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FCTC

IF NOT NOW, THEN NEVER

Nov 9th, 2016
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Declaring that a lack of resources is one of the key obstacles to implementation of the FCTC is a familiar complaint, often repeated at this and previous sessions of the COP.

True though this statement may be for many Parties, the commitments made in 2015 at the United Nations to recognise FCTC implementation as a global development priority mean that there are new ways to unlock resources. But it will take action by governments to make this a reality.

The FCTC is one of only three Conventions explicitly referenced in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030. Furthermore, tobacco control and the FCTC are also explicitly mentioned in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, in the sections on mobilising domestic and international public resources.

Day 3 of COP7 is the time when Parties must seriously discuss how to take advantage of these 2015 achievements. Committee B will start with an agenda item that is ideal for this purpose: the Convention Secretariat will present its report on fundraising efforts and collaborative work (FCTC/ COP/7/26). The Secretariat is rightly concerned about mobilising around US$9 million for its own budget to deliver the workplan for the next two years. But it would be a mistake to spend Wednesday morning talking only about the FCTC budget.

It would be an even bigger mistake if a proposed Financing Dialogue organised within several months after COP7 does not spotlight Parties’ implementation needs, and how to address them.

Therefore, what we need on Wednesday is a healthy discussion on how to promote the investment case for FCTC implementation at country level through the Financing Dialogue.

The fact that the FCTC is cited in the SDGs won’t bring new donors rushing to the Secretariat, or to tobacco control focal points, to offer support. The SDGs include 168 global targets on a wide range of development issues so tobacco control is facing tough competition for development funding.

So how can we get the donors’ attention focused on the FCTC target as a means to achieve the health goal (SDG3)? First, it will be important to communicate what exactly is needed to advance tobacco control, in language that development partners can easily understand. In order to generate this information, we need the Secretariat to map implementation needs in a systematic way immediately after COP7, in advance of the proposed Financing Dialogue.

All these tasks are actually proposed in a COP7 report – but in a completely different one (FCTC/COP/7/18) which is not going to be discussed in Committee B. To initiate action or resource mobilisation for FCTC implementation, delegates in Committee B will need to closely coordinate with their colleagues in Committee A. There is hardly a better reason to do so.

Public, media to be kept at bay from WHO’s tobacco meet

Nov 9th, 2016
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http://www.dnaindia.com/health/report-public-media-to-be-kept-at-bay-from-who-s-tobacco-meet-2271536

Media and public will not be allowed to attend World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC) negotiations, which started in Greater Noida on November 7. After the first day came to an end, seventh Convention of Parties (COP7) arrived at a consensus to keep media and public out of the meetings that will go on until November 12.

Those present at the venue said that major tobacco companies had obtained entry under the ‘Public’, and were seated in plenary session at the main hall on the first day.

“Some Congressmen from Brazil having ties with Philip Morris International cigarette company were seen lurking around at the venue, not as a part of the official Brazilian delegation but as part of public,” said Jorge Adolfo Vega Cardenas, Senior Latin American Policy Coordinator at Corporate Accountability International, based in Mexico.

Industry interference has spelt a death knell for journalists who have been disallowed to attend. Media is to be accredited in a separate process with the FCTC to be able to be present at the venue. Strangely, under current Rules of Procedure governing proceedings at COP, media falls under the category of ‘Public.’

Sources said that on Wednesday, the Thai delegation will propose a solution to this by changing rules of procedure to treat media as a separate category all together.

It is for the third time after earlier COPs 5 and 6 in Moscow and Seoul that media and public have been asked to leave plenary sessions and side meetings at the venue.

Although 181 countries could have voted on the first day of the plenary session to treat media as a separate category, they refrained from doing so. “The parties did not make a decision during the first day of the plenary to treat media as a separate category, which means media has no access to the plenary or committee meetings,” said a WHO official at the venue.

Union Health Ministry issued instructions to Indian journalists on Tuesday stating, “Fully accredited journalists will be permitted to enter public areas like press room and food hall. Journalists cannot enter meeting rooms and main hall.”

