New COP and MOP Bureaus Elected

The 10th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, held Feb. 5–10, 2024, in Panama City, elected new members for its Bureau. The Bureau shall serve until the closure of the following regular session of the Conference of the Parties (COP11), including for any intervening extraordinary session.

Reina Roa of Panama was elected president of the Bureau. The vice presidents will be Csaba Kontor of Hungary, Noraryana Binti Hassan of Malaysia, Jawad Al-Lawati of Oman, Nuntavarn Vichit-Vadakan of Thailand and Judith Segnon-Agueh of Benin.

Vichit-Vadakan will also act as rapporteur.

The following parties were designated to act as regional coordinators for the COP:

• Cote d’Ivoire for the African Region;
• Canada for the Region of the Americas;
• Tunisia for the Eastern Mediterranean Region;
• Spain for the European Region;
• Timor-Leste for the South-East Asia Region; and
• New Zealand for the Western Pacific Region.

The Third Session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (MOP3), held Feb. 12–14, 2024, in Panama City, also elected its new Bureau. The new Bureau shall serve until the closure of the following regular session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP4), including for any intervening extraordinary session.

Mansour Zafer Alqahtani from Saudi Arabia was elected president of the Bureau. The vice presidents are Hekali Zhimomi of India, Zliza Fantidou of Cyprus, Vimal Deo of Fiji, Omar Badjie of the Gambia and Marcos Dotta of Uruguay.

Deo will also act as rapporteur.

The following parties were designated to act as regional coordinators for the MOP:

• Gabon for the African Region;
• Paraguay for the Region of the Americas;
• Islamic Republic of Iran for the Eastern Mediterranean Region;
• Greece for the European Region;
• India for the South-East Asia Region; and
• Samoa for the Western Pacific Region.