Dear Dr Ramen, Director General Health Services at the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life of Mauritius, representing the Honourable Minister of Health and Quality of Life
Dear Dr Laurent Musango, WHO Representative in Mauritius
Dear Key Facilitators of the Working Group
Distinguished delegates representing the 12 Parties members of the Working Group
Dear colleagues from the international intergovernmental organizations
Dear friends from nongovernmental organizations
Distinguished members of the Working Group,
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the First meeting of the Working Group (WG) to develop specific guidelines to address cross-border tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS) and the depiction of tobacco in the entertainment media under Article 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).
As you know, the Guidelines to implement Article 13 of the WHO FCTC on TAPS, including cross-border TAPS were adopted by the third session of the Conference of the Parties (COP3) in November 2008 and since then, several Parties have taken measures to ban or restrict TAPS.
In the 2018 global progress report on the implementation of the WHO FCTC, 72% of Parties reported having a comprehensive ban on all TAPS. The most commonly covered areas in the Parties comprehensive TAPS bans were tobacco sponsorship (87%), product placement (85%) and depiction of tobacco in entertainment media (73%). Only 60% of the Parties’ comprehensive TAPS ban was shown to cover cross-border advertising, promotion and sponsorship originating in country. Only a limited number of Parties have put in place measures to tackle the issue of cross-border advertising such as penalties (36%) or cooperation in its elimination (30%).
The global entertainment media has substantially changed since the adoption of the Guidelines for Article 13. A wide range of media outlets, including social media, depict tobacco use. Entertainment media is increasingly provided on a regional or global level, including through the Internet, which results in cross-border TAPS. In addition, the tobacco industry has been progressively using the social media to reach young people with influencer marketing among several cross-border advertising strategies.
Furthermore, emerging tobacco products and nicotine delivery systems are flooding unregulated countries markets, hooking children and future generations into nicotine addiction by using new medias especially social media to promote it.
In response to these concerns, the Seventh Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) established an expert group to consider the depiction of tobacco in the entertainment media.
The Expert Group recommended to COP8, the development of an addendum to the existing Article 13 Guidelines, that is reflective of the transformations.
At its eighth session, the COP decided to establish a WG with the specific mandate to develop the proposed addendum to article 13 guidelines to address cross-border TAPS and the depiction of tobacco in the entertainment media under Article 13 of the WHO FCTC.
In accordance with COP decision, a WG consisting of the 12 Parties representing the six WHO regions was established through a self-nomination process by interested Parties. On a voluntary basis, India and Mauritius became key facilitators for the WG. We welcome the delegates who were nominated to join us in this initiative.
The World Health Organization and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund are the international intergovernmental organizations and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids , Framework Convention Alliance and World Medical Association are the non-governmental organizations that will participate in the WG as observers and we thank them for joining us in Mauritius during these days.
While the International Telecommunication Union was specifically mentioned in the COP related decision, the organization has informed the Convention Secretariat that it is not able to participate in a meeting with this mandate.
In addition, Dr Becky Freeman and Dr Pinpin Zheng are the experts invited by the Convention Secretariat to support the Working Group.
So far, the Convention Secretariat participated in several virtual meetings with the key facilitators where the draft documents of this first meeting and the proposals for work that needs to be carried out to support the WG were agreed.
The WG shall submit for consideration of the ninth session of the COP specific draft guidelines on this matter for Parties consideration.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life of Mauritius and the government of Mauritius for approving the holding of this meeting in this paradise island of Mauritius, and for having facilitated all conditions allowing us to meet here today.
Furthermore, I would like to thank the World Health Organisation Country Office in Mauritius for the excellent cooperation in the preparation and organization of this meeting.
Let us work together during the three coming days to build a solid foundation to start drafting the text of the specific guidelines, taking into account technological advances over the past decade such as the Internet and mobile communications.
The Convention Secretariat stands ready to support your efforts as requested by COP.
I wish you all fruitful deliberations.
Thank you very much.