“COP is a governing body of the WHO FCTC and therefore decisions reached by the Parties regarding access to the event is at their discretion,” said a media briefing statement by convention secretariat.

“At the previous two COPs and this being the third, the governments wasted time and money deciding how to deal with an industry that has infiltrated the process. We must push Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to take a stand at this COP and fix the issue of attendance of Public and Media,” said an Indian delegate at the venue, who did not wish to be identified. “Media should not be included under ‘Public.’ Public category should be done away with under Article 5.3 and accredited media (which has no ties with the industry) should be allowed to attend. Those violating rules should be asked to leave.”

Dr Arun Panda, additional secretary (health) said, “India is merely providing space for conducting the conference. All major decisions are taken by 180-odd governments.”

Queries sent to official spokespersons asking which industry personnel may have attended the sessions under ‘public,’ and how will it be done, went unanswered.

Global demand for cigarette graphic warnings grows

Nov 9th, 2016
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http://www.fctc.org/fca-news/opinion-pieces/1476-demand-for-global-cigarette-graphic-warnings-grow

Over 100 countries and territories now require cigarette picture health warnings, marking a significant milestone in global public health that will reduce smoking and save lives.

The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) has released a report ranking 205 countries and territories on the size of their health warnings on cigarette packages, and listing countries and territories that require graphic picture warnings.

The report shows significant global momentum toward plain packaging, with four countries requiring plain packs and 14 working on the measure.

“There is a powerful, worldwide trend for countries to use graphic pictures on cigarette packages to show the devastating health effects of smoking, and to require plain packaging,” says CCS’s senior policy analyst Rob Cunningham.

Examples of graphic picture warnings include a diseased lung or mouth, a patient with lung cancer in a hospital bed and a child being exposed to secondhand smoke. The report also reveals that many countries have increased the size of picture warnings on cigarette packages – and these larger pictures are known to be more effective.

Cigarette package warnings are a highly cost-effective way to increase awareness of the negative health effects of smoking and to reduce tobacco use. Picture-based warnings convey a more powerful message than a text-only warning, and larger ones increase impact.

Other report highlights include:

  • 105 countries and territories have finalized picture warning requirements, an increase from the 77 that had implemented these requirements by the end of 2014. In 2001, Canada was the first country to require picture warnings and to require a 50 percent size.
  • 58 percent of the world’s population is covered by the 105 countries and territories that have finalized picture warning requirements.
  • Nepal has the largest warnings in the world with picture warnings covering 90 percent of the package front and back. Vanuatu will also require 90 percent picture warnings in 2017. India and Thailand have the next largest warnings at 85 percent of the front and back.
  • 94 countries and territories require warnings to cover at least 50 percent of the package front and back (on average), up from 60 countries in 2014 and 24 in 2008.
  • Implementation by most European Union (EU) countries of the new EU requirement for 65 percent picture warnings was an important development contributing to the increase since 2014 in the number of countries requiring picture warnings.

– See more at: http://www.fctc.org/fca-news/opinion-pieces/1476-demand-for-global-cigarette-graphic-warnings-grow#sthash.luIWNxze.dpuf

COP7: Nigerian delegation accuse colleagues of pushing tobacco industry agenda

Nov 9th, 2016
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http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/214917-cop7-nigerian-delegation-accuse-colleagues-pushing-tobacco-industry-agenda.html

Some members of the Nigerian delegation attending the seventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) to the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) have accused their colleagues of promoting tobacco industry interests through misleading interpretation of the treaty guidelines, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

The conference is holding in Delhi, India between November 7 and 12.

The Nigerian delegation includes Christiana Ukoli, the leader and a professor from the Federal Ministry of Health; Ihuoma Ofili of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria; Akinbode Oluwafemi, a civil society activist; Malau Toma of the Ministry of Justice; Ededet Eton, an Assistant Comptroller of Customs, and one Mrs. Abimbola from the Ministry of Justice.

This newspaper learnt that within the Nigerian delegation, while Messrs. Ukoli and Oluwafemi were pro-health, Messrs. Ofili and Abimbola were pro-industry.

