to the territory of Gibraltar will take effect on the date of deposit of this notification with the depositary.
Reservation: The Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will only consider granting immunity under Article 7, paragraph 18, in respect of Gibraltar when specifically requested by the person to whom immunity would be granted or by the authority, designated under Article 7, paragraph 8, of the Party for whom assistance is sought. A request for immunity will not be granted if the judicial authorities of Gibraltar consider it contrary to the public interest.

On 20 October 2015, the Government of Ukraine made a communication, the text of which is contained in depositary notification C.N.605.2015.TREATIES-VI.19 of 16 December 2015.
On 16 November 2009, the Secretary-General received a notification from the Government of Uzbekistan that requests for mutual legal assistance will be sent to the Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan, which will transmit them to the competent authorities of the country through diplomatic channels, as the point of contact for all requests relating to mutual legal assistance. Communications will be made in one of the official languages of the United Nations or in Russian, unless otherwise agreed by the parties concerned. See also note 1 under “Uzbekistan” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
The Government of Brazil notified on 1 June 1994 that the Convention would apply to the territory of the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago. See also note 3 under “Brazil” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
On 1 October 2015, the Government of Norway informed the Secretary-General that the Government of Norway had notified other States Parties that the Convention would apply to Svalbard. This notification was made under Article 22, paragraph 2, of the Convention, providing for the application of the Convention to all territories under the jurisdiction of a State Party.
France had signed and ratified the Convention on 19 December 1988 and 13 January 1992, respectively. See also note 1 under “France” in the “Historical Information” section of the front matter of this volume.
Requests for mutual legal assistance under Article 7 of the Convention should be addressed to the Department of Justice and Public Safety of the United States Government through diplomatic channels or through the procedure agreed upon by the parties for the direct transmission of requests. The United States Government specified in its notification of 25 July 1995 that any requests for mutual legal assistance would be addressed to the United States Department of Justice. The Department of Justice and Public Safety has the authority to receive and transmit requests. See also note 2 under “United States of America” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
On 15 November 2011, the Government informed the Secretary-General that the Convention would apply to the Macao Special Administrative Region, whose competent authorities are the Macao Legal Affairs Bureau and the Macao Judicial Police Bureau. See also note 2 under “China” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
On 12 June 2006, the Government informed the Secretary-General that the Convention would also be extended to the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, in accordance with the provisions of article 22, paragraph 2, of the Convention. See also note 3 under “China” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
On 5 May 2020, the Government of Switzerland notified the Secretary-General that it had decided to extend the application of the Convention to the Overseas Territory of Geneva. See also note 4 under “Switzerland” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
The Republic of Gabon signed the Convention on 26 June 1998 and ratified the instrument on 5 March 2002. See also note 2 under “Gabon” in the “Historical Information” section of the front matter of this volume.
On 25 March 2002, the Government of Canada notified the Secretary-General that it had decided to extend the application of the Convention to Prince Edward Island. See also note 4 under “Canada” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
On 22 January 2010, the Government of the Central African Republic informed the Secretary-General that the Convention would be extended to the Ouaka Prefecture. See also note 5 under “Central African Republic” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
The Dominican Republic signed and ratified the Convention on 14 January 1991 and 1 January 1993, respectively. See also note 1 under “Dominican Republic” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.