Article 32
SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE CARRIAGE OF DRUGS IN FIRST-AID KITS OF SHIPS OR AIRCRAFT ENGAGED IN INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC
Paragraph I
1. The international carriage by ships or aircraft of such limited amounts of drugs as may be needed during their journey or voyage for first-aid purposes or emergency cases shall not be considered to be import, export or passage through a country within the meaning of this Convention.)
Commentary
1. Even under the narcotics regime preceding the Single Convention it was already the general practice of Governments to exempt narcotic drugs carried for use in emergency cases in first-aid kits of ships engaged in inter national traffic, from the application of chapter V of the 1925 Convention containing rules concerning the import, export and transit of narcotic drugs, and in particular, from the requirement of a special Government authorization for each import and export of those drugs. This practice may perhaps not have been fully compatible with the letter of the treaty, but it was generally recognized that it would not have made much sense, and was also not necessary for purposes of narcotics control to require the countries of departure and destination of a vessel to issue separate authorizations for the carriage of those drugs for each voyage and for each return trip. The need for such documents for each voyage in either direction would seriously hamper maritime shipping. The difficulties would be much greater if the system of import and export authorizations (the so-called "import certificate and export authorization system")2 had to be applied to the carriage of drugs in first-aid kits of aircraft engaged in international traffic. Such an airplane may on a single day make one or more flights from its country of origin to its country of destination and back, and may in the course of its voyages in both directions cross other countries, and even make landings in some of them.
2. Under the terms of the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation,
3 the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization provided prior to
the entry into force of the Single Convention, and still provides in its
"International Standards and Recommended Practices", that each airplane should
be equipped with an accessible and adequate first-aid kit including a narcotic
drug. 4 When the implementation of this recommended practice without application
of the import certificate and export authorization system required by chapter V
of the 1925 Convention created some difficulties in a few countries, the
International Civil Aviation Organization approached the Economic and Social
Council of the United Nations to clarify the matter of the applicability of this
system to narcotic drugs carried in first-aid kits of aircraft engaged in
international traffic. s In the course of this procedure initiated by the Civil
Aviation Organization the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations
Secretariat ruled as follows
"In formulating its views the Legal Office proceeded on the assumption that the
problem of special interest to the Commissions and the Council 7 was whether the
provisions of chapter V of the 1925 Convention, i.e. the provisions governing
the import certificate and export authorization system, would be applicable to
narcotic drugs carried under appropriate safeguards aboard aircraft engaged in
international flight for the sole purpose of being readily available to be
administered under suitable conditions to persons aboard aircraft. It was also
assumed that such drugs would not be removed from the aircraft nor cross the
customs stations at points of transit or destination of the aircraft, other than
those in the country of registration of the aircraft concerned.
"It is the opinion of the Legal Office that the carriage of narcotic drugs in
the conditions described above would not constitute international trade in
narcotics as this expression is used in the 1925 Convention. The measures of
control envisaged in chapter V of the Convention would not therefore be
applicable to it and the States Parties to the Convention would not be required
to submit narcotics so carried in airplanes to the import certificate and export
authorization system established by this chapter". 8
3. The Council, in its resolution 770 E (XXX) adopted on the recommendation of the Commission, s called the attention of Governments to the opinion of the Legal Office, and recommended that they should accordingly not subject to the import certificate and export authorization system of chapter V of the 1925 Convention drugs carried in first-aid kits of aircraft engaged in international traffic, provided that the conditions of the legal opinion were complied with. The reference in the resolution to this opinion also stated that this exemption from the application of chapter V of the 1925 Convention would not be affected if the drugs were removed from the aircraft at stopovers for a short period, locked in bonded storage facilities of the operator concerned, and in any case remained under the control of the aircraft commander. The Council resolution also recorded the United Nations Secretariat's legal opinion that the drugs must in any event not cross the customs lines at points of transit or destination other than those of the country of registration of the aircraft concerned, 10 either because they were not removed from the aircraft or because they were removed only under the conditions just mentioned. 11
4. This practice of excluding from the application of chapter V of the 1925 Convention narcotic drugs carried in first-aid kits of ships and aircraft forms the background of article 32. The Commission, in preparing article 42 bis of the Third Draft of the Single Convention, 12 and the Plenipotentiary Conference, in adopting the corresponding article 32 of the Single Convention, wished to transform into an express provision of treaty law what had already been the practice of States without explicit authorization under the narcotics treaties prior to the Single Convention. 13
5. But while the earlier practice exempted the international movements of
drugs in first-aid kits of ships and aircraft engaged in international traffic
only from the application of chapter V of the 1925 Convention, i.e. only from
the "import certificate and export authorization system" 2 and from the rules of
that chapter concerning transit, but left them subject to other provisions of
the narcotics treaties preceding the Single Convention, 14 paragraph 1 of
article 32 of the Single Convention deprives these movements of the character of
"import", "export" and "passage (transit) through a country" as those terms were
understood in the treaty. 15 It thus not only frees such movements from the
provisions of article 31 requiring the import certificate and export
authorization system and imposing certain rules governing transitan exemption
which corresponds in substance to chapter V of the 1925 Convention-but from all
provisions of the Single Convention relating to "import", "export" or "transit".
