The Government Analyst Food and Drug Department, along with the police and the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) and the revenue authority, will be strengthening the control mechanisms for importation, sale and use of precursor substances and chemicals.

The announcement was made following Guyana meeting its obligation to international conventions to prevent the illicit trade of items that can be used by clandestine laboratories to manufacture illicit drugs, such as ecstasy.

According to a release from the Analyst Department, all importers of precursor substances and chemicals are required to be licensed and requirements for such importation can be obtained from its office located at the Institute of Applied Science & Technology (IAST) building, University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus.

The release said too that the need for chemical control has been internationally accepted as the 1998 UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances obligates signatories to control their chemical commerce to prevent diversion to illicit drug manufacture.

The department also issued an admonition to the illicit medicine industry, which supplies chemicals/substances or apparatus that may be used in illicit drug manufacturing, to adhere to the law and guidelines set by it and to cooperate with initiatives of law enforcement and health agencies. It was explained that precursor chemical or ‘precursor drug’ is a law enforcement term used to describe a chemical used in the manufacture of synthesis of controlled substances. It is used in the production of consumer goods such as pharmaceuticals, fragrances, flavouring agents, petroleum products, fertilisers and paints.