Mr. Toma, the Tobacco Desk Officer at the Federal Ministry of Health, was unable to attend the conference due to the inability of the ministry to fund her trip, a Nigerian activist attending the conference who preferred not to be named told PREMIUM TIMES.

On Wednesday, representatives of non-governmental organisations criticised Mrs. Ofili, a Tobacco Control Desk officer at SON, for attempting to sow doubt about the addictiveness of tobacco products—a familiar tobacco industry tactic—despite decades-long consensus on the issue.

“The delegate also recommended watering down protections against industry interference in tobacco control policymaking. The Nigerian Ministry of Health is underrepresented in this year’s Nigerian delegation, heightening suspicions of broader industry interference,” the groups said in a statement.

Another Nigerian activist at the conference said the country’s delegation was singing discordant tunes at the meeting.

“The FCTC recommendations are clear, especially in implementation. Misinterpreting them is the strategy the (tobacco) industry uses to derail implementation,” he added.

The CSOs said some members of the Nigerian delegation advanced arguments criticizing the treaty’s Article 5.3 guidelines limiting parties’ interaction with the tobacco industry, as well as Articles 9 and 10 which recommend measures to reduce the addictiveness of tobacco products.

“It is very disturbing and shocking to civil society and other governments that members of the Nigerian delegation advanced invalid arguments promoted by the tobacco industry, which has a sole aim: raking in profits at the expense of people’s health,” said Philip Jakpor, Nigeria spokesperson of Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT).

Mrs. Ofili could not be reached for comments.

For decades, the tobacco industry has lobbied extensively against tobacco control policies at the national and international levels.

In November 2015, a whistleblower revealed British American Tobacco’s bribery of a Burundi delegate in an attempt to water down, weaken, and block progress on tobacco control at the FCTC. Given Big Tobacco’s well-documented history of influencing FCTC delegates to promote its agenda, participants at these negotiations raised questions about whether Nigeria’s comments were influenced by the industry.

Hellen Neima, a tobacco control advocate from Uganda attending the Conference of the Parties said: “The Nigerian position was the lowest moment of the discussion yesterday. It came in stark contrast to the applause received by other African governments who stood in firm support for protection against tobacco industry intimidation and bullying.”

Members of civil society warned that Nigeria’s comments may threaten advances to public health, including guidelines around the toxicity of tobacco products. Article 9 proposes guidelines for testing and measuring of the contents and emissions of tobacco products, and regulation of the contents and emissions, while Article 10 requires manufacturers and importers of tobacco products to disclose to governmental authorities information about the contents and emissions of tobacco products. They also urged countries to stay united in their prioritization of public health over the industry’s interests.

“The global tobacco treaty makes it explicitly clear that tobacco industry interference poses the single greatest threat to tobacco control. The confusing proposition by Nigeria has the potential of rolling back the united position of the African bloc on the underlying issues,” said John Stewart, deputy campaigns director with Corporate Accountability International.

Despite the Nigerian delegation’s objections, a majority of parties to the global tobacco treaty support a suite of public health provisions, including ones that protect public health policymaking from the tobacco industry’s influence. According to a WHO report released this week, parties to the treaty recognise the industry as the biggest threat to progress.

The global tobacco treaty negotiations are taking place in Greater Noida, India, from November 7-12. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is estimated to save more than 200 million lives when fully implemented.

The global tobacco treaty, known formally as the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) entered into force in 2005.

To date, 179 countries and the European Union have become parties to the treaty. It contains the world’s most effective tobacco control and corporate accountability measures—estimated to save more than 200 million lives by 2050 if fully implemented.

New direct funding available for low- and middle-income countries to regulate tobacco – UN

Nov 8th, 2016
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http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55500

New funding is now available to support tobacco control implementation for low and middle income countries through the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) , currently the strongest global instrument to control tobacco.

If current patterns continue, tobacco will kill about one billion people during the 21st century. By 2030, 80 per cent of those who die due to tobacco use will be those who live in low- and middle-income countries.

The new project will be delivered by the WHO FCTC through a collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other partners. 179 countries and the European Union are Parties to the Convention. The partnership will provide support to low- and middle-income countries as they move to implement new control strategies and policies. The Convention is expected to greatly reduce tobacco use if implemented properly.

