DUSHANBE, February 17, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- Director of the Drug Control Agency (DCA) under the President of Tajikistan, Rustam Nazarov, heading a Tajik delegation attended attending the Third Ministerial Conference of the Paris Pact Partners that took place at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna on February 16, the Tajik MFA information department reports.

The Paris Pact partners reportedly discussed how best to combat the trafficking of opium and heroin originating in Afghanistan.

The meeting brought together ministers and representatives from more than 55 countries as well as from international organizations and regional partners.  The participants discussed problems related to the trafficking of opiates from Afghanistan and looked at ways to block financial flows from the illicit drug trade, prevent diversion of precursor chemicals needed to produce heroin, reduce drug abuse and how regional initiatives can help combat drugs from Afghanistan.

Speaking at the meeting, Tajik drug control chief explained Tajik government’s position on seeking solution to Afghan problems.  He drew attention of the meeting participants to Tajik president’s initiative to create the anti-drug security belt around Afghanistan and establish cooperation between the interested parties in combating drug trafficking.

Besides, Rustam Nazarov also reported on Tajikistan’s contribution to international community’s fight against drug trafficking and noted that Tajikistan was ready to continue an active participation in international efforts to combat drug trafficking, the source said.

The Paris Pact Initiative (PPI) is an international partnership of more than 55 countries and international organizations which agreed at the Ministerial Conference on Drug Routes from Central Asia to Europe held in Paris in 2003, to the principle of common and shared responsibility in the fight against opium and heroin trafficking from Afghanistan.  The second Ministerial Conference was held in Moscow in 2006. The Paris Pact Initiative is supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The Paris Pact Initiative consists of three main components: a two-pronged Consultative Mechanism that facilitates periodical consultations at the expert and policy level between partners, in order to jointly discuss, identify and set in motion concrete measures to stem the increasing level of opiates trafficked from Afghanistan; the Automated Donor Assistance Mechanism (ADAM), an internet-based tool which provides Paris Pact partners with essential information to coordinate counter narcotics technical assistance in countries along the main opium trafficking routes from Afghanistan; and to further strengthen counter narcotics data collection and analytical capacity, a network of 10 National Strategic Analysts cover key Paris Pact partner countries in their work, such as the Islamic Republics of Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, the Central Asian Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the Russian Federation, Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.