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Tag: FCTC

  • Good Cop 2.0 Concludes with Focus on Prohibitionist Policies

    Good Cop 2.0 Concludes with Focus on Prohibitionist Policies

    The final day of Good COP 2.0 highlighted the global consequences of strict, prohibitionist tobacco control measures. Speakers drew attention to the rise in illicit trade, gang violence, and punitive enforcement, attributing these outcomes to policies like heavy taxation and rigid pre-market approval systems promoted under WHO guidelines, which often overlook scientific evidence and consumer behavior.

    “There is a portion of people that you’ll never reach by only appealing to the evidence,” said author Jacob Grier. “It’s also important to change the framing and shift the culture.”

    Panel discussions explored the real-world harms of fundamentalist approaches and stressed the importance of including consumer perspectives in policymaking. Experts also outlined frameworks for effective, humane nicotine regulation, including suggestions that U.S. reforms might require a partial repeal of the Tobacco Control Act and a more measured FDA approach.

    The event concluded with an open forum, allowing participants to reflect on the week’s discussions and emphasizing the urgent need for reform within the WHO’s FCTC framework to create balanced, evidence-based global tobacco policy.

    “Of the funds that are contributed to the WHO, a significant percentage goes to the FCTC Secretariat,” said professor Tikki Pangestu. “Only a small amount goes toward running the programs. Meanwhile, a growing percentage of WHO funding comes not from member nations, but from outside groups with dubious agendas.”

  • ‘Forward-Looking Measures’ Spark Tension at COP11

    ‘Forward-Looking Measures’ Spark Tension at COP11

    Each day after the COP11 sessions end, the Global Alliance for Tobacco Control (GATC) posts a bulletin online that includes various thoughts and information from the day, including “awards” for groups it either agrees or disagrees with. The focus of yesterday’s bulletin (November 19) centered around the 16 “forward-looking measures” related to Article 2.1 of the WHO FCTC.

    Apparently, the forward-looking measures discussion created some provocative conversation as the GATC awarded its “dirty ashtray” distinction “To all the Parties who—incorrectly and, quite astonishingly, in unison—insisted that the Article 2.1 Draft Decision would impose new obligations, when it simply ‘invites’ Parties to ‘consider’ the 16 forward-looking measures.”

    In the section of the bulletin written by Cassandre Bigaignon and Amélie Eschenbrenner, they wrote, “Honestly, after sitting through multiple statements warning of ‘new obligations,’ ‘attacks on sovereignty,’ and declarations of countries being ‘simply not ready’ to implement these forward-looking measures, we have to ask: Were we all reading the same document?

    “So when a delegation raises the concern of ‘imposed new obligations,’ it fundamentally misrepresents the document’s intent, which is to expand the toolbox, encourage innovation, and share best practices, not bind Parties to new requirements.”

    The authors finished that section foreshadowing the next, in which they criticized the European Union, saying, “Amidst this debate on progressive action, the European Union’s silence today sure was deafening.” In the section titled, The EU at a Crossroads: Strong Leadership or a Silence that Serves the Tobacco Industry, they wrote, “Without consensus, the EU could lose its ability to speak and negotiate as a bloc at COP11, with significant global consequences. A divided EU would signal weakened resolve precisely as tobacco and nicotine industries intensify interference, exploit regulatory gaps, and push narratives aimed at stalling public health advances.

    “The stakes extend far beyond EU diplomacy. Division or silence within the region would directly benefit an industry that thrives on regulatory uncertainty. As newer nicotine products rapidly expand across Europe under the guise of ‘harm reduction’ and legislative progress stalls, strong European leadership is urgently needed.

    “The EU must seize the opportunity to speak with one strong voice at COP11. The world is watching, and failure to act would hand the advantage to an industry fundamentally opposed to public health. Europe can still stand together, if it chooses to do so.”

    In its parallel bulletin that covers the information from COP11 that gets released, Copwatch responded by saying, “GATC’s bulletin begins by calling out the dissenting EU member states. This is curious because the deliberations around reaching the EU’s common position on COP are supposed to be private.  Whilst it is true that there have been several leaks relating to the doomed struggles to reach a common position—the so-called ‘forward-looking measures’ having provoked such a backlash—GATC’s privileged position should prevent it from revealing what should be confidential information.  

    “This section ends with the appeal that ‘the world is watching.’ Sorry to break this to you, GATC, but…thanks to the secretive nature of the COP meetings, thanks to there being more compelling events for the world’s media to focus on, and thanks to the fact that people who smoke have been so thoroughly stigmatized—no, the world is not watching. The world doesn’t care much about FCTC COP.  But actually, we suspect that suits you just fine.”  

  • Philippines Defends Tobacco-Growers at COP11

    Philippines Defends Tobacco-Growers at COP11

    The Philippine delegation at COP11 earned praise from agricultural and civil society groups for emphasizing the country’s sovereign right to evaluate proposed global measures according to national priorities and capacities. Ambassador Carlos Sorreta, head of the delegation, highlighted the need for “socially and economically responsible” transitions that protect communities dependent on tobacco cultivation, noting that the crop continues to support livelihoods across nearly 20 provinces.