16 The authors of the Single Convention therefore found it necessary to provide
for certain specific measures which are intended to prevent the improper use and
diversion into illicit channels of drugs in the first-aid kits involved, and
which are laid down in paragraphs 2 and 3 of article 32.
6. The exemptions granted by paragraph 1, like the related practices of shipping
and air transportation engaged in international traffic prior to the coming into
force of the Single Convention and also like Council resolution 770 E (XXX),
were guided by the desire to ensure adequate narcotics control without unduly
hampering international traffic by water or air.
7. The legal opinion to which the Council's resolution refers and which has
been quoted above took into account both of these needs of the family of
nations. It refers, however, only to first-aid kits of aircraft, and not to
those
of ships. Moreover, neither the Council nor the Commission has at the time of
this writing yet expressed their views on the conditions under which the
carriage of drugs in first-aid kits of ships should be exempted from the import
certificate and export authorization system, 2 as was done in respect of the
carriage by aircraft. It is nevertheless suggested that the conditions of
exemption from measures of control of the 1925 Convention laid down in the legal
opinion should in principle also apply to the delimitation of the meaning of
"international carriage", which is exempted from controls pursuant to article
32, paragraph 1 of the Single Convention. It is therefore considered that such
carriage should not be considered to be "import, export or passage through a
country within the meaning of this Convention" only so long as the drugs
concerned do not cross the customs lines at points of transit or destination
other than those of the country of registration of the aircraft or ship
concerned, either because they are not removed from the aircraft or ship, or, if
so removed at stopovers for a short period, because they are locked in bonded
storage facilities of the operator concerned and in any case remain under the
control of the commander of the aircraft or ship. 17 The prohibition of crossing
the customs lines at points of transit or destination other than those of the
country of registration is essential. The customs authorities concerned would
otherwise find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish the
privileged drugs carried in first-aid kits of ships and airplanes from those
subject to the import certificate and export authorization system. The home
country of registration must, on the other hand, permit, under appropriate
safeguards, the crossing of its customs lines, first when the ship or airplane
is supplied from the operator's stores with the required drugs, and secondly
when, to prevent theft, the drugs are removed from the vessel or aircraft to be
placed in protected storage facilities of the operator. The country of registry
is in a position, by applying the appropriate safeguards provided for under
paragraph 2, including in particular the requirement of the maintenance of
records by the operators of the ships or aircraft and by the ships and aircraft
themselves as well as periodic inspections, 18 to protect the drugs stored
within their customs lines against theft and other illicit diversion. It is
admitted that this suggested application of article 32, paragraph 1, may cause
considerable difficulties in the case of ships which sail under a "flag of
convenience", i.e. which are registered in another country than the home country
of its real operator."
8. The conditions suggested above for the international carriage of drugs under article 32, paragraph 1 appear to be fully adequate for aircraft. 20 They may not always be fully applicable to different ships of different size and different character under the varying conditions of different ports; but it is in any event required for the purpose of this paragraph that the drugs carried by ships shall not cross the customs line of any country other than the country of their registry, and shall remain under the control of the ship's commander.
