Depositary
STATUS AS AT : 06-12-2024 04:15:29 EDT
CHAPTER VI
NARCOTIC DRUGS AND PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES
8. a Convention for limiting the Manufacture and regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs
Geneva, 13 July 1931
Entry into force
:
9 July 1933, in accordance with article 30.
Registration :
9 July 1933, No. 3219 1
Text : Certified true copy
League of Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 139, p. 303.
Note :
In accordance with its article 44 (1), the provisions of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, as amended by the Protocol amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 of 8 August 1975, as between the parties thereto, terminates and replaces the provisions of the above Convention. See chapter VI.18.

Ratifications or definitive accessions

Afghanistan

(June 21st, 1935 a)

Albania

(October 9th, 1937 a)

United States of America

(April 28th, 1932)

1. The Government of the United States of America reserves the right to impose, for purpose of internal control and control of import into, and export from, territory under its jurisdiction, of opium, coca leaves, all of their derivatives and similar substances produced by synthetic process, measures stricter than the provisions of the Convention.

2. The Government of the United States of America reserves the right to impose, for purposes of controlling transit through its territories of raw opium, coca leaves, all of their derivatives and similar substances produced by synthetic process, measures by which the production of an import permit issued by the country of destination may be made a condition precedent to the granting of permission for transit through its territory.

3. The Government of the United States of America finds it impracticable to undertake to send statistics of import and export to the Permanent Central Opium Board short of 60 days after the close of the three-month period to which such statistics refer.

4. The Government of the United States of America finds it impracticable to undertake to state separately amounts of drugs purchased or imported for Government purposes.

5. Plenipotentiaries of the United States of America formally declare that the signing of the Convention for limiting the Manufacture and Regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs by them on the part of the United States of America on this date is not to be construed to mean that the Government of the United States of America recognises a régime or entity which signs or accedes to the Convention as the Government of a country when that régime or entity is not recognised by the Government of the United States of America as the Government of that country.

6. The plenipotentiaries of the United States of America further declare that the participation of the United States of America in the Convention for limiting the Manufacture and Regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs, signed on this date, does not involve any contractual obligation on the part of the United States of America to a country represented by a régime or entity which the Government of the United States of America does not recognise as the Government of that country until such country has a government recognised by the Government of the United States of America.

Saudi Arabia

(August 15th, 1936)

Argentina

(April 18th, 1946)

Austria

(July 3rd, 1934)

Belgium

(April 10th, 1933)

This ratification does not include the Belgian Congo, nor the Territory of Ruanda-Urundi under Belgian mandate.

Belgian Congo and Mandated Territory of Ruanda-Urundi

(December 17th, 1941 a)

Brazil

(April 5th, 1933)

Great Britain and Northern Ireland2,3

(April 1st, 1933)

His Majesty does not assume any obligation in respect of any of his Colonies, Protectorates and Overseas Territories or territories under suzerainty or under mandate exercised by his Government in the United Kingdom.

British Honduras, British Solomon Islands Protectorate, Ceylon, Cyprus, Falkland Islands and Dependencies, Gambia (Colony and Protectorate), Gibraltar, Gold Coast [(a) Colony, (b) Ashanti, (c) Northern Territories, (d) Togoland under British Mandate], Hong-Kong, Kenya (Colony and Protectorate), Leeward Islands (Antigua, Dominica, Montserrat, St. Christopher and Nevis, Virgin Islands), Mauritius, Nigeria [(a) Colony, (b) Protectorate, (c) Cameroons under British Mandate], North Borneo (State of), Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland Protectorate, Sarawak, Seychelles, Sierra Leone (Colony and Protectorate), Somaliland Protectorate, Straits Settlements, Tanganyika Territory, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda Protectorate, Zanzibar Protectorate

(May 18th, 1936 a)

Southern Rhodesia

(July 14th, 1937 a)

Barbados, Bermuda, British Guiana, Fiji, Malay States [(a) Federated Malay States: Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor; (b) Unfederated Malay States: Kedah, Perlis and Brunei], Palestine (excluding Trans-Jordan), St. Helena and Ascension, Trans-Jordan, Windward Islands (Grenada, St. Vincent), Burma

(August 24th, 1938 a)

Newfoundland

(June 28th, 1937 a)

Canada

(October 17th, 1932)

Australia

(January 24th, 1934 a)

This accession applies to Papua, Norfolk Island and the mandated territories of New Guinea and Nauru .

