Excellencies,
Honourable Ministers, distinguished delegates, ladies, and gentlemen. It is an honor and a great pleasure to
welcome you to this tenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Following the postponement of COP 10 last
year, a virtual de minimis COP was successfully held in November 2023 to
address agenda items essential to the operation of the Convention Secretariat.
I want to thank all the distinguished delegates who participated in that virtual
de minimis session.
While we deeply regret postponing the
in-person session, we are grateful to the Government of Panama for working
tirelessly to ensure that the COP occurs at this time of the year, as planned
during the de minimis session. The dedication of the Panamanian Government, the
Convention Secretariat, working together with the States Parties in ensuring
that the COP takes place is commendable. This demonstrates the commitment and
passion we all have for tackling our everyday challenges and developing
solutions to continuously protect present and future generations from the
devastating effects of tobacco.
Although the past year was challenging, and
it has been five years since an in-person COP, we overcame the obstacles. With
support from the WHO Secretariat, we have observed significant progress made by
the State parties in implementing the WHO FCTC at the global, regional, and
national levels.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced COP 9 to be
held virtually, leading to the deferral of some agenda items to COP 10,
creating an extensive agenda. Nonetheless, with the same vigor and zeal you
continuously demonstrate for tobacco control, we will exhaust all the agenda
items within the allocated times.
As the President of the tenth session of
the Conference of the Parties, I declare COP 10 open. I wish you all a
productive and memorable deliberation.