9. It may also be mentioned that movements of drugs from a ship or aircraft to a port of the country of its registration or vice versa, carried out within the confines of the port, do not constitute "import", or "export" within the literal meaning of article 1, paragraph 1, subparagraph (m), if they have not been brought on board the ship or aircraft from another country, 21 or-as the case may be-are not intended to be transported to another country. 21 Such movements might therefore be exempt from the import certificate and export authorization system even without reference to article 32, paragraph 1. Drugs, will, however, in such a case reasonably and legitimately be taken on board only if needed for the eventual treatment of passengers or members of the crew. Such drugs carried by a ship entering territorial or inland waters (including ports) of another country, or by an airplane landing in transit in a foreign country or arriving at its foreign destination, will, however, be subject to the import certificate and export authorization system unless their carriage takes place in accordance with the conditions of article 32, paragraph 1.
10. It is submitted that the term "international carriage" includes also "interterritorial carriage", the word "international" having in paragraph 1 the same meaning as in the heading of article 31, where the phrase "international trade" not only covers trade between two States, but also between two "territories" 22 of the same State. It cannot be assumed that the authors of the Single Convention did not wish to grant to the traffic between two territories of a Single State the same relief as to inter-State traffic.
11. It is considered that the wording of paragraph 1 does not limit its application to ships engaged in maritime traffic. Although inland waterway vessels may very often have no need for first-aid kits containing narcotic drugs, Governments do not appear to be precluded from applying this paragraph to the carriage of drugs by ships engaged in international and-for the reasons just given-interterritorial traffic on rivers, canals or lakes.
12. The actual size of "the limited amounts" needed "for first-aid purposes and emergency purposes" is to be determined by the country of registry under paragraph 3 of article 32. It may have to be determined in the light of such considerations as the number of passengers and crew members, and the length of the voyage. While the nature of the subject matter requires that considerable discretion be left to the Government concerned in making this decision, it cannot be excluded that the correctness of its determination may be questioned by another Party. 23
13. Paragraph 1 provides that drugs may be carried "for first-aid purposes or emergency cases". When this wording was proposed at the Plenipotentiary Conference in place of the phrase "for first-aid purposes [in emergency cases]" contained in the corresponding paragraph 1 of Article 42 bis of the Third Draft, it was pointed out that the revised provision would apply not only to first-aid cases, but also to cases in which regular medical treatment had to be given to a patient on a ship. 24 It seems, however, that the new wording cannot easily yield the meaning given to it by its proponent. But if sick passengers who currently need narcotics cannot possess them for their personal use during the voyage under the laws and regulations of the country which controls the situation on the ship or aircraft, or cannot acquire them for such use in the country in which they board the ship or aircraft, an "emergency case" as this term is used in paragraph 1 would undoubtedly exist. It follows that the drugs which may be carried under the terms of paragraph 1 may include those needed for passengers in such a situation, and may be administered to them in accordance with paragraph 3.
14. It may be noted that the French text does not cover transit as the English 25 and Spanish 25 versions do. In the light of the purpose of paragraph 1, it is submitted that preference should be given to the English and Spanish texts. If the control provisions of paragraphs 10-12 of article 31 governing transit had to be applied to first-aid kits carried by ships, the desired relief of international and interterritorial traffic from controls which are not essential under the circumstances would not be achieved. The omission in the French text appears to be an oversight.
15. It may be mentioned that it seems to be the view of some Governments that their consignment of narcotic drugs, for purposes of supply or replenishment of first-aid kits, to ships of their own nationality which are built in a foreign country or which are calling at a port of such a country, constitutes "transit" through, and not "export" to, that foreign country. These Governments seem to conclude that such a shipment does not require an import authorization of the foreign country, but may be accompanied by a copy of an export authorization to facilitate under article 31, paragraphs 10-12, the transit of the drugs through the foreign country to the ship in question. They consider that such an export authorization can be issued without requiring the supplier of the drugs to produce under article 31, paragraph 5 an import certificate of the foreign country in whose shipyard or port the vessel to be supplied is located. 27
1 As regards the Russian text of para. 1, see United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 570, p. 346. Prods-Verbal of Rectification, signed at United Nations Headquarters, New York, on 8 August 1966.
2 See above, general comments on article 31.
3 Article 54, para. (1) and article 37; see also article 90; United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 15, pp. 295 et seq.
4 International Civil Aviation Organization. International Standards and Recommended Practices. Operation of Aircraft. Annex 6 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. Part I. International Commercial Air Transport, second edition of part I, September 1970; chapter 6. Airplane Instruments and Equipment, para. 6.2.2.; see also United Nations document E/CN.7/344, para. 4.