New Zealand

(June 17th, 1935 a)

Union of South Africa

(January 4th, 1938 a)

Ireland

(April 11th, 1933 a)

India

(November 14th, 1932)

Bulgaria

(March 20th, 1933 a)

Chile

(March 31st, 1933)

China3,4,5

(January 10th, 1934 a)

Colombia

(January 29th, 1934 a)

Costa Rica

(April 5th, 1933)

Cuba

(April 4th, 1933)

Czechoslovakia6

(April 12th, 1933)

Denmark

(June 5th, 1936)

Dominican Republic

(April 8th, 1933)

Ecuador

(April 13th, 1935 a)

Egypt

(April 10th, 1933)

Estonia

(July 5th, 1935 a)

Finland

(September 25th, 1936 a)

France

(April 10th, 1933)

The French Government makes every reservation, with regard to the Colonies, Protectorates and mandated Territories under its authority, as to the possibility of regularly producing the quarterly statistics referred to in Article 13 within the strict time-limit laid down.

Germany

(April 10th, 1933)

Greece

(December 27th, 1934)

Guatemala

(May 1st, 1933)

Haiti

(May 4th, 1933 a)

Honduras

(September 21st, 1934 a)

Hungary

(April 10th, 1933 a)

Iran

(September 28th, 1932)

Iraq

(May 30th, 1934 a)

Italy

(March 21st, 1933)

Japan7

(June 3rd, 1935)

The Japanese Government declare that, in view of the necessity of close co-operation between the High Contracting Parties in order to carry out most effectively the provisions of the Convention for limiting the Manufacture and regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs, signed at Geneva on July 13th, 1931, they understand that the present position of Japan, regardless of whether she be a Member of the League of Nations or not, is to be maintained in the matter of the composition of the organs and the appointment of the members thereof mentioned in the said Convention.

Latvia

(August 3rd, 1937 a)

Liechtenstein8

Lithuania

(April 10th, 1933)

Luxembourg

(May 30th, 1936)

Mexico

(March 13th, 1933)

The Government of the United States of Mexico reserves the right to impose in its territory--as it had already done--measures more severe than those laid down by the Conven tion itself, for the restriction of the cultivation or the prepara tion, use, possession, importation, exportation and consumption of the drugs to which the present Convention refers.

Monaco

(February 16th, 1933)

The Netherlands

(including the Netherlands Indies , Surinam and Curaçao )

(May 22nd, 1933)

Nicaragua

(March 16th, 1932 a)

Norway

(September 12th, 1934 a)

Panama

(April 15th, 1935)

Paraguay

(June 25th, 1941)

Peru

(May 20th, 1932 a)

Poland

(April 11th, 1933)

Portugal5

(June 17th, 1932)

The Portuguese Government makes every reservation with regard to its colonies as to the possibility of regularly producing the quarterly statistics referred to in article 13 within the strict time-limit laid down.

Romania

(April 11th, 1933)

Salvador

(April 7th, 1933 a)

(a) The Republic of Salvador does not agree to the provisions of Article 26, on the ground that there is no reason why the High Contracting Parties should be given the option of not applying the Convention to their colonies, protectorates, and overseas mandated territories.

(b) The Republic of Salvador states that it disagrees with the reservations embodied in Nos. 5 and 6 of the Declar ations made by the plenipotentiaries of the United States of America regarding Governments not recognised by the Government of that country; in its opinion, those reservations constitute an infringement of the national sovereignty of Salvador, whose present Government, though not as yet recognised by the United States Government, has been recognised by the majority of the civilised countries of the world. Their recognition is due to their conviction that that Government is a perfectly constitutional one and affords a full and complete guarantee of the performance of its international duties, inasmuch as it enjoys the unanimous, decided and effective support of all the inhabitants of the Republic, whether citizens of the country or foreigners resident therein.

As it respects the internal régimes of other nations, the Republic of Salvador considers that the Convention in question, being of a strictly hygienic and humanitarian character, does not offer a suitable occasion to formulate such political reservations as have called forth this comment.