    Sorreta underscored that FCTC guidance is non-binding and should complement existing national efforts rather than impose restrictions. Local organizations, including the Northern Luzon Alliance, applauded this stance, warning that measures such as ending government support, imposing quotas, or phasing out tobacco sales would be “unrealistic, overly punitive and incompatible with the country’s agricultural and economic realities,” potentially threatening rural livelihoods and linked industries.

    The Federation of Free Farmers echoed these concerns, noting tobacco’s critical role in sustaining rural communities. It commended the delegation for prioritizing farmers’ welfare, arguing that the approach reflects a clear understanding of on-the-ground realities and protects not only the economic stability of tobacco-growing regions but also the dignity and future of the families who rely on this crop.

  • Brazil Attacking its Own Farmers, Critics Say

    Brazil Attacking its Own Farmers, Critics Say

    The International Tobacco Growers’ Association (ITGA) criticized Brazil for sending an “anti-tobacco” delegation to COP11, pointing out the hypocrisy for the third-largest tobacco grower in the world. In contrast, it pointed to Poland, which reportedly defended its 30,000 growers who held protests in Warsaw ahead of the conference.

    “Farmers also highlighted the hypocrisy of reducing European production only to replace it with imports,” the ITGA wrote in its daily update. “In Geneva, Poland’s delegation reinforced these concerns with strong statements defending growers and calling for balanced policymaking.

    “In stark contrast, Brazil—where more than 133,000 farming families rely on tobacco—has sent one of the most aggressively anti-tobacco delegations, showing little regard for the livelihoods at stake in its own domestic sector.”

    Romeu Schneider, vice president of Afubra (the Tobacco Growers’ Association of Brazil), voiced his opposition to the Brazilian government’s tobacco policy. “Brazil should never have ratified the FCTC, as it compromises national sovereignty and threatens Brazil’s tobacco market, which is valued for its quality and volume and has promoted many social and environmental initiatives in rural communities,” he said. “Tobacco is economically and financially crucial for a developing country like Brazil, yet current policies risk ceding this market to other countries. These measures are deeply concerning and place Brazilian producers in a difficult position, prompting strong indignation from our side.”

  • GATC Awards at COP11 Draw Criticism

    GATC Awards at COP11 Draw Criticism

    As predicted, New Zealand was given a “Dirty Ashtray Award” by the Global Alliance for Tobacco Control (GATC) at the World Health Organization’s FCTC COP11. The “award” is a symbolic dishonor given to countries or delegations that “are seen as obstructing progress on tobacco control or aligning too closely with tobacco industry interests.” Even though New Zealand has one of the world’s lowest smoking rates and some of the strictest tobacco controls, Copwatch correctly predicted it would receive the slight because the nation openly promotes harm reduction.

    The GATC said New Zealand’s citation is “for trying to portray their current tobacco control plan as a success when in reality, since COP10, they’ve reversed world-leading reforms, sabotaged Indigenous tobacco-free aspirations, have alarming vaping rates among young people, and have plummeted from 2nd to 53rd on the global index for tobacco industry interference.

    New Zealand’s legislative reversal is being used by tobacco industry interests globally to push bad policy.”

    New Zealand has a 6.8% smoking rate (the fifth-lowest in the world), with a pack of cigarettes costing just under NZ$50 ($28), plain packaging requirements, and a strict smoking policy that pretty much bans smoking in all public places. Conversely, Mexico’s smoking rate is 15.4% and the average cost for a pack of cigarettes is $0.70, and yet it was awarded the “Orchid Award” by GATC for “powerful and uncompromising statements against the tobacco industry.”

    The seemingly nonsensical awards drew sharp criticism.

    “The (Bloomberg-funded) Global Alliance for Tobacco Control has given the Dirty Ashtray award to New Zealand for having one of the world’s lowest smoking rates but doing it in a way that Bloomberg disapproves,” Institute of Economic Affairs head Chris Snowden wrote on his X account. The global Tobacco Industry Interference Index, for which New Zealand was criticized for having dropped on, is financed by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

    “Prohibitionist campaigners are annoyed that New Zealand has embraced harm reduction, pointing to ‘alarming vaping rates among young people,’” Alastair Cohen wrote for Clearing the Air. “Youth vaping rates have fallen for three successive years in New Zealand. Mexico was awarded at COP11. Mexico’s smoking rates are more than double those of New Zealand.”

    The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) was also quick to condemn the awards. “Awarding the Dirty Ashtray to a country that is reducing smoking through harm reduction is not public health advocacy,” said CAPHRA Executive Coordinator Nancy Loucas. “It is ideological obstruction.” 

    “Prohibition-driven NGOs have placed ideology ahead of public health outcomes,” CAPHRA said in a statement. “The FCTC Secretariat has permitted well-funded NGOs to dominate proceedings, pressure delegations, and exclude voices with lived experience, many of whom were denied access to COP11.