5 Document E/3054, pp. 1 and 2 and annex.
6 Le. the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
7 I.e. the Economic and Social Council.
8 Document E/CN.7/367, paras. 4 and 5.
9 Commission on Narcotic Drugs, report on the fifteenth session (1960), chapter XIV, draft resolution D; Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, Thirtieth Session, Supplement No. 9 (E/3385).
10 As required in the original opinion of the Legal Office cited above.
11 Section I, para. (b), subpara. (i) and section II, para. 1 of the resolution of the Council.
12 Records, vol. II, p. 16.
13 For the background, see Commission on Narcotic Drugs, report on the thirteenth session (1958), paras. 152-172; report on the fourteenth session (1959), paras. 358-371 and chapter XIV, section 1, draft resolution F; report on the fifteenth session (1960), paras. 251-255 and chapter XIV, draft resolution D; Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, Twenty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 9. (E/3133), Fourteenth Session (E/3254) and Fifteenth Session (E/3385); see also resolution 770 E (XXX) of the Economic and Social Council and documents E/3054, E/CN.7/344, E/CN.7/363 and E/CN.7/367; as regards the Plenipotentiary Conference, see Records, vol. I, pp. 35, 36, 72, 188 and 210 and vol. II, pp. 143-145, 269, 282 and 288; in fact one delegate at the Plenipotentiary Conference even addressed an inquiry to the Secretariat to make sure that the new provision of the Single Convention was in line with Council resolution 770 E (XXX); Records, vol. I, p. 35.
14 Document E/CN.7/367, para. 6.
15 See in particular article 1, para. 1, subpara. (m) and article 36, para. l.
16 But not from other provisions such as those relating to trade, distribution, possession, records and use (article 4, para. (c), article 30, para. 1, subpara. (a) and subpara. (b), clause (ii), article 33 and article 34, para. (b).
17 Council resolution 770 E (XXX), section I, para. (b), subpara. (i); see also document E/CN.7/367, paras. 4 and 5.
18 See Council resolution 770 E (XXX), section II, para. 2, subparas. (e) and (g).
19 Convention on the High Seas, done at Geneva on 29 April 1958, articles 5, 6 and 7; United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 450, pp. 82 et seq. ; in regard to this inconvenience the provision of article 5 of this Convention may be recalled according to which a genuine link must exist between the ship and the State whose flag it is entitled to fly; see also Records, vol. 1, p. 36.
20 Records, vol. II, p. 144, statement of the representative of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
21 Or "territory"; article 1, para. 1, subparas. (y) and (m).
22 Within the meaning of article 1, para. 1, subpara. (y); see also subpara. (m).
23 A dispute which may arise in this connexion may be settled in accordance with the provisions of article 48; for guidance regarding the narcotics to be carried by an aircraft, see second paragraph of the annex to Council resolution 770 E (XXX).
24 Records, vol. II, p. 143; see also vol. I, p. 43.
25 "Passage through a country".
26 "Transito por un pais".
27 See also Records, vol. 1, p. 35.
Paragraph 2
2. Appropriate safeguards shall be taken by the country of registry to prevent the improper use of the drugs referred to in paragraph 1 or their diversion for illicit purposes. The Commission, in consultation with the appropriate international organizations, shall recommend such safeguards.
Commentary
1. Under article 5 of the Convention on the High Seas, 1 a State must effectively exercise its jurisdiction and control in administrative, technical and social matters over ships flying its flag, i.e. whose country of registry it is. Paragraph 2, requiring the country of registry to take appropriate safeguards to prevent the improper use of drugs carried by a ship under the conditions of article 32, paragraph 1 and their diversion for illicit purposes, accords therefore with this rule of the Convention on the High Seas. 2
2. It appears still to be the generally held view that it is not the law of the State of registry which governs occurrences on board an aircraft, but rather the law of the country in whose territory the airplane happens to be, whether on the ground or in the airspace. I If this principle were applied, different safeguards might have to be employed in the same airplane in different countries. The express assignment of the task of establishing the safeguards to the country of registry not only as regards ships but also as regards airplanes ensures that uniform standards can be applied in a plane wherever it may be. Otherwise, the possible need to change the standards whenever a plane entered a new country might make the exercise of effective controls very difficult, and indeed virtually impossible.
