Thank you, Chair,
Esteemed colleagues, dear participants,
It is a privilege to be here with you today for the Multi-Sectoral Workshop on Promoting the Accession to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.
From the start, I would like to thank the National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia and the European Commission for joining forces to co-host this virtual event and for inviting the Secretariat of the WHO FCTC to contribute to it.
To support Parties to the WHO FCTC to implement the Convention through solid, comprehensive measures and to accede to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products lie at the heart of the Convention Secretariat mission.
I congratulate Georgia, one of the early Parties to the WHO FCTC, for its long-standing journey in tobacco control and for its achievements so far.
Also, for its willingness to go further, and build an even stronger environment to tackle the tobacco threat, by exploring the benefits and paving the pathway to become a Party to the Protocol.
Before we go any further, let us remind ourselves what is the threat we face.
First and foremost, the tobacco epidemic is one of the world’s most serious public health issues. It is now common knowledge that tobacco kills half of its users. It is also the only legal product to do so when used as directed.
Evidence is telling us that we could prevent 8 million tobacco-related deaths per year, globally, and that 1,2 million of those that we lose prematurely are non-smokers. Millions more suffer from disease and disability as a result of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.
Unfortunately, it is also the vulnerable who pay the highest price. WHO figures tell us that 80% of users are in low and middle-income countries.
We also know that tobacco is an economic burden for countries. The World Bank reports estimates that the global economic cost of smoking is at least 1.4 trillion USD a year, or 1.8% of the world’s GDP.
We are, however, well equipped to fight this threat.
Earlier this year we celebrated 15 years since the entry into force of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control - the first public health treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization.
To date, progress has been steady, as 182 Parties representing more than 90% of the world’s population implement the Convention and take on new challenges as the tobacco industry evolves. But, despite that, the objective of the WHO FCTC remains as topical as ever.
The Convention hardly needs an introduction. The WHO FCTC is first and foremost “an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health.”
The treaty, as Georgia is well placed to know, commits Parties to the objective to “protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke” and sets minimum standards for Parties to implement, to tackle the widespread tobacco epidemic.
Being interdependent, these measures call for a comprehensive approach. Combatting illicit trade in tobacco products, as encapsulated in Article 15 of the WHO FCTC, is part and parcel of that approach.
What is the scale of the issue we are dealing with? The World Customs Organization estimates that about a tenth of the global cigarette trade is illicit.
This number is significantly higher in low and middle- income countries.
Also, while the tobacco industry makes believe that an increase in tobacco taxes triggers illicit trade, illicit trade plagues both countries with high and low tobacco taxes, and, correspondingly, prices.
As a country that has been engaged in the fight against illicit trade in tobacco products, Georgia will appreciate that the negative impact of this phenomenon is not only deep, but also multilayered.
Undoubtably, illicit trade increases the affordability and the availability of tobacco products.
The World Bank reports estimates that the illegal cigarette market reduces average cigarette prices by 4% and is responsible for 2% higher cigarette consumption, or 164,000 premature deaths a year.
As these products - often escaping product regulation - attract the youth and the poor, it is these vulnerable groups that are most impacted.
At the same time, the World Bank reports consensus among experts that the annual revenue loss in tobacco taxation worldwide is around US$40–50 billion. The illicit trade in tobacco products drains resources that governments could use for public priorities, benefiting society and the economy.
In the context of Governments struggle to respond to, and recover from, the COVID-19 pandemic, such loss of earnings is a considerable financial handicap.
As we also know, illicit trade in tobacco products is jeopardizing a country’s security, thriving on corruption and organized crime, and contributing to those phenomena alike.
Not in the least, it opens the opportunity for the tobacco industry to claim a seat at the policy-making table as a partner in the fight against illicit trade, undermining basic tobacco control measures.
All in all, these consequences constitute a heavy toll upon countries engaged in tobacco control.
However, here, too, we have a solution.
Only a month ago we celebrated the two years anniversary of the entry into force of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.
Counting 62 Parties from all regions, the Protocol is a treaty in its own right, reaffirming the key elements of Article 15 of the WHO FCTC, but going much further.
The Protocol commits Parties to the objective to eliminate all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products and empowers them with legal tools to do so.
As the number of Parties to the treaty increases, the power of this legal instrument and the ability of Parties to make use of it increase.
In the next few days, you will hear about the substantive parts of the Protocol, the obligations they entail for Parties and the benefits of implementing those.
Let me introduce, in a nutshell, the core elements of the treaty.
At the heart of the Protocol are measures to secure the supply chain of tobacco products.
The Protocol requires the establishment of a global tracking and tracing regime, within five years of its entry into force, comprising national and regional tracking and tracing systems and a global information-sharing focal point, located in the Convention Secretariat.
The Protocol also deals with law enforcement.
It foresees measures related to offences, such as establishing unlawful conduct, providing for liability, including criminal liability, prosecutions and dissuasive sanctions.
Finally, a key group of substantive articles addresses the issue of international cooperation, enabling Parties to share information and cooperate in technical, administrative and legal fields.
As you can see, the Protocol has a multidimensional nature.
Its implementation relies on active contributions of different government sectors, including but expanding beyond the traditional tobacco control community.
It calls for participation of customs, justice, finance sectors.
This multisectoral approach is a challenge but also an opportunity, and it starts in a country’s journey to becoming a Party to the Protocol.
This is also a moment to recognize the experience that Parties have gained from implementing Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC.
While seeking new partnerships to give life to the Protocol, we must remain vigilant not to jeopardize achievements and continued efforts in advancing the tobacco control agenda.
Finally, we should not forget that illicit trade in tobacco products does not affect a country alone. It is only by joining forces across borders that we will be able to address a transnational problem.
Before I conclude, I would like to thank the participants to this workshop, many of whom are not from the health sector, for the willingness to deepen their knowledge and share insights with peers.
Having ratified the Convention in 2006, Georgia has come a long way, demonstrating significant motivation to advance tobacco control.
As a beneficiary of the FCTC 2030 project, Georgia has reaffirmed its commitment to the WHO FCTC, seeking to scale its implementation towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Through the FCTC 2030 project, Georgia has been working on strengthening its tobacco control legislation to ensure its full compliance with the WHO FCTC.
The WHO FCTC is part and parcel of Target 3.A of the SDGs, but these, as we know - I quote from their Preamble - “are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental.”
Combatting illicit trade in tobacco products is an important piece of a comprehensive tobacco control approach that contributes to the three pillars of sustainable development.
As a country that has been praised as a success story in the fight against illicit trade in tobacco products
- having managed to increase tobacco taxes while reducing illicit tobacco products in its domestic market
- Georgia is well placed to build on, and share its strong experience both regionally and globally.
I also invite Georgia to seize the opportunity to accede to the Protocol, to harness the potential that this treaty offers to Parties to respond to illicit trade in tobacco products as a global threat to public health, economic growth and social stability.
At the Secretariat of the WHO FCTC, which serves also as the Secretariat to the Protocol, we stand ready to support you in this journey.
I thank you for your attention and wish you a most productive workshop.