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Tag: Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

  • COP10 Postponed Until 2024, No Date Announced

    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.

  • Knowledge-Action-Change Briefing Explains COP 10

    Knowledge-Action-Change Briefing Explains COP 10

    Gerry Stimson | Photo courtesy of GNF

    Knowledge Action Change (KAC) has published a briefing to help policymakers, health officials and consumers better understand the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The 10th edition of this event, which normally takes place every two years, is scheduled for November in Panama.

    While decisions made at the conference are likely to significantly impact tobacco companies and their customers, industry representatives and organizations advocating for access to safer nicotine products have traditionally been barred from attending the event.

    As a result, tobacco harm reduction has been getting short rift at COP meetings despite the fact that the concept is an integral part of the FCTC.

    “Harm reduction is explicitly named as one of three tobacco control strategies in the opening lines of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, but at present, the indications are that COP10 is unlikely to result in any decisions that support consumer access to safer nicotine products,” said KAC Director Gerry Stimson in a statement.

    “Parties to the FCTC must seize the opportunity in Panama to consider evidence from countries where tobacco harm reduction is saving lives, including the U.K., New Zealand, Sweden, Norway and Japan—and ask why the WHO and its influential philanthropic funders are refusing to do the same.

    “With no media present, FCTC COP meetings are shrouded in a secrecy more akin to a U.N. Security Council meeting—and in direct contrast to other COP meetings, for example those on climate change. This briefing paper gives policymakers, health officials and consumers more insight into the processes of COP10 and the opportunity to engage more fully prior to and during the event in Panama,” said Stimson

  • COP10 Delegates Urged to Consider Harm Reduction

    COP10 Delegates Urged to Consider Harm Reduction

    Photo: lovelyday12

    The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Advocates’ (CAPHRA) nine member organizations have written to Framework Convention for Tobacco Control delegation heads from around the world, urging them to review the evidence that supports a tobacco harm reduction (THR) approach ahead of COP10.

    With governments sending delegates to COP10 in November 2023, CAPHRA was keen to send leaders comprehensive reference material for their COP10 planning, submission writing and deliberations.

    COP10 will held in Panama and is hosted by the World Health Organization’s FCTC.

    ‘We do this on behalf of the four million current users of safer nicotine products in the wider Asia Pacific region. As you are aware, our region bears the brunt of the harm and death from combustible and unsafe oral tobacco globally,’ said the letter.

    The CAPHRA representatives reminded the health leaders that the FCTC has a mandate to pursue harm reduction as a core tobacco control policy.

    “It has been known for decades that tar and carcinogens found in tobacco smoke, cause the death and disease associated with smoking, not nicotine. Research has proven that nicotine, while usually mildly addictive in the same way as caffeine, is not a health issue,” they wrote.  

    The letter also called on delegates to deplore FCTC’s policy to conduct COP10 sessions behind closed doors.

    “Delegates to COP10 should be representing the rights and aspirations of the citizens whose taxes are paying for their attendance, who expect them to speak on their behalf, acknowledge the science underpinning the harm reduction benefits of ENDS, and maintain democratic principles,” they wrote.

    The CAPHRA representatives asked countries to take into account, when making their COP10 submissions, that consumers have the right to make choices that help them avoid adverse health outcomes. What’s more, people who smoke have the right to access less harmful nicotine products as alternatives to smoking.

    The evidence-based documentation was wrapped up in a recently released white paper, titled “The Subversion of Public Health: Consumer Perspectives,” which was presented by CAPHRA executive co-ordinator Nancy Loucas at the Fifth Asia Harm Reduction Forum.

  • WHO Conference on Tobacco Control Starts Today

    WHO Conference on Tobacco Control Starts Today

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    The Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) today opens its ninth session (COP9). One significant point to be discussed by the Parties is a potential new funding strategy, seen as a means of strengthening and expanding the support that can be offered to Parties of the global health treaty.

    Parties at COP9 are expected to consider how to address a common problem described by many countries—the lack of sufficient financial resources to strengthen tobacco control measures. This will mean a plan to establish a capital investment fund is high on the COP9 agenda. The Parties will decide on the adoption of a mechanism for new income streams to help fight the tobacco epidemic.

    The proposal offers the opportunity to raise a targeted $50 million for the FCTC. A similar fund will be proposed for adoption at the second session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products to take place later this month—but in the case of the Protocol, the fund proposed will be for $25 million to strengthen implementation of that treaty.

    In a press release, the WHO said it would continue pushing forward with comprehensive implementation of the FCTC as the real solution to the tobacco epidemic, despite what it described as tobacco industry efforts to “stir up confusion and falsely parade itself as a solution to harmful tobacco consumption.”

    The COP9 discussions Nov. 8-13 bring together Parties, representing countries, United Nations agencies, other intergovernmental organizations and civil society. The participants will be exchanging their experiences in implementing tobacco control measures and reducing the prevalence of tobacco use. They will also be looking at strategies that improve tobacco control efforts, amid what the WHO describes as “attempts by the tobacco industry to interfere in ending the tobacco epidemic that is killing over 8 million people annually.”

    During the conference, delegates will also be evaluating the most recent Global Progress Report, which was launched last week. A total of 148 Parties reported on the comprehensive tobacco control measures contained in the treaty. For example, in relation to progress on Article 11, two-thirds of Parties confirmed that the required health warnings are being displayed on tobacco product packaging and, 17 countries confirmed that they have adopted the requirements for plain packaging of tobacco products.