San Marino

(June 12th, 1933)

Spain

(April 7th, 1933)

Sudan

(August 25th, 1932 a)

Sweden

(August 12th, 1932)

Switzerland8

(April 10th, 1933)

Thailand

(February 22nd, 1934)

As its harmful-habit-forming drugs law goes beyond the provisions of the Geneva Convention and the present Convention on certain points, the Thai Government reserves the right to apply its existing law.

Turkey

(April 3rd, 1933 a)

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

(October 31st, 1935 a)

Uruguay

(April 7th, 1933)

Venezuela

(November 15th, 1933)

Signatures not yet perfected by ratification

Bolivia

Liberia

Actions subsequent to the assumption of depositary functions by the Secretary-General of the United Nations
Participant 9
Ratification, Succession(d)
Bahamas
 13 Aug 1975
Czech Republic 6
30 Dec 1993 d
Fiji
  1 Nov 1971 d
Papua New Guinea
 28 Oct 1980 d
Slovakia 6
28 May 1993 d
Zimbabwe
  1 Dec 1998 d
End Note
1See League of Nations,  Treaty Series , vol. 139, p. 301.
2On 3 October 1983, the Secretary-General received from the Government of Argentina the following objection:

[The Government of Argentina makes a] formal objection to the [declaration] of territorial extension made by the United Kingdom with regard to the Malvinas Islands and (dependencies), which that country is illegally occupying and refers to as the "Falkland Islands".

The Argentine Republic rejects and considers null and void the [said declaration] of territorial extension.

With reference to the above-mentioned objection the Secretary-General received, on 28 February 1985, from the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland the following declaration:

"The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have no doubt as to their right, by notification to the Depositary under the relevant provisions of the above-mentioned Convention, to extend the application of the Convention in question to the Falkland Islands or to the Falkland Islands  Dependencies, as the case may be.

For this reason alone, the Government of the United Kingdom are unable to regard the Argentine [communication] under reference as having any legal effect."
3See note 2 under “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” regarding Hong Kong in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
4See note concerning signatures, ratifications, accessions, etc. on behalf of China (note 1 under “China” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume).
5See note 1 under “Portugal” regarding Macao in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
6See note 1 under “Czech Republic” and note 1 under “Slovakia” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
7Before ratifying the Convention with the declaration here set out, the Japanese Government consulted the Contracting Parties, through the intermediary of the Secretary-General. A summary of the correspondence which took place was published in the League of Nations  Official Journal for September 1935 (16th Year, No. 9).
8The Swiss Federal Political Department, by a letter dated July 15th, 1936, informed the Secretariat of the following:

"Under the terms of the arrangements concluded between the Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Swiss Government in 1929 and 1935, in application of the Customs Union Treaty concluded between these two countries on March 29th, 1923, the Swiss legislation on narcotic drugs, including all the measures taken by the Federal authorities to give effect to the different international Conventions on dangerous drugs, will be applicable to the territory of the Principality in the same way as to the territory of the Confederation, as long as the said Treaty remains in force.  The Principality of Liechtenstein will accordingly participate, so long as the said Treaty remains in force, in the international Conventions which have been or may hereafter be concluded in the matter of narcotic drugs, it being neither necessary nor advisable for that country to accede to them separately."
9In a notification received on 21 February 1974, the Government of the German Democratic Republic stated that the German Democratic Republic had declared the reapplication of the Conventions as from 7 April 1958.
In this connection, the Secretary-General received on 16 March 1976, the following communication from the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany:
With reference to the communication by the German Democratic Republic of 31 January 1974 concerning the application, as from 7 April 1958, of the Convention for Limiting the Manufacture and Regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs of 13 July 1931, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany declares that in the relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic this declaration has no retroactive effect beyond 21 June 1973.
Subsequently, in a communication received on 17 June 1976, the Government of the German Democratic Republic declared:
"The Government of the German Democratic Republic takes the view that in accordance with the applicable rules of international law and the international practice of States the regulations on the re application of agreements concluded under international law are an internal affair of the successor State concerned.  Accordingly, the German Democratic Republic was entitled to determine the date of reapplication of the Convention for Limiting the Manufacture and Regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs, July 13th, 1931 to which it established its status as a party by way of succession."
See also note 2 under “Germany” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.
chevron-down chevron-up