
AIPA FACT FINDING COMMITTEE (AIFOCOM) TO COMBAT DRUG MENACE
In September 1999, during the 20th AIPO General Assembly in Manila, the host country, Philippines, led to the establishment of AIPA Fact Finding Committee (AIFOCOM) on Drug Menace through a resolution which was thereafter approved on the 22nd AIPO (now AIPA) General Assembly. The first meeting of AIFOCOM took place in 2002 in Hanoi, Viet Nam.
During the 7th AIFOCOM meeting in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam in April 2010, members agreed to submit a draft resolution on facilitating the implementation of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) Resolutions on Preventing and Combatting Illegal Drugs, and to Improve AIFOCOM activities. This draft resolution was then adopted at the 31st AIPA General Assembly in Ha Noi, Viet Nam, in September 2010 which recognized the limited operational effectiveness of the AIFOCOM in the implementation of AIPA resolutions on preventing and combating illegal drugs.
The 8th AIFOCOM Meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in May 2011 produced a draft resolution on the Creation of a Technical Working Group. This draft resolution was later adopted at the 32nd AIPA General Assembly in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Res32GA/2011/Soc/05) which called for the importance of harmonization of laws in ASEAN member states, and declared the creation of a Technical Working Group (TWG) under the AIFOCOM.
Considering that the formation of the Technical Working Group has not materialized, and the mindfulness on the alarming situation of drug abuse in the region and the need for the full commitment of all the ASEAN member countries to exert strategic and sustained efforts to achieve a drug-free ASEAN community in 2025, Delegation of the Philippines Parliament proposed the transformation of AIPA Fact Finding Committee (AIFOCOM) on Combating Drug Menace into AIPA Advisory Council on Dangerous Drugs (AIPACODD) during the 13th AIFOCOM Meeting in Manila, the Philippines from 4 to 8 July 2017. The draft resolution on the transformation from AIFOCOM into AIPACODD has been agreed by consensus.