    Parties have reported that they have struggled to introduce comprehensive advertising, promotion and sponsorship bans. Many complained of persisting interference in policymaking by the tobacco industry.

    In her keynote speech at the opening of COP9, Adriana Blanco Marquizo, head of the Convention Secretariat referred to the ongoing COP 26, on Climate Change. There are important parallels between the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the WHO FCTC, she noted.

    “Both treaties aim to protect present and future generations,” said Blanco Marquizo. “It’s clear that tobacco damages the environment throughout its life cycle, from crop to post-consumer waste, contributing to deforestation, desertification, greenhouse emissions and plastic contamination. But probably the most important point shared at both COPs, is that the tobacco epidemic and climate change are both manmade and preventable.”

    Critics, by contrast, focused on the differences between the two COPs, with the Climate Change gathering welcoming public scrutiny and industry input, and COP9 convening behind close doors and banning dialogue with the industry.

    Immediately after COP9, the second Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products will be convened, Nov. 15-18. The Protocol is a separate treaty expanding Article 15 of FCTC.

  • Experts Challenge WHO Position on Safer Nicotine

    Experts Challenge WHO Position on Safer Nicotine

    Photo: Tom

    The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR), a Knowledge·Action·Change (KAC) project, launches a new series of briefing papers ahead of the publication of its latest report, Fighting The Last War: The WHO and International Tobacco Control on 27 October.

    The suite of new GSTHR publications aim to draw attention to, and challenge the direction of travel of, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Conference of the Parties 9 (COP9), a major global meeting on tackling smoking. The meeting is being held virtually in early November. According to the GSTHR, the FCTC agenda and briefing papers indicate the FCTC Secretariat and leadership are continuing to urge parties against the adoption of tobacco harm reduction approaches that could help save millions of lives.

     The GSTHR briefing papers offer analyses, commentaries or explainers on topics related to tobacco harm reduction and its role in combating the death and disease caused by smoking.

    The first paper provides a brief overview of both the FCTC and the Conference of the Parties biennial meetings, explaining their role in global tobacco and nicotine policy, as well as highlighting some of the problematic elements of their current operation. A deeper analysis of these issues will be revealed when Fighting The Last War is published later in the month.

    The second GSTHR briefing paper focuses on the U.K.’s potential leadership role at COP9. According to the GSTHR, the U.K. has successfully implemented important aspects of a domestic tobacco harm reduction policy, while retaining a strong tobacco control record. Currently, the FCTC project does not reflect the U.K. approach–yet the U.K. is one of the most consistent and generous financial backers of both the FCTC and the WHO. At COP9, the paper argues, the U.K. must be prepared to take a strong line and advocate for policies it has enacted that are demonstrably increasing the numbers of people successfully quitting smoking.

     These issues and more will be explored in depth in the GSTHR’s forthcoming report, to be published on Oct. 27 at a hybrid launch event, free to attend online. In Fighting The Last War: The WHO and International Tobacco Control the report’s author, Harry Shapiro, takes a close look at the history, development and often secretive processes of the FCTC COP, its early battles with the tobacco industry – and the range of influences shaping international tobacco control’s response to safer nicotine products in 2021.

    The report launch will be broadcast on Oct. 27 from the Kia Oval in London. Two roundtable sessions will be livestreamed from 11 am British Summer Time, with time allowed for questions from those watching in the room and from afar. Will Godfrey of Filter will host the first session, “The FCTC: past, present and future,” which features Harry Shapiro, KAC, report author; Derek Yach, Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, former WHO cabinet director and executive director for noncommunicable diseases and mental health; and Tom Gleeson of the New Nicotine Alliance Ireland.

    The second session will be hosted by Jeannie Cameron of JCIC Consulting and will be centered on the “Challenges to making the FCTC an inclusive international framework convention.” Audience members will hear from Ethan Nadelmann, founder, Drug Policy Alliance; Nataliia Toropova, Healthy Initiatives and Professor Gerry Stimson, director, KAC.

    Parties to the FCTC must seize the opportunity to consider evidence from countries where tobacco harm reduction is succeeding, including the U.K., New Zealand, Sweden, Norway and Japan.

    Gerry Stimson, director, KAC

    “We’re gravely concerned by the WHO’s continued rejection of tobacco harm reduction,” said Stimson. “It already accepts harm reduction as a valid, evidence-based public health intervention for drug use and HIV/AIDS. Harm reduction is explicitly named as one of three tobacco control strategies in the opening lines of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Adoption could hasten the end of the public health crisis caused by smoking.

     “Instead the WHO rejects and, worse, repeatedly misinforms the public about safer nicotine products, demonstrating a disregard both for the lives of over one billion adult smokers and the eight million deaths each year due to smoking. Parties to the FCTC must seize the opportunity at COP9 to consider evidence from countries where tobacco harm reduction is succeeding, including the U.K., New Zealand, Sweden, Norway and Japan—and ask why the WHO and its influential financial backers are refusing to do the same.” 

  • WHO Moves FCTC Conference of the Parties to Online Forum

    WHO Moves FCTC Conference of the Parties to Online Forum

    Photo: Olrat

    The Ninth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the Second Session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP2) to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products will take place virtually, with COP9 running Nov. 8-13, 2021, and MOP2 running Nov. 15-18, 2021.

    The meetings were originally scheduled to take place in The Hague. In view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions, the WHO has decided to move the events online.

    The virtual format means participants will consider abridged agendas, the WHO wrote on its website. Several issues, including ones relating to tobacco harm reduction, will be deferred for discussion until the next regular meeting of the governing body, COP10, in 2023.