COP10 Postponed Until 2024, No Date Announced

Photo: Maksym Yemelyanov

The Tenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the Third session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP3) to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products have been postponed to 2024.

“Following communication received from Panama, the host country of 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, it is no longer possible to conduct COP10 and MOP3 in November 2023, as scheduled,” the FCTC wrote on its website.

The sessions are expected to be held in Panama, as early as possible in 2024, at dates to be confirmed.

The postponement of COP10 and MOP3 is due to the current security situation in Panama, which has been shaken by mass protests about a government contract that allows a Canadian company to expand its copper mining operations there.

The Convention Secretariat said it will communicate further details in relation to COP10 and MOP3, as soon as available.