3. Five principal groups of safeguards which should be included among those
to be taken by the country of registry may be mentioned, as follows:
(i) Measures applicable to the crew members responsible for the drugs, to ensure
that they can be relied on to carry out their duty to guard the drugs' entrusted
to them against theft, diversion and improper use, and also to ensure that on
airplanes and on those vessels which do not have a physician on board, one or
two of the crew members have some training to enable them to administer the
drugs properly, providing always that they should consult a physician by radio
whenever advisable and possible;
(ii) Measures applicable to the container holding the drugs, to ensure that the
drugs are accessible only to the crew member responsible for them; (iii)
Measures regarding records which should be kept by the operator of the ship or
aircraft, in addition to those which should be maintained by a designated member
of the crew, on each individual administration of a drug, and on each addition
to or removal of drugs from the first-aid kit;
(iv) Measures requiring that periodic reports be made by each ship or airplane
to its operator on the use of the first-aid kit, and requiring that periodic
reports be furnished by the operators to the authorities;
(v) Measures regarding inspection by Government officers. 4
4. The term "improper use" is intended to cover not only "abuse", 5 i.e. supply to an addict not based on sound medical grounds, but also any use not in accordance with the requirements of medical science or good medical practice, such as administration on the basis of a false diagnosis, by a wrong method or by a person not having at least such necesssary skills as are acceptable under the conditions where the need for the drug arises in the special circumstances of the airplane or vessel involved. 6
5. Among "the appropriate international organizations" 7 which may be consulted by the Commission under paragraph 2 are the International Civil Aviation Organization, the Inter-Governmental Martitime Consultative Organization, the World Health Organization, the International Narcotics Control Board, the International Labour Organisation s and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). s This list is not meant to be exhaustive. Not only intergovernmental organizations, but also non-governmental international organizations may be consulted.
6. What organization should be consulted will of course depend on the nature of the safeguard which the Commission may consider. It is left to the Commission to decide what international organizations it finds "appropriate" to consult on particular safeguards. It is, however, submitted that in making such decision the Conunission must also observe the agreements and other rules governing the relations of the United Nations with the international organizations concerned.
7. Resolution 770 E (XXX) 10 of the Economic and Social Council concerning safeguards to be taken in respect to the carriage of narcotic drugs in first-aid kits of aircraft engaged in international flights reproduces literally the recommendations of the Commission on the subject. 11 The Commission's recommendations were made in consultation with the International Civil Aviation Organization, the World Health Organization and the International Criminal Police Organization. Until the Commission decides otherwise, Council resolution 770 E (XXX) may therefore be considered to have the position of a recommendation made under paragraph 2 on appropriate safeguards to be taken by the countries of registry in respect of narcotic drugs carried by aircraft engaged in international traffic, for first-aid purposes or emergency cases in accordance with paragraph 1. As of the time of this writing the Commission has not yet made such a recommendation for ships engaged in international traffic.
8. It will be noted that the Commission's recommendations made under article 32, paragraph 2 are subject to review by the Economic and Social Council under article 7.
1 Convention on the High Seas, done at Geneva on 29 April 1958, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 450, p. 82 et seq.
2 The authority given by paragraphs 2 and 3 to the country of registry may however prevent some conflicts of law in the case of ships in foreign territorial or interior waters, including ports; see however above, comments on article 31, para. 15. Arrangements concerning first-aid kits made in accordance with the Commission's recommendation would also appear to be matters of internal order and discipline, affecting solely the ship and its occupants, in which it is the practice of a foreign coastal State not to interfere in its ports, internal bays or territorial waters as long as they have no adverse effect on that State and the inhabitants in its domain and do not disturb its peace and order; see also articles 19 and 20 of the Convention of 1958 on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone and foot-note 4 to the comments on article 31, para. 15.
3 McNair, The Law of the Air, third edition, London, Stevens & Son, 1964, pp. 266 and 270; see however Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts committed on board Aircraft, signed at Tokyo on 14 September 1963, article 3, which provides that the State of registration is competent to exercise jurisdiction over offences and acts committed on board American Society of International Law, International Legal Materials, vol. II, number 6 (November, 1963), Washington, D.C.; see also Convention of 16 December 1970 for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft, United States, Department of State, The Department of State Bulletin, vol. LXIV, No. 1646 (11 January 1971), pp. 53 et seq.
