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Cracking Down on Chemicals Used to Make Illegal Drugs
Published December 03, 2025
Goal: Stop illegal drugs
This new EU regulation merges old rules, creates a digital system to license and track dangerous chemicals, bans designer precursors unless licensed, and cuts paperwork for businesses.
What the problem that is being addressed
- Illicit drug makers are increasingly using designer precursors – chemicals that have no normal commercial use but can be turned into drugs.
- The two existing EU rules (Regulation (EC) No 273/2004 for the internal market and Regulation (EC) No 111/2005 for trade with third countries) are old, split, and create a lot of paperwork for businesses that sell or use these chemicals.
- The rules do not cover designer precursors well, and the administrative burden on operators and customs authorities is high.
How that problem is being solved here
- The two old regulations are merged into one new Regulation that covers both internal and external trade.
- Three new categories of precursors are defined:
- Category 1 – the most dangerous chemicals (e.g., phenylacetone).
- Category 2 – widely used chemicals that can still be diverted (e.g., red phosphorus, hydrochloric acid).
- Category 3 – designer precursors that have no normal use except research.
- Designer precursors are now automatically banned unless a company gets a licence or gives a prior notification for research use.
- A centralised electronic system will let operators:
- apply for licences, registrations and prior notifications online.
- verify that their customers also have licences.
- report suspicious transactions, thefts or disappearances.
- notify customs of import/export quantities.
- Customs will use the same system to check licences and quantities before releasing goods.
- A Drug Precursors Information Repository will list all scheduled and non‑scheduled substances, their legitimate uses and how they can be used in drug production.
- The new rules remove the need for periodic reporting by operators and simplify many administrative steps.
What changes as a result of this document
| Item | Change | Numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Licences & registrations | Simplified, digital, fewer forms | 10 % rise in enforcement costs; one‑off cost of €7.7 million for operators to adjust to new rules |
| Administrative burden | Reduced by €25.27 million per year (net saving) | 25.27 million € |
| Digital system | Built by DG GROW, linked to the EU Single Window for customs | €1.322 million (internal market IT) + €24.148 million (external trade IT) |
| Information repository | New database of all precursors | €0.530 million |
| Transition period | 3 years after entry into force for full application | 3 years |
| Review | 10‑year evaluation of the Regulation | 10‑year review |
| SME impact | 92 % of the ~4 000 active licences are SMEs | 4 000 licences, 92 % SMEs |
| Budget | Total estimated cost for IT and repository over 2028‑2034 | €26.427 million (IT) + €0.530 million (repo) + €24.148 million (external trade) ≈ €51 million |
| Legal | Repeals Regulations (EC) No 273/2004 and (EC) No 111/2005 | – |
| Scope | Covers all scheduled and non‑scheduled precursors, except for pharmacies, veterinary dispensaries and certain official authorities | – |
The Regulation therefore tightens control of dangerous chemicals, speeds up customs checks, cuts paperwork for businesses, and creates a single digital platform that will make the EU’s drug‑precursor system clearer and more efficient.
Licensing: The summaries on this page are available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
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