{"id":494,"date":"2012-11-27T13:56:50","date_gmt":"2012-11-27T13:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/?p=494"},"modified":"2012-11-27T13:56:50","modified_gmt":"2012-11-27T13:56:50","slug":"strengthening-fctc-implementation-an-overview-from-seoul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/tc\/2012\/11\/27\/strengthening-fctc-implementation-an-overview-from-seoul\/","title":{"rendered":"Strengthening FCTC implementation: An overview from Seoul"},"content":{"rendered":"

Francis Thompson<\/strong>
\nFramework Convention Alliance<\/strong><\/p>\n

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Conference of the Parties (COP) held its fifth session in Seoul, Korea from the 12th to the 17th of November 2012. There were a number of important developments, both in adopting new policy guidance for the 176 Parties to the FCTC and in discussing how to speed up implementation.<\/p>\n

On the policy side, the highest-profile decision was the adoption of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade (commonly referred to as the ITP). This new treaty, which has been under formal negotiation since 2008, will come into force once it has been ratified by 40 Parties, a process which may take several years. A comparatively small amount of money ($350,000) was set aside in the 2014-15 budget for preparing the first Meeting of the Parties to the ITP, with the Convention Secretariat being mandated to raise further money to prepare implementation.<\/p>\n

In a related discussion, the COP rejected an application by Interpol to become an official observer at the COP because of concerns about Interpol’s decision, announced in June 2012, to accept a \u20ac15 million donation from Philip Morris International. This rejection was both highly embarrassing to Interpol, and an important signal to governments, as the tobacco industry is widely expected to attempt to offer \u2018technical assistance\u2019 for ITP implementation.<\/p>\n

ITP adoption was largely a formality, the heavy lifting of finalising the text of the Protocol having been completed in April. On tax and price measures (Article 6 of the Convention), the task facing the COP was considerably more complicated: an intersessional working group was proposing draft guidelines that were seen as generally good but needed some further editing. The draft was referred to an open-ended working group that met in parallel to the two main committees of the COP.<\/p>\n

In the end, the Parties were unable to complete the drafting process, but did adopt a \u2018set of guiding principles and recommendations\u2019 \u2013 which is expected to be useful for tobacco tax advocacy. In particular, the adopted document recommends regular adjustments to tax levels to take into account both inflation and income growth; specific tax systems, or mixed specific\/ad valorem systems with a minimum specific tax floor; and long-term tobacco tax policies with tax rate targets. Australia undertook to pay for further work on the guidelines in 2013.<\/p>\n

Other developments on the policy front:<\/p>\n