Working Arrangement between the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the Ministry of Justice and Law of Colombia

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WORKING ARRANGEMENT between the EUROPEAN MONITORING CENTRE FOR DRUGS AND DRUG ADDICTION and the MINISTRY OF JUSTICE AND LAW OF COLOMBIA

Whereas the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) is a decentralised agency of the European Union in charge of providing factual, objective, reliable and comparable information at European level concerning drugs, drug addiction and their consequences pursuant to the conditions set out in Regulation (EC) No 1920/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 (recast);
Whereas the Ministry of Justice and Law, through the Strategic Sub directorate for Analysis of the Directorate for Drug Policy and Related Activities, has the functions of directing, coordinating, and managing the Drugs Observatory of Colombia, which was established as a source drug information officer of the Colombian government, in accordance with the Resolution 006 of 2005 of the National Narcotics Council;
Whereas Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 1920/2006 (recast) specifies that the EMCDDA shall actively seek to cooperate with international organisations and other, particularly European, governmental and non-governmental bodies competent in the sector of drugs, and that such cooperation shall be based on Working Arrangements concluded with these bodies;
Whereas the Management Board of the EMCDDA, after receiving the favourable opinion of the European Commission, provided the EMCDDA Director at its meeting of 7-8 December 2023 with a mandate to sign the present Working Arrangement;
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and the Ministry of Justice and Law of Colombia intend to cooperate in the following fields:
a) Exchange on methodology of data-collection systems and on data itself (demand and demand reduction, supply reduction, legal aspects and policy models);
b) Support the strengthening of the National Drug Observatory in Colombia;
c) Exchange of experiences on monitoring the cocaine market, prices, purity and other related information;
d) Exchange of expertise and of data on new psychoactive substances (NPS), as well as establishment and strengthening of an Early Warning System on Drugs;
e) Exchange of experiences on health and social responses to drug problems, above
all prevention of drug use and treatment of drug dependence, as well as prevention
of communicable diseases, harm reduction and social integration;
f) Development of a national system for registering the offer of programmes for
prevention of drug use, harm reduction, and social integration;
g) Support for the improvement of communications on the drug information produced
by the Drugs Observatory of Colombia, with the purpose of ensuring effective and
accurate dissemination of the findings and analyses carried out. This includes
promoting broader communication strategies and using innovative platforms to
reach different audiences and increase public awareness;
h) Establish effective communication channels to guarantee the successful
achievement of the cooperation objectives outlined in this Work Agreement.
To this end, each of the signing Parties will designate a contact person for
maintaining continued dialogue with a view to ensuring the efficient and full
application of the present Working Arrangement.
Date of signing: ______
European Monitoring Centre for
Drugs and Drug Addiction
Alexis Goosdeel
Director
Ministry of Justice and Law of
Colombia
Nestor Iván Ozuna Patiño
Minister