Distinguished members of the National Tobacco Products Control Committee
As you know, the Convention Secretariat has been invited to Thailand with two main purposes. The first one, to sign a new MoU for the Knowledge Hub on Article 5.3 that now will be hosted not only by Thammasat University’s School of Global Studies -as has been since 2017- but also by the Mahidol University.
The other reason is the one who gathers us all today, here, to perform a joint needs assessment of the implementation of the WHO FCTC. This exercise will allow us (and when I say us is all of you, all of the partners and the Convention Secretariat) to take a moment and look at all the achievements that Thailand has made in tobacco control since the year 2004 when it ratified the Convention.
And the achievements are many, without any doubt.
This is also an opportunity to advance in new areas, strengthen others, and even discuss how to protect current achievements, because we know that the tobacco industry will never cease to try to undermine tobacco control.
Trying to summarize the information that I have received the previous days, there are some points that I would like to highlight:
The first one is the importance of this committee. Tobacco control requires a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach. It can’t be handled by the ministry of health alone; it requires a high-level commitment from all sectors, as was stated in the tobacco products control act from 2017 requiring permanent secretaries of different ministries to be part of this national commission.
Regarding the implementation of demand reduction measures of the Convention, there has been great achievements here, and probably enforcement is the key issue to get all the benefits that these measures can provide for the population.
In tobacco taxes, the most effective individual measure to reduce consumption, still there is room from progress, as we have discussed with the Excise Department of the Ministry of Finances; an uniform system with similar level of taxes and with periodic adjustments according to inflation, will avoid depreciation of taxes, also will also avoid that people substitute one product with a cheaper one, and it this way will protect the most vulnerable sectors of the population.
Also, I learned that the country has advanced in measures to control illicit trade, for example a license system is in place, tax stamps with information about the product that permit to trace the path up to the consumer, are in place or in process to be completed. Therefore, it would be a moment to consider the accession to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. This new treaty has 67 Parties as today, and without doubt if an influential country like Thailand become a Party, other countries of the region will follow. The Convention Secretariat is at your disposal to help in the process of the accession, if needed.
One question that I have received many times these days was about electronic cigarettes. The tobacco industry is telling governments that these products are less harmful, that they can help people to quit smoking, and what is more important, are directed ONLY to current smokers that would like to quit or at least switch to them. And also tell the governments that the products enter the market despite being banned and is just a lost opportunity to gather more revenue from taxes.
But, as all the “facts” provided by the tobacco industry, we need to be cautious. First, WHO the global authority in health have not endorsed these products to be used as cessation aids. And you would say but we use nicotine replacements to quit smoking!! And yes, that is true, but those are medicaments, that went through safety evaluation. Second, the science is not conclusive yet on the effect, particularly the long term effects of electronic cigarettes. Third all the marketing efforts of the industry are on youth, and consequently, is the youth who is using these products more. And, re the income from taxes, first they are a very small proportion of the market, and second, the industry will come back again to you to say, hey! These products are safer, so you need to tax them less than regular products!! In sum, it does not seem like the appropriate moment to change policies.
Finally, as in any country in the world, there is always more work to be done in the implementation of Article 5.3. IN this area, you are privileged!!! You have the global knowledge hub on this article in this country, and I am sure they will provide many recommendations on how to advance in this area.
Thank you very much for your attention.