4.6.2014

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 165/7

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AGREEMENT

between the European Union and the Russian Federation on drug precursors

THE EUROPEAN UNION

on the one part, and

THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION,

on the other part,

hereinafter referred to as the ‘The Parties’,

WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK of the United Nations Convention of 1988 against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, hereinafter referred to as the ‘1988 Convention’;

DETERMINED to prevent and to combat the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances by preventing the diversion from the legitimate trade of substances frequently used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (hereinafter referred to as the ‘precursors’);

TAKING into account the overall legal framework between the Russian Federation and the European Union;

NOTING that international trade may be used for the diversion of such precursors;

CONVINCED of the necessity to conclude and to implement agreements between the Parties concerned, with the purpose of establishing wide cooperation, in particular pertaining to export and import controls;

RECOGNISING that precursors are also mainly and widely used for legitimate purposes and that international trade must not be hindered by excessive monitoring procedures.

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Scope of the Agreement

1.   This Agreement sets out measures to strengthen cooperation between the Parties to prevent the diversion from the legitimate trade of precursors, without prejudice to the legitimate trade in these precursors.

2.   The Parties shall assist each other, as set out in this Agreement, in particular by:

—	monitoring the trade between the Parties in the precursors with the aim of preventing their use for illicit purposes;

—	providing mutual assistance for the purpose of prevention of diversion of such precursors.

3.   The measures referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall apply to the precursors listed in Annex I of this Agreement (hereinafter referred to as ‘scheduled precursors’).

Article 2

Implementation measures

1.   The Parties shall inform each other in writing about their respective competent authorities. These authorities shall communicate directly with one another for the purposes of this Agreement.

2.   The Parties shall inform each other about their respective legal provisions and other measures applied to implement this Agreement.

Article 3

Trade monitoring

1.   The competent authorities of the Parties shall inform each other on their own initiative whenever they have reasonable grounds to believe that scheduled precursors in legitimate trade between the Parties may be diverted to the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.

2.   With regard to the scheduled precursors the competent authorities of the exporting Party shall forward a pre-export notification containing the information referred to in Article 12 (10) point a) of the 1988 Convention to the competent authorities of the importing Party.

The reply in writing by the competent authorities of the importing Party shall be provided through technical means of communication within 21 days after the receipt of the message from the competent authorities of the exporting Party. The absence of a reply within this period shall be considered as non-objection to sending the shipment. Any objection shall be notified in writing through technical means of communication to the competent authorities of the exporting Party within this period after the receiptof the pre-export notification giving the reasons for refusal.

Article 4

Mutual assistance

1.   The Parties shall within the scope of this agreement provide each other mutual assistance through exchange of information referred to in Article 12 (10) point a) of the 1988 Convention to prevent the diversion of scheduled precursors to the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances. They shall, in accordance with the legislation of the Parties, take appropriate steps to prevent diversion.

2.   The Parties shall also provide each other upon written request or at their own initiative with mutual assistance if there are reasons to believe that other relevant information is of interest to the other Party.

3.   The request shall contain information about the following:

—	aim and foundation of the request;

—	time of the expected execution of the request;

—	other information that may be used for the execution of the request.

4.   The request directed in writing on the official letter head of the competent authorities of the requesting Party shall be accompanied by a translation in one of the official languages of the requested Party and shall be signed by duly authorised persons of the competent authorities of the requesting Party.

5.   The competent authorities of the requested Party shall take all necessary measures for the complete execution of the request as promptly as possible.

6.   Requests for assistance shall be executed in accordance with the legislation of the requested Party.

7.   The competent authorities of the requested Party should as promptly as possible inform the competent authorities of the requesting Party about the circumstances that prevent or delay the execution of the request.

If the competent authorities of the requesting Party state that there is no more necessity to complete the request, they shall as promptly as possible inform the competent authorities of the requested Party accordingly.

8.   The Parties may cooperate with each other to minimise the risk of illicit shipments of scheduled precursors brought into or out of the territory of the Russian Federation and the customs territory of the European Union.

9.   Assistance provided under this Article shall not prejudice the rules governing mutual assistance in criminal matters and extradition, nor shall it apply to information obtained under powers exercised at the request of a judicial authority, except where communication of such information is authorised by that authority.