4 Commission on Narcotic Drugs, report on the fourteenth session (1959) paras. 368-369 (cited in foot-note 13 to the comments on article 32, para. 1); see also Council resolution 770 E (XXX) and its annex.
5 Records, vol. I, p. 35 and vol. II, p. 143.
6 See above the suggestion of consultation of a physician by radio.
7 Records, vol. II, pp. 144-145.
8 Records, vol. I, p. 35 and vol. II, p. 143.
9 Records, vol. II, p. 144.
10 The text of this resolution is reproduced in the annex to this Commentary.
11 Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Report of the fifteenth session (1960) (cited in foot-note 13 to the comments on article 32, para. 1). Chapter XIV, draft resolution D; see also para. 255.
Paragraph 3
3. Drugs carried by ships or aircraft in accordance with paragraph 1 shall be subject to the laws, regulations, permits and licences of the country of registry, without prejudice to any rights of the com petent local authorities to carry out checks, inspections and other control measures on board ships or aircraft. The administration of such drugs in the case of emergency shall not be considered a violation of the requirements of article 30, paragraph 2 (b).
Commentary
1. As has been mentioned above in the comments on paragraph 1, the international carriage of drugs by ships or aircraft under the conditions of that paragraph is exempted only from those provisions of the Single Convention which govern "import", "export" or "passage through a country" (transit), but not from the other rules of that treaty. This carriage involves several activities which are controlled by such rules. The "carriage" is certainly "possession",1 the purchase of the drugs for the first-aid kits is an act of "trade", 2 in any event if acquired for commercial aircraft and ships, and the administration of the drugs in the kits is trade or distribution. 3 The supply of drugs to the first-aid kits in question constitutes "consumption", 4 which must be reported by the operator to the Government to enable it to include such supplies in the statistics on consumption which it must furnish to the Board. It is also submitted that compartments of the aircrafts or ships in which the first-aid kits are held in safe custody may also be considered to be "premises" within the meaning of article 30, paragraph 1, subparagraph (b), clause (ii). If this opinion is accepted, it follows that if first-aid kits not only contain preparations of narcotic drugs, but also basic narcotic drugs or their salts, 5 the compartments containing the first-aid kits would have to be controlled "under licence".
2. Paragraph 3 provides that the applicable laws and regulations, as well as the governmental authorizations ("permits and licences") which implement these rules of the Single Convention and enforce the safeguards to be taken under paragraph 2, should be those of the country of registry. This provision is intended to prevent possible conflicts of law, particularly in the case of airplanes, and thus to ensure the application of the same laws and regulations and the validity of the same governmental authorizations relating to the carriage of the drugs involved, no matter under whose territorial jurisdiction the ship or aircraft may happen to be. 7
3. The competence of the Government of the country of registry is not limited to documents which are called "permits" or "licences" or are referred to in the national legislation (or language) concerned by corresponding desig nations. The national legal names of the governmental authorizations in question are irrelevant. s The competence of the country of registry under paragraph 3 covers all governmental authorizations which it issues pursuant to its laws and regulations in order to control, in accordance with the requirements of the Single Convention, 9 drugs carried in the first-aid kits concerned, and to enforce the safeguards which it prescribes under paragraph 2 to prevent the improper use or diversion of the drugs.
4. It may be mentioned also in this connexion that a Government should have discretionary power to grant or refuse the authorizations concerned or to grant them under conditions. for the purpose of ensuring the implementation of the safeguards which it must require under paragraph 2. A Party has an obligation to respect the validity of the official acts of the Government of registry which are referred to in paragraph 3, on ships or aircraft which are within its territorial jurisdiction under international law; but this does not affect the other rights which it may have under its own laws and regulations, in accordance with international maritime or air law, over a ship which is within its territorial or internal waters (including its ports) or over an airplane in its territory, whether on the ground or in the air. 10 It is consonant with this legal position that paragraph 3 expressly states that the validity of the official acts in question on ships or aircraft, wherever they may be, is "without prejudice to any rights of the competent authorities of the local sovereign to carry out checks, inspections and other control measures on board ships or aircraft". In making this express statement in paragraph 3, the authors of the Single Convention did not wish to create new rights for the local authorities, but only to make clear that their existing rights were not affected. 11
5. The local authorities may in particular verify whether the laws and regulations of the country of registry are being respected, whether the required permits and licences have been issued, and whether the safeguards prescribed by that country have been taken. They may of course take the control measures required by the Single Convention 12 in respect of those drugs carried by the ship or aircraft which do not have the privileged position provided in article 32, paragraph 1.
