By George Kebaso @Morarak
The Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) has announced the migration of National Drug Control System (NDS) for Licit control from environment to production.
The move announced by the Board on Thursday makes Kenya the first Country in Africa to fully implement the use of this system as recommended by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).
The Board Chief executive Officer, Fred Siyoi said application of the permits will allow clients to access global licit licensing services from the comfort of their desk.
“By implementing this system The Pharmacy and Poisons Board has created unlimited opportunities for traders in licit products to access any market in the world using its permits,” Siyoi said in a statement.
The National Drug Control System is used to control Narcotics, Psychotropic and Pre-Cursor Chemical substances globally so countries trading in controlled substances must issue permits for export or imports to companies under their jurisdiction using the system.
The CEO said the permits are shared worldwide with other countries for trading purposes.
“In order to facilitate exchange of information, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) developed NDS and International Import Export Authorization online System, which is a secure information exchange portal, hosted in Vienna,” he added.
The web interface enables users all the functionality of NDS and data from member countries that have signed the treaties for controlling licit products.
In November 2018, the long journey began by signing of the service level agreement and the installation of the pre-production edition in January 2019.
He outlined the next steps the Board will take to build sufficient capacity that will make the system more functional. This will involve extensive training of staff and stakeholders who will be using the system.