In developing countries, the deleterious effects of tobacco are primarily treated as a health matter, which, though important, overlooks serious secondary impacts on social, economic, and environmental progress. Tobacco control is a development issue and successful regulation relies on the contributions from sectors such as commerce, trade, finance, justice, and education. This is why the international community has agreed to incorporate the implementation of the WHO FCTC throughout the entire 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), not only Goal 3, which addresses health and wellbeing.

“The implementation of the WHO FCTC is critical in advancing sustainable development,” said the Head of the FCTC Secretariat, Dr. Vera Luiza da Costa e Silva. “Through the new project, we will take implementation of the WHO FCTC to a new level by providing support and guidance to developing country Parties.”

Through the new initiative, low- and middle-income countries will be able to create and strengthen coordination mechanisms and action across sectors to implement the WHO FCTC. Examples include treaty obligations to ban tobacco advertising and promotion, guarantees that tobacco packaging comes with health warnings, putting an end to smoking in enclosed public spaces and in the workplace, tax increases for tobacco products, and safeguards to keep public health policies free from tobacco industry interference.

Prior work by the UN and Parties to the Convention has revealed support in a number of areas related to social and economic development. Efficient tobacco control measures can have positive impacts on investment and country-specific plans for increasing non-health sector engagement in order to protect health policies that are integral to the implementation of the SDGs.

Douglas Webb, Team Leader on Health and Innovative Financing at the UNDP also welcomed the project: “There is a growing recognition that current tobacco trends and sustainable development cannot coexist. As a committed partner, UNDP welcomes this opportunity to advance tobacco control through better support to national planning, good governance, and protection against tobacco industry interference in policy making.”

Over the next five years, the project will call upon governments from low- and middle-income countries to join in implementing the WHO FCTC. The United Kingdom is helping to make the project possible through generous financial contributions.

PARTIES’ PROGRESS AGAINST INDUSTRY INTERFERENCE, BUT CAN’T LET UP

Nov 8th, 2016
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A recurring theme during plenary discussions on the opening day of COP7 was tobacco industry interference.

From Uruguay and Australia’s landmark legal victories against tobacco giants like Philip Morris International, to plain packaging taking root in countries like the UK and France, Parties’ resolve to stand strong against Big Tobacco’s aggressive attempts to block, weaken, and delay the life-saving measures of the FCTC is stronger than ever.

One of the main focuses of Parties’ statements yesterday, however, was how the tobacco industry interferes in sessions of the COP themselves – whether it’s mobilising front groups to attempt to re-frame the debate, infiltrating the space dedicated to increasing public engagement with the FCTC negotiations, or even getting seats on Party delegations.

Article 5.3 and its guidelines are unambiguous about the participation of the tobacco industry on Parties’ delegations: per recommendations 4.9 and 8.3, Parties should not nominate the tobacco industry as part of its delegations to COP and other FCTC meetings. But at least 11 Parties have done so in recent years, according to an analysis by the Secretariat. Not only that, but a documentary by the BBC revealed late last year that BAT engaged in corporate espionage and bribed politicians and policymakers in the name of buying political influence and undermining tobacco control policies. This included payments to FCTC officials, including an official who was representing a Party at negotiations on the Illicit Trade Protocol.

The good news is that the vast majority of delegations take their obligations under Article 5.3 very seriously, and some at this COP have even voluntarily signed declarations stating they have no conflict of interest with the tobacco industry. This is great progress.

FCA strongly supports the guidelines for Article 5.3. FCA commends the Convention Secretariat for addressing this issue of importance in its report to COP7  (FCTC/COP/7/30), and supports the establishment of a mechanism to enforce adherence to FCTC guidelines on this issue.

If Parties would like to give further consideration to the type of process best suited to bringing sessions of the COP in line with Article 5.3 and its guidelines, FCA suggests that the COP delegation nomination process might involve a declaration of implementation of Article 5.3.

