The European Commission has imposed strict controls on the export of drugs used to carry out lethal¹ injections.

欧盟委员会对用于注射处死犯人的药物出口进行严格控制。

EU firms wanting to export drugs such as the sedative²（镇静剂） sodium³ thiopental will now first have to ensure the product is not going to be used for executions.

The ruling could slow down the rate of executions in the US, where the drug must be used by law in lethal injections but is in short supply.

European rights groups welcomed the restrictions⁴ as a "positive step".

The European Commission - the executive arm of the EU - said it wanted to ensure that no drugs were being exported from the union for use in "capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman⁵ or degrading treatment or punishment".

The death penalty is banned in all 27 EU states and the bloc⁶ has been calling for its abolition⁷（废除） worldwide.

Sodium thiopental is legally required to be used in lethal injections in the 34 US states that still practice the death penalty.

It is the first of three drugs used for executions, intended to make the condemned⁸ person unconscious before deadly drugs are administered.

"Distressing⁹ misuse¹⁰"

Earlier this year its only US manufacturer, Hospira, stopped making the drug.

It is still made in Britain, Italy, Germany, Austria and Denmark, but in April, an emergency export ban was imposed in the UK after the human rights group Reprieve¹¹ sued the government.

Indian produce Kayem Pharmaceuticals¹³ has also said it will no longer sell the drug to US prisons.

The shortage in the US has already led to a marked decreased in the number of executions being carried out.

Some states have stockpiled sodium thiopental while others switched to using an alternative, pentobarbital, but that is also covered by the EU ban.

The Danish manufacturer of pentobarbital, Lundbeck, has objected to the "distressing misuse" of its product, designed for epilepsy（癫痫） treatment, and introduced checks to ensure it is not shipped to US prisons.

The executive director of Reprieve, Clare Algar, said the Commission's ruling was an "important and positive first step".

"Any pharmaceutical¹² company wishing to preserve an ethical¹⁴ reputation must take steps to ensure their drugs are not used to kill prisoners," she said in a statement.