Embassy of the United States

UNVIE represents the United States at the main United Nations organization dealing with international narcotics and criminal activities on a worldwide basis - the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). UNODC's work complements the U.S.'s own efforts to control international trafficking in narcotics, combat transnational organized crime, and curb the financing of
international terrorism.

UNODC in its present form is the product of a fusion of the U.N. Drug Control Program with the Center for International Crime Prevention, including the Terrorism Prevention Branch and Global Programs against money laundering, corruption, organized crime, and trafficking in persons.

UNODC is custodian of the three international counter-narcotics conventions, the 12 anti-terrorism conventions, the convention on transnational organized crime, and the corruption convention (not yet entered into force). These furnish the basis for its acting as a major provider of research and technical assistance, with some 500 employees distributed between headquarters and 22 field offices. About 90% of its $60m yearly budget comes from donor governments' voluntary contributions.

Both the. UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Narcotics Control Board, based in Vienna, support U.S. drug control objectives. The UN drug control conventions (the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 UN Convention Against the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) provide the framework for international drug control, including prohibiting cultivation of opium, cocaine, and marijuana; targeting drug traffickers and their proceeds; promoting national campaigns on drug abuse prevention and treatment; and regulating precursor chemicals used in the production of illicit drugs.

The U.S. supports UNODC's counter narcotics efforts by supporting programs which promote alternatives to illicit coca and poppy cultivation, as well as programs that provide improvements in rural infrastructures, assistance with eradication, training in supply interdiction and law enforcement, prevention and treatment of drug addiction, and assistance with national legislation.

Governing bodies
The 53-member UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), of which the United
States has been a member since 1946, is the central policy­making body
within the UN system for dealing with drug-related matters.

The UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (Crime Commission) is the principal UN policy-making body on criminal justice issues. The 40-member Commission convenes annually in the UN Office in Vienna. Many decisions from these annual sessions are forwarded to the UN Economic and Social Council (or occasionally to the UN General Assembly) for endorsement.

Transnational organized crime
The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime entered into force on 29 September 2003. Pursuant to article 32 of the Convention, a Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention was established to improve the capacity of States Parties to combat transnational organized crime and to promote and review the implementation of this Convention.

International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)
The 13-member International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is an independent quasi-judicial control body which has a mandate to promote government compliance with the provisions of the international drug control treaties and to assist governments in this effort. The Board meets periodically to monitor the implementation of the drug control treaties and the international movement of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

• Visit the UNODC website.