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Opium Production

Answer

As G8 lead nation on counter narcotics in Afghanistan, the UK and the international community are supporting the Government of Afghanistan (GoA) to deliver their National Drug Control Strategy and to bring about a sustainable reduction in the cultivation, production and trafficking of opium. To that end, the UK spent £24,442,350 on counter narcotics activity in Afghanistan in 2004–05. This included the running of seven training courses on intelligence and investigation techniques for the Afghan Counter Narcotics Police, support for interdiction operations, resulting in major seizures of opiates, the provision of a mobile forensic laboratory and help to establish regional law enforcement offices in seven provincial centres outside Kabul.Over the next three financial years, the UK is providing more than £270 million. This is a funding increase, agreed by the Domestic and Overseas Policy Cabinet Committee on 21 July 2005, of £115 million. £130 million of the funding will be provided by the Department for International Development, with the rest coming from other Government Departments, including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office. In this three year period, we will focus on the following three key priorities, which we judge will make the greatest impact: targeting the trafficker and the top end of the drugs trade; strengthening and diversifying legal rural livelihood opportunities; and developing strong and effective counter narcotics institutions.In November 2005, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) confirmed the poppy cultivation figures for 2004–05 from their annual survey. UNODC reported a 21 per cent. reduction in poppy cultivation from 131,000 hectares (ha) in 2003–04 (production of 4,200 metric tonnes) to 104,000 ha in 2004–05 (4,100 metric tonnes). Good weather and an absence of crop disease were responsible for the increased yield. While there remains a risk that cultivation may increase again this year, our goal is to ensure that the downward trend in cultivation is maintained in the long term. We are working hard with the GoA and other international partners to ensure that it is able to deliver on this goal.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

44141; 441 c2241-2W;441 c2235-6W

Session

2005-06

Subjects

Finance Drugs Production Afghanistan Opium

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk