Dear Mr President, delegates, colleagues
The past three days were a landmark in the history of tobacco control. We will now enter a new phase, where reaching the goals of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control will be supported, and accelerated, by the implementation of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.
I would like to thank the staff of the Secretariat – organising a Conference of the Parties, and a Meeting of the Parties at the same time, while carrying on with their daily duties was a very demanding undertaking. They did it all with grace and generosity of their personal time and energy. Furthermore, while heart-fully thanking the generous words from many Parties and representatives from the civil society, teaming up with the different stakeholders is what really drives successfully outcomes for the world in multilateral negotiations.
I would also like to thank all the colleagues from the WHO:
- The legal officers and the technical staff at HQ and regions for providing us with much needed support before and during MOP and to have already indicated that we can count on them to work hand in hand to implement the Protocol.
- WHO conference support staff who spared no efforts to help us. And as always, my gratitude to the interpretation, translation and reporting team – without them we would not have been able to do our work.
The Secretariat is very grateful to the 44 Parties that attended MOP for their intense work schedule. We also take the opportunity to welcome the future two Parties to the Protocol, Iran and Malta.
We thank MOP1 President and the new MOP1 Bureau members and Regional coordinators and we look forward to working with you in the intersessional period. Our thanks also go to the chairs and cochairs of Committees A and B for their great piece of work.
We also appreciate the interest of the 54 State non-Parties to the Protocol that have shown great interest in the proceedings. We hope this interest will be translated soon into additional Protocol Parties so as to reach universal coverage.
We appreciate the decisions on the budget and workplan that will allow us to establish an infra-structure to support current, and future, Parties, in the implementation of the Protocol.
We are excited to initiate the work to establish international cooperation with IGOs, encouraging them to become observers to the MOP as we firmly believe that it is through cooperation that we will realize the potential for the Protocol to make a real difference.
We are also grateful for the work of our civil society observers, recognizing the important role they play in supporting the Protocol. We look forward to continue our fruitful partnership with NGOs and encourage them to start their accreditation process to ensure the success of the Protocol.
We are also looking forward to the establishment of the working group on tracking and tracing, as this is a crucial to allow us to curb the volume of illicit trade and ensure that tobacco products circulating in countries are legal, taxed and compliant with the regulations from the WHO FCTC and national tobacco control legislation.
As always, we are grateful for the Parties ongoing awareness of the need to prevent undue interference from the tobacco industry and industries with other vested interests. The Secretariat will remain vigilant and will continue to alert Parties as needed.
We are looking forward to the guidance of the Bureau, and to working with all of you. We took the first steps of this journey, and we will now continue on an ever-clearer path with renewed energy. Looking forward to see all in the Netherlands, to whom we thank for offering hosting COP9 and MOP2.
I hope everyone can get a little rest and I wish you all safe travels home.
Thank you.