And what about the public? The industry has also infiltrated the very mechanism designed to increase democratic participation in COP sessions – the public gallery. Rule 32 of the Rules of Procedure states that sessions of the COP should be held in public, unless the COP decides that they shall be open or restricted. But, of course, the public badge enables these tobacco industry representatives to walk the halls of the COP to misinform delegates, influence the negotiations, obtain sensitive internal documents, intimidate delegates and NGO observers, and more.

FCA believes that the industry should be prevented from infiltrating COP sessions through the public badge, and recommends that Parties apply a pre-screening process for members of the public to screen out tobacco industry representatives from bona fide members of the public in advance of COP sessions.

FCA also recognises the importance of media attendance at COP sessions and recommends Parties apply a pre-screening process for members of the media to ensure the tobacco industry cannot infiltrate FCTC meetings through the media.

John Stewart and Shuo Peskoe-Young
Corporate Accountability Internationsal

PMI IMPACT: CONTROLLING RESEARCH. CONTROLLING POLICY?

Nov 8th, 2016
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Earlier this year Philip Morris International (PMI) launched PMI IMPACT – a funding initiative for projects “dedicated to fighting illegal trade and related crimes, such as corruption, organized [sic] crime and money laundering”. In its first funding call in 2016, PMI IMPACT invited proposals focusing specifically on the illicit tobacco trade in the European Union (EU). Public organisations, law enforcement, private entities and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) were all encouraged to submit.

The initiative puts forward three focus areas; research, education and awareness, and action. Each proposal is required to address at least one area.

PMI pledged US$100 million for three funding rounds and publicised that more than 200 expressions of interest had been submitted to the first funding call from 170 organisations, including government agencies, universities, research institutes and private entities.

Funding applications are judged by an expert panel, consisting of seven individuals with very close links to various United Nations (UN) agencies. These include Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni, who has previously held 22 UN positions, Catherine Volz, who served in the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for over 18 years, and Suzanne Hayden, former senior advisor to the UNODC.

PMI IMPACT is not the first research funding initiative from the tobacco company. In 2000, it launched the PMI External Research Program (PMERP), which administered grants to scientists for research on multiple topics, including nontobacco causes of cardiovascular diseases and genetic susceptibility to cancers. Such initiatives are tied to the tobacco industry’s long history of producing misleading research, begining with its attempts in the early 1950s to discredit the then newly-proven causal link between smoking and lung cancer. PMI IMPACT can be seen as another attempt at controlling the discourse around science, the research itself and its
outcomes.

The illicit tobacco trade is one of several policy areas where the tobacco industry is attempting to not only gain access to the policy process, but also to take part in this process as a valued expert and stakeholder.

However, given the industry’s historic complicity in the illicit trade, its questionable preexisting research on the topic and its repeated use of illicit trade as a counter argument to the further regulation of its products, its motives in launching PMI IMPACT are arguably spurious.

In 2004, PMI paid the EU $1.25 billion to settle claims over the company’s involvement in tobacco smuggling, and committed to produce an annual ‘Project Star’ report about illicit tobacco in the EU. These reports were created by the global accountancy firm KPMG and have been widely criticised by academics. PMI has also commissioned multiple KPMG reports on illicit tobacco in Australia. Cancer Council Victoria has produced critiques of several of these reports leading to the Australian Government stated in 2013 that “the tobacco industry`s estimates of the size of the illicit market are not considered to be accurate”. Multiple tobacco companies have commissioned similar reports by Deloitte – another global accountancy firm.

Internal documents include examples of PMI internal documents include examples of the company attempting to influence the drafting of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). In 2000, for example, PMI argued to the US Departments of Commerce and Health and Human Services that government involvement with the tobacco industry would be a more effective way of combating illicit trade than the measures put forward in the FCTC. The consultancy group Mongoven, Biscoe & Duchin Inc advised PMI that future FCTC protocols would have a bigger impact on the tobacco industry than the FCTC itself and so should become the company’s main focus. PMI IMPACT might be seen as a key part of continued efforts to undermine policy, particularly the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, known as the Illicit Trade Protocol (ITP).