6. Article 30, paragraph 2, subparagraph (b), clause (i) requires a medical prescription for the supply or dispensation to individuals of drugs in Schedule I and their preparations, other than preparations in Schedule 111.13 The requirement of a medical prescription, however, does not apply to drugs in Schedule 11 and their preparations or to preparations in Schedule 111. 14 Moreover it does not apply to such drugs (and their preparations) as individuals may dispense or administer in connexion with their duly authorized therapeutic functions. Paragraph 3 of article 32 expressly exempts from the prescription requirement the administration "in the case of emergency" of drugs carried by ships or aircraft in accordance with article 32, paragraph l.
7. It was noted at the Plenipotentiary Conference that paragraph 1 of article 32 refers to drugs needed "for first-aid purposes or emergency cases", while the last sentence of paragraph 3 provides only for administration "in the case of emergency", and the suggestion was made to use equivalent phrases in both places. The Chairman of the Drafting Committee said that his committee had given careful consideration to the phrase in paragraph 3 and had "concluded that emergency measures automatically included first-aid". 15
8. It has been suggested above that the term "emergency" would also cover the case of sick passengers who currently need narcptic drugs, but cannot possess them for their personal use during the voyage under the law of the country which controls the situation on the ship or aircraft or who would not be able to acquire them for this use in the country in which they board the ship or aircraft. 16
9. It is finally submitted that crew members trained to administer drugs under paragraph 3 would do so "in connexion with their duly authorized therapeutic functions" and would therefore in any event be exempted from the prescription requirement under article 30, paragraph 2, subparagraph (b) clause (i). It has been suggested above 17 that among the safeguards which must be taken by the country of registry under paragraph 2, provision should be made that on airplanes and on those vessels which do not have a doctor on board, drugs should under paragraph 3 be administered only by a crew member adequately trained for this task. l8 The exemption from the prescription requirement, provided in the last sentence of paragraph 3, is therefore of very little if any practical importance.
1 Article 4, para. (c) and article 33.
2 Article 4, para. (c), article 30, article 34, para. (b).
3 Article 4, para. (c) and article 30.
4 Article 1, para. 2 and article 20, para. 1, subpara. (c).
5 See resolution 770 E (XXX) of the Council, second paragraph of its annex; the salts are "drugs" and not "preparations" in the sense of the Single Convention; see comments on article 1, para. 1, subpara. (j).
6 Article 4, introductory paragraph.
7 See above, comments on article 32, para. 2.
8 See also above, comments on article 29, para. 1 and article 30, para. 1, subpara. (a).
9 See also article 39, which expressly authorizes Parties to adopt more strict or severe controls than those required by the Single Convention.
10 See comments on article 31, para. 15 and in particular foot-note 4 to
those comments; and comments on article 32, para. 2.
11 It is for this reason that the Plenipotentiary Conference replaced the words
"to the right" in article 426is, para. 3 of the Third Draft (which is
substantively identical with article 32, para. 3 of the Single Convention) by
the words "to any rights"; Records, vol. II, pp. 143 and 269. The French and
Spanish texts do not reflect this change, but their identical meaning with the
English text is thereby not affected.
12 Article 31, paragraphs 10-14; articles 36 and 37; see also article 17, third paragraph of the Statute annexed to the Convention on the International Regime of Maritime Ports, signed at Geneva on 9 December 1923, League of Nations, Treaty Series, vol. LVIII, pp. 285 et seq.; and article 19, paragraph (d) of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, done at Geneva on 29 April 1958, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 516, pp. 216-218.
13 See above, comments on article 30, para. 2, subpara. (b), clauses (i) and (ii).
14 Article 30, para. 6 and article 2, paras. 2, 3 and 4.
15 Records, vol. I, p. 210.
16 See above, comments on article 32, para. 1.
17 See above, comments on article 32, para. 2.
18 See also resolution 770 E (XXX) of the Council, section II, para. 2,
subpara. (c) and annex, fourth paragraph.