State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura to Attend U.N. Special Session

June 4, 1998

1. The United Nations General Assembly Special Session will be held from June 8 (Mon.) to 10 (Wed.) at the U.N. Headquarters in New York. The Special Session will be held to formulate the new drug strategy at the approach of the 21st century, based on a resolution adopted at the 51st U.N. General Assembly convened in December 1996.

2. The Japanese delegation to the Special Session will be headed by Mr. Masahiko Koumura, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and composed of Mr. Yuko Sekiguchi, Commissioner-General for the National Police Agency, and others. From major countries, U.S. President Clinton, French President Chirac, Canadian Prime Minister Chrétien, and others will attend.

3. At the Special Session, Mr. Koumura will deliver a speech. The Political Declaration and six working documents concerning ATS, precursors, judicial cooperation, money laundering, alternative development and demand reduction that have been examined at the preparatory meetings will be adopted as the guideline for an international strategy against drug abuse at the approach of the 21st century.

4. Mr. Koumura will express Japan's ideas on dealing with drug problems including the Five-year Strategy, the importance of measures against ATS and those for preventing young people from using drugs, and international cooperation with the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) and other organizations.