Distinguished members of the Working Group, representing WHO FCTC Parties;
Esteemed colleagues from the international intergovernmental organizations and the Convention Secretariat;
Dear friends from nongovernmental organizations:
It is a privilege to welcome you to this second meeting of the Working Group to Develop Specific Guidelines to Address Cross-border Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship and the Depiction of Tobacco in the Entertainment Media under Article 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
I sincerely thank all of you for continuing to work together remotely – following the first in-person meeting of the Working Group in Mauritius in October 2019 – despite the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Had it not been for the pandemic, we would have met in Brazil in April of last year.
As that meeting could not take place, I appreciate that you have continued to work remotely under the leadership of the Key Facilitators – India and Mauritius, and I would like to express my deepest gratitude for their leadership.
Today, we are again meeting virtually to continue towards finalization of the task of the Working Group – to prepare draft implementation guidelines to present to the next session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC, which had to be postponed until November of this year.
In preparation for that session, many Parties are requesting the Convention Secretariat deliver the session documents earlier than the 60 days required by the Rules of Procedure.
Therefore, I need to request that you assist the Convention Secretariat by providing the final version of your documents at your earliest convenience.
Today, at this second meeting of the Working Group, you will consider your draft report, including a draft decision and the draft text of the specific guidelines that will be submitted to Ninth Session of the Conference of the Parties.
As you know, since the Guidelines to implement Article 13 of the WHO FCTC were adopted by the Third Session of the Conference of the Parties in November 2008, the global entertainment media have changed substantially.
Today, a wide range of media outlets – including social media – depict tobacco use.
In addition, entertainment media are increasingly provided on a regional and even global basis – including through the Internet – which results in cross-border tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, or TAPS for short.
The tobacco industry has been using social media influencers – with increasing frequency – to market their dangerous products to more and more young people, one of the industry’s many cross-border advertising strategies.
As a consequence of this shift in technology, conventional approaches to controlling TAPS have been become less effective, demonstrating the need for stronger action.
As a reminder, this Working Group is composed of 12 Parties representing the six WHO regions, namely Armenia, Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, the European Union, India, Iran, Japan, Mauritius, the Philippines, Syria and Thailand.
International intergovernmental organizations such as WHO and the UNICEF – as well as international nongovernmental organizations such as the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the Framework Convention Alliance and the World Medical Association – have participated in this Working Group as observers, and I thank them for their contributions.
In addition, I would like to thank Dr Becky Freeman for her considerable support as an expert adviser to the Working Group.
At the request of the Working Group at its first meeting, the Convention Secretariat has arranged for Dr Matthew Rimmer, an Australian-based expert in TAPS and media regulation, to make a presentation at this meeting.
I believe the Working Group already has completed much of the hardest work, and I wish you the best during your remaining deliberations.
Thank you again for your work on this important issue.