Article 5

Confidentiality and data protection

1.   The Parties shall take all measures to ensure confidentiality of the received information. If it is impossible to ensure confidentiality of the requested information, the Party requesting the information shall inform the other Party accordingly which shall decide whether to provide the information upon these conditions.

2.   Information obtained under this Agreement, including personal data, shall be used solely for the purposes of this Agreement and must not be kept longer than necessary for the purposes for which it is transferred pursuant to this Agreement.

3.   By derogation to paragraph 2, the use of information, including personal data, for further purposes by the Authorities or public bodies of the Party which received the information shall only be authorized after prior express and written approval of the authority of the Party which transmitted the information in accordance with the legislation of that Party. Such use shall then be subject to any conditions established by that authority.

4.   The Parties may in proceedings instituted for failure to comply with legislation on scheduled precursors use as evidence information obtained and documents consulted in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement following prior written consent of the competent authorities of the requested Party which provided the data.

5.   In case personal data are exchanged, their processing shall comply with the principles set out in Annex II which are mandatory for the Parties to the Agreement.

Article 6

Exceptions to the obligation to provide mutual assistance

1.   Provision of assistance may be refused or may be made subject to certain conditions or requirements, in cases where a Party is of the opinion that assistance under this Agreement would be likely to prejudice the sovereignty, the security, the public policy or other essential interests of the Russian Federation or that of a Member State of the European Union which has been requested to provide assistance under this Agreement.

2.   For the cases referred to in this Article, the decision of the competent authorities of the requested Party and the reasons therefore must be communicated to the competent authorities of the requesting Party as promptly as possible.

Article 7

Cooperation regarding precursors not listed in Annex I

1.   The Parties may, on a voluntary basis, exchange information about precursors not listed in Annex I of this Agreement (hereinafter referred to as ‘non-scheduled precursors’).

2.   In the case of paragraph 1 of this Article, the provisions of Article 4 (2) — (9) shall apply.

3.   The Parties may exchange their available lists of non-scheduled precursors.

Article 8

Technical and scientific cooperation

The Parties shall cooperate in the identification of new diversion methods as well as appropriate countermeasures, including technical cooperation and in particular, training and exchange programmes for the officials concerned, to strengthen administrative and enforcement structures in this field and to promote cooperation with trade and industry.

Article 9

Joint Follow-Up Expert Group

1.   According to this Agreement, a Joint Follow-Up Expert Group is hereby established which consists of the representatives of competent authorities of the Parties (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Joint Follow-Up Expert Group’.)

2.   The Joint Follow-Up Expert Group shall make recommendations by consensus.

3.   The Joint Follow-Up Expert Group shall meet, with the date, place and programme being fixed by consensus.

4.   The Joint Follow-Up Expert Group shall administer this Agreement and ensure its proper implementation. For this purpose:

—	It shall address questions relating to the implementation of the Agreement;

—	It shall study and recommend technical cooperation measures referred to in Article 8;

—	It shall study and recommend other possible forms of cooperation;

—	It shall consider other issues of the Parties about the implementation of this Agreement.

5.   The Joint Follow-Up Expert Group may recommend amendments to this Agreement to the Parties.

Article 10

Obligations under other international agreements

1.   Unless otherwise provided by this Agreement, its provisions shall not affect the obligations of the Parties under any other international agreement.

2.   The exchange of secret information is regulated by the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the European Union on the protection of classified information (1).

3.   The provisions of this Agreement shall take precedence over the provisions of any bilateral or multilateral international agreement covering drug precursors between the Russian Federation and the EU Member States.

4.   The Parties shall inform each other about the conclusion of international agreements on the aforementioned issues with other countries.

5.   This Agreement is to be seen and interpreted in the context of the overall legal framework in force between the EU and the Russian Federation, including in respect of any obligation contained therein.

Article 11

Entry into force

This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date of the reception of the last written notification of the Parties about completion of their internal procedures required for its entry into force.

Article 12

Duration, denunciation and amendments

1.   This Agreement shall be concluded for five years at the end of which it is automatically/tacitly renewed for further successive five year periods until one of the Parties, no later than 6 months prior to the termination of the relevant 5 year period notifies the other Party in writing of its intention to terminate this present agreement.

2.   This Agreement may be amended by mutual consent of the Parties.

Article 13

Costs

Each Party shall bear the costs it incurs arising from the measures to implement this Agreement.

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(1)  OJ L 155, 22.6.2010, p. 57.

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