1.9.2016   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 235/6

(1)

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 273/2004 and the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 111/2005 each contain a list of scheduled substances which are subject to a number of harmonised control and monitoring measures provided for by those Regulations.

(2)

The scheduled substances listed in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 273/2004 and in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 111/2005 are divided into categories for which different measures apply, so as to achieve a proportionate balance between the level of threat posed by each specific substance and the burden on licit trade.

(3)

The strictest control and monitoring measures are provided for in respect of the substances scheduled in category 1. Operators and users must hold a licence in order to possess those substances and to carry out any kind of transaction involving them.

(4)

It is possible to convert chloroephedrine and chloropseudoephedrine directly into methamphetamine with a high yield rate. Member States have demonstrated that since 2013 chloroephedrine and chloropseudoephedrine have been used on several occasions in the Union as precursors for the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine (also known as crystal meth). Additionally, several cases of use of those two substances for the production of methamphetamine have been reported outside the Union.

(5)

Trade in and possession of chloroephedrine and chloropseudoephedrine are currently not subject to any legal restrictions, and their control is limited to a voluntary commitment by Union operators to monitor trade and report suspicious transactions involving such substances.

(6)

There were no significant licit uses of chloroephedrine and chloropseudoephedrine identified during the consultation of Member States and representatives of the chemical industry. More than 3 tonnes of those substances were seized in 2013 and 2014 by the competent authorities of the Member States to prevent them from being used for the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine.

(7)

In the light of the high diversion risk posed by chloroephedrine and chloropseudoephedrine, and considering that their scheduling will have no significant impact on licit trade, those substances should be listed under category 1 in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 273/2004 and in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 111/2005.

(8)

Regulation (EC) No 273/2004 and Regulation (EC) No 111/2005 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(9)

Regulation (EC) No 273/2004 and Regulation (EC) No 111/2005 jointly implement certain provisions of the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 19 December 1988 (3). In view of the close material link between those Regulations it is justified to adopt the amendments by way of one single delegated act,