Calls for new research on a particular topic carry with them the underlying suggestion that pre-existing research is flawed or lacking. The arrival of PMI IMPACT may be an attempt by the industry to further control data on illicit trade and use this to influence policy. With only 17 Parties needed before the ITP enters into force, it is essential that PMI IMPACT, and the research that results from it, are viewed with intense scrutiny by researchers and Governments alike.

Allen Gallagher & Karen Evans-Reeves,
Tobacco Control Research Group,
University of Bath

ARTICLE 9 & 10: WHY TOBACCO PRODUCT REGULATION NEEDS A ‘STEP BY STEP’ APPROACH

Nov 8th, 2016
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At the first Conference of the Parties in 2006, Parties agreed to start developing guidelines for the FCTC, starting with Article 8 on protection from exposure to tobacco smoke and Article 9 on tobacco product regulation. Five COP sessions later and there has been adoption of complete guidelines for Article 8 at COP2, followed by Articles 5.3, 11 and 13 at COP3, and Articles 12 and 14 at COP4. Even the guidelines on Article 6, with respect to tobacco taxation, a highly technical area, only took two sessions to complete and were adopted at COP6.

The approach adopted for guidelines on Articles 9 and 10, product regulation and disclosure, has been much more cautious, for good reason.

Regulation of the contents and emissions of tobacco products can be highly technical requiring sophisticated expertise, may be resource intensive and may risk of unintended consequences, depending on the nature of the regulation.

For these reasons by COP3 there were still no guidelines to be adopted and the working group was mandated to work gradually ‘in a step-by-step process’. The first partial 9 and 10 guidelines were adopted at COP4, and included disclosure and regulation of ingredients (such as flavours) and financing of regulation by the tobacco industry. At COP5 partial guidelines were adopted to reduce the fire risk of cigarettes (reduced ignition propensity).

At COP6 no further partial guidelines were adopted, but COP agreed to mandate the working group to “continue its work in elaborating guidelines in a step-by-step process, and to submit draft partial guidelines or a progress report on the disclosure, testing and measuring of contents and emissions to the next session of the COP”.

Work is still underway on the independent validation of analytical methods with help from WHO, and its expert groups TobReg and TobLabNet. At COP7 partial guidelines are being put forward for adoption on disclosure and design features which increase attractiveness.

This cautious approach to tobacco product regulation is justified by past experience, which has caused serious detriment to public health. The notable example of such failure is ‘low tar’ cigarettes, often called ‘light’ or ‘mild’, introduced by the tobacco industry to counter growing concerns about the health risks of smoking, by promoting supposedly less harmful cigarettes. What the tobacco industry knew, but public health experts took many years to realise, was that they were no less harmful.

Smokers were compensating by smoking so called ‘low tar’ cigarettes harder, allowing more carcinogens to go deeper into the lungs.

Yet the myth of ‘low tar’ continues to reverberate with smokers around the world. Although the FCTC requires a ban on misleading packaging and makes specific reference to terms like ‘low tar’, ‘light’ and ‘mild’, alternative ways of promoting low tar cigarettes through lighter pack colours and other names like ‘smooth’ have emerged.

According to Euromonitor sales of light and ultra-low tar cigarettes continued to grow after the FCTC was adopted, from 423 billion in 1998 to 756 billion in 2008.

An idea receiving more discussion in tobacco product regulation is reducing the addictiveness of cigarettes by reducing nicotine to very low levels. In the US, extensive research is ongoing on this issue. However, prior experiences with regulating nicotine emissions have demonstrated the importance of fully understanding the science and the benefit of regulatory experience in developing international guidelines. Any guideline proposal to regulate the content of nicotine needs to be based on sound science, including the potential for industry manipulation and unintended consequences. At present, no government has implemented a specific approach on nicotine reduction that could provide the basis for international guidelines.

Guidelines for nicotine reduction were discussed at the Article 9 & 10 working group meeting earlier this year. However, many Parties were of the view that such international guidelines would be premature until there is country level experience in implementation of such a policy. FCA agrees with this perspective and urges the COP to wait until there is successful country regulatory experience to draw on before proceeding any further with the development and adoption of guidelines on this issue.

