Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
President of the Meeting of the Parties, Distinguished Panellists,
Welcome to the side event entitled “Beyond adverse health consequences: The link between illicit trade in tobacco products and other criminal activities”. On behalf of the Government of India and the World Customs Organization, our co-sponsors today, we would like to thank the Secretariat of the UNODC for the opportunity to organize this event at the eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNTOC.
I am Adriana Blanco Marquizo, the Head of the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, or FCTC. My team and I also serve as the secretariat to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, a legally binding instrument designed to eliminate all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products — an important contribution to fight against organized crime.
This side event will discuss how illicit trade in tobacco products causes substantial losses in government revenues, and at the same time contributes to the funding of international criminal activities.
This concern has become more pressing than ever. As an example, cigarette smuggling has been linked to armed insurgent groups in the Middle East, Africa and other parts of the world. In areas of central and eastern Africa, research has found that rebel groups have used the illicit trade of tobacco products to finance their activities.
I would like to emphasize, as recalled in the Protocol, the importance of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the obligation that Parties to it have to apply its relevant provisions to combat illicit trade in tobacco products.
I would also like to take this opportunity to invite international organizations to support the implementation of the Protocol and to acknowledge its role in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.