An early release of the provisional agendas and a call to register for the Tenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Third session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products
The meetings are taking place in Panama in November of this year. The Tenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) will be held from 20 to 25 November and the Third session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP3) to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products from 27 to 30 November.
Today, the Convention Secretariat is releasing the provisional agendas of COP10 and MOP3, four months prior to the sessions. These can be found on the respective dedicated pages on WHO FCTC website.
Official COP10 and MOP3 documentation will be released over the coming weeks and made available on the WHO FCTC website.
The registration for COP10 and MOP3 is open and delegates are encouraged to register as soon as possible.
Instructions for the registration have been communicated to the Parties to the WHO FCTC and to the Protocol, States that are not Parties, and international intergovernmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations accredited as observers to the governing bodies of the treaties. Guidance on registration is also available on the WHO FCTC website.
This is also the last call to apply for side events for COP10 and MOP3. Interested Parties and eligible organizations are invited to apply before 15 July.
Details about online accreditation for journalists and media organizations wishing to be accredited for COP10 and MOP3 can be found here. Journalists are required to obtain official accreditation in order attend the sessions.
Note to Editor:
The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control explained
The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is the first international treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization. It was adopted by the World Health Assembly on 21 May 2003 and entered into force on 27 February 2005. It has since become one of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties in United Nations history, with 182 Parties. The WHO FCTC was developed in response to the globalization of the tobacco epidemic and is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health. The Convention represents a milestone for the promotion of public health and provides new legal dimensions for international health cooperation.
The Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products explained
The Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products is the first protocol to the WHO FCTC, and a new international treaty in its own right. The Protocol builds upon and complements Article 15 of the WHO FCTC, which addresses means of countering illicit trade in tobacco products, a key aspect of a comprehensive tobacco control policy. It was adopted by consensus on 12 November 2012 at the Fifth session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC (held in Seoul, Republic of Korea) and entered into force on 25 September 2018. The Protocol currently includes 67 Parties. The Protocol was developed in response to the growing concern regarding illicit trade in tobacco products, which poses a serious threat to public health. Illicit trade increases the accessibility and affordability of tobacco products, thus fuelling the tobacco epidemic and undermining tobacco control policies. It also causes substantial losses in government revenues, and at the same time contributes to the funding of transnational criminal activities.