Fight against drugs: transmission of samples of illegal narcotic substances. Initiative Sweden

PURPOSE : to present the Initiative of the Kingdom of Sweden with a view to the adoption of a Council Decision on the transmission of samples of illegal narcotic substances. CONTENT : the possibility of legally transmitting samples of seized illegal narcotic substances between the authorities of the Member States for the purpose of prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of criminal offences would increase the effectiveness of the fight against drugs. At present no legally binding rules exist regulating the legal transmission of seized illegal narcotic substance samples between the authorities of the Member States. Therefore, it is proposed that a system should be created at European Union level to allow for the legal transmission of such samples. The system should apply to all forms of transmission of samples of seized illegal narcotic substances between Member States. Transmission should be based on agreement between the sending and the receiving Member State, together with information to the other Member States whose territory is involved. Moreover, national contact points shall be set up for the purposes of implementing this Decision. These bodies shall be the sole bodies competent for authorising the transmission of samples under this Decision. The national contact point of the Member State intending to send a sample and the national contact point of the Member State intended to receive a sample shall agree on the method of transport. For this purpose they shall make use of the Sample Transmission Form set out in the Annex. Lastly, the Member States sending and receiving the sample shall decided on the means of transport. It is necessary that the means of transport be sufficiently secure.