Deborah Arnott,
Action on Smoking and Health

Rob Cunningham,
Canadian Cancer Society

TOBACCO AND DEVELOPMENT: A NEW ERA FOR THE FCTC

Nov 8th, 2016
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At COP7’s opening plenary, the UK fired the starting pistol on a new era for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by investing £15 million pounds (around US$18 million) into FCTC implementation between now and 2021.

This commitment cements the link between development and tobacco control, which was still emerging at previous COPs prior to agreement on the post-2015 development agenda. As the UK said in its statement to the COP, “The inclusion of the FCTC in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a major step forward and recognises that tobacco use negatively impacts on health and development.”

The funding, which supports a new initiative to promote the implementation of the FCTC in low- and middle-income countries, comes from the UK’s aid budget (the UK is the only G7 country to have met the UN’s target to spend 0.7 percent of gross national income on overseas aid). It will be delivered by the FCTC Secretariat to directly support a number of Parties as well as initiatives to promote implementation of the treaty in all low- and middle-income countries.

A key target of the SDGs health goal is to accelerate implementation of the FCTC.

The Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development goes further and states: “Price and tax measures on tobacco can be an effective  and important means to reduce tobacco consumption and health care costs, and represent a revenue stream for financing for development in many countries.” The UK has a lot to offer in tobacco control, with wide-ranging expertise in most areas of the FCTC, including some of the highest taxes in the world combined with a comprehensive and effective strategy to tackle illicit trade.

The Action Agenda also says Parties should strengthen implementation of the WHO FCTC and “support mechanisms to raise awareness and mobilize resources for the convention.” The UK, through its funding commitment, is taking a lead on this and we hope others will follow.

This funding comes at just the right time, as the COP moves from prioritising policy development to implementation. At previous COP sessions the majority of time during the six days of inter-governmental negotiations was dedicated to agreeing on best practices in tobacco control in the form of guidelines for implementation of various FCTC articles. At COP7, no guidelines will be discussed, aside from partial guidelines for Article 9 and 10 (product testing and regulation). At this COP we need to turn our attention instead to developing a coherent and consistent approach to supporting treaty implementation, a process which to date has been ad hoc and underfunded.

The COP will be covering a range of related and overlapping issues: Status on implementation

• Reporting and implementation review (a report from an expert group);
• Impact assessment (which is a key source of information about levels of implementation and gaps and challenges which need addressing for effective treaty implementation).

Mechanisms to support  implementation

• International co-operation for FCTC implementation;
• South-South and triangular co-operation;
• Sustainable measures to strengthen implementation (report of the working group); and
• Financial resources and mechanisms of assistance.

At COP7 we have the opportunity to re-examine how these issues interlink and to develop an efficient and holistic system that will maximise the synergies between them, working in collaboration with other members of the UN family, in particular WHO and the UN Development Programme. Such a system needs to underpin full implementation of the Treaty and provide maximum support to Parties. And we can do this secure in the knowledge that the funding has been provided by the UK to the Secretariat to get the ball rolling.

Deborah Arnott
ASH UK

India may get chunk of UK’s $90 million to WHO tobacco control convention

Nov 8th, 2016
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http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/india-may-get-chunk-of-uk-s-90-million-to-who-tobacco-control-convention-116110801533_1.html

India might get a chunk of the 90 million dollars, funded by the United Kingdom to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) to intensify tobacco control measures across the world.

The FCTC on Tuesday said it had launched a new project under which developing countries will get dedicated support to implement the tobacco control policies.

“Yes, India may be one of the countries. Though nothing has been decided as of now,” said Stella Bialous from the FCTC Secretariat.

Asked if the FCTC had decided countries likely to get immediate dedicated support, Bialous told IANS: “There is no defined way to categories but certainly it will be decided with transparency.”

“Funds will be given to some countries who are already prepared to implement the measures,” said Stella, addressing the press on the second day of the FCTC Convention which commenced on November 7.

According to her, the funding will be decided geographically as well.

On the occasion, FCTC also said that they seek to hike financial contributions from all the countries to the organisation.

“There needs to be an increase as we need to reach out to the world on anti-tobacco policies, “said Bialous.

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