The World No Tobacco Day is celebrated every year on 31 May by WHO and its Member States. This year’s celebration focuses on the elimination of illicit trade in tobacco products.
One in every ten cigarettes and many other tobacco products consumed in the world are illegal. In article 15 of the Convention Parties recognize that the elimination of all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products, including smuggling, illicit manufacturing and counterfeiting are essential components to tobacco control, and the 180 Parties to the Convention are already required to implement a series of measures to control illegal tobacco trade.
Due to the overall magnitude of illicit tobacco trade and the potential negative impact of illegally traded products on health and economic development of the countries, Parties to the Convention have decided, as early as 2007, to go further, and the first ever Protocol under the WHO FCTC has eventually been negotiated to strengthen Parties’ efforts and international cooperation in this area. Adopted in 2012 by the fifth session of the WHO FCTC Conference of the Parties the Protocol is now ought to be law to fully exploit its potential.
The Protocol, once it enters into force, will bring new obligations to Parties and will assist them in eliminating all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products, through the use of tools such as licensing the manufacturing, import and export of tobacco products and manufacturing equipment, and establishing a global tracking and tracing regime to assist in the investigation of illicit trade.
The Protocol is now open for ratification, acceptance, approval, formal confirmation or accession by all Parties to the WHO FCTC. So far eight Parties have deposited their instruments of ratification at the UN Headquarters in New York: Austria, Congo, Gabon, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Spain, Turkmenistan and Uruguay.
The process of ratification of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products has been hindered by tobacco industry interference, which has a stake in perpetuating the current situation. Apart from providing raw leaves and manufactured products to the illegal market, tobacco companies also support illicit trade to enter new markets and test new products.
“Although there is a growing momentum around discussion of ratifying the Protocol, we need 32 more Parties to come on board for the Protocol to come into force and become an international law in its own right” said Dr Vera Luiza da Costa e Silva, Head of the WHO FCTC Convention Secretariat. She added “The Secretariat of the WHO FCTC promotes ratification of the Protocol through regional workshops and will use the opportunity of this year’s World No Tobacco Day to encourage further ratifications. Ratification of the Protocol and early compliance with its requirements are the best available solutions to the problem of illegal trade in tobacco products.”