    “This decision reflects how the COP process has been driven by prohibitionist ideology rather than evidence and demonstrated public health success. These results are driven by harm reduction and regulated vaping, yet GATC dismisses the progress as ‘tobacco industry interference,’ ignoring the substantial health gains achieved.”

  • THR Advocates Criticize COP11 Transparency, Agenda

    THR Advocates Criticize COP11 Transparency, Agenda

    As the Eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the WHO FCTC opened yesterday, many tobacco/nicotine industry and tobacco harm reduction advocates watched the livestream intently, as only parts of the first and fifth days are scheduled to be made available to the public and media, a fact that draws significant disapproval from the event’s critics. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO opened the event, saying, “We are so used to hearing ‘tobacco kills us’, it no longer shocks us… If tobacco were a virus, we would call it a pandemic.” According to his X account, he called upon Parties to advance implementation, be aware of “tobacco industry tactics,” and invited Parties to join the FCTC.

    Ghebreyesus’ speech was criticized on X by the World Vapers’ Alliance, which said, “First up, @DrTedros, first lie. He claims vapes and pouches are not harm-reduction products but harm production. Science and millions of former smokers strongly disagree. He further says there is no evidence for their net public health benefit. This is wrong. Every smoker who switches to less harmful alternatives gains clear health benefits. It’s not rocket science.”

    One of the more prominent critics of COP11 is Clive Bates, the director of Counterfactual Consulting Limited, an organization that attempts to bring information from the closed meetings to public view.

    “The FCTC COP has extremely poor openness, transparency, and viewpoint diversity,” Bates wrote on his website. “Delegates should welcome and demand a broader range of observers at COP meetings and greater transparency to avoid a situation where one billionaire funder can speak through dozens of ‘civil society’ organizations.”  

    Leading up to COP11, once the agenda was released, Bates offered a commentary on each section, which he summed up by saying, “In overview, the agenda is weak, with the greatest priority given to matters that fall outside the FCTC, and a contemptuous dismissal of Parties’ request for a balanced and objective discussion of the potential for tobacco harm reduction. The COP should focus on the big issue: How to drive down global smoking?”  

    Listed on the agenda for today (November 18), was the introduction of the Convention Secretariat report, titled “Implementation of measures to prevent and reduce tobacco consumption, nicotine addiction and exposure to tobacco smoke, and the protection of such measures from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in light of the tobacco industry’s narrative on ‘harm reduction’ (Articles 5.2(b) and 5.3 of the WHO FCTC) – proposed by Parties.”  

    “This is the worst FCTC COP paper I have ever read, and that is quite an achievement,” wrote Bates. “Two main issues should disturb Parties, whatever view delegates take on the substantive matters: 1. The contemptuous and dismissive attitude towards one or more Parties seeking a substantive discussion of a serious public health strategy. I have never seen a convention secretariat behave in this way in this or any other convention.  2. The quality of the analysis and understanding shown in the paper about the subject under discussion, tobacco harm reduction. This is dismissed as a form of tobacco industry interference. Yet, it has the support of several Parties, high-credibility organizations such as the Royal College of Physicians, and many of the world’s top independent experts.” 

  • COP11, Good Gop 2.0 Both Open in Geneva

    COP11, Good Gop 2.0 Both Open in Geneva

    The 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) began today (November 17) in Geneva, bringing together global health leaders and over 1,400 delegates from 183 countries for the week-long event. The conference “aims to strengthen international cooperation to combat tobacco use, rising nicotine addiction, and environmental harm caused by cigarette products.” Discussions are expected to revolve around familiar topics such as youth smoking, flavorings, and cigarette butt pollution. Delegates are also expected to address “aggressive marketing” of tobacco and nicotine products, youth vaping, and strategies to combat the illicit tobacco trade.

    Running parallel, and just steps away from COP11, is Good Cop 2.0, an event hosted by the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, designed to be a rapid-response and fact-checking forum to counter discussions from the WHO. “The event aims to unite taxpayer-, free-market-, and harm-reduction organizations to challenge misinformation and present alternative, evidence-based perspectives. It is intended to be an open forum for consumers, independent scientists, and journalists who are often excluded from WHO’s closed-door sessions.”

    Speaking on one of the Good Cop panels today, Clive Bates, a public health consultant and director of Counterfactual Consulting, summed up WHO critics’ frustration that stems from having decisions that will influence global tobacco control and public health policies for years to come being made in secrecy, behind closed doors, with virtually no input from consumers or industry.

    “There’s no harm and having discussions about the frontier ideas of tobacco control,” said Bates. “[But COP11 is] a really graphic illustration of the weakness of expert groups. The experts that have been chosen to come up with these figures are [basically] fringe fanatics in the tobacco control world. In any normal conversation with users or consumers, a lot of these ideas would seem mad.

    “That’s the danger of getting away from the working groups. The working groups of parties have to think about the politics of actually delivering this to the actual public, whereas the expert groups are fanatics pushing forward an agenda to the extremes of what they think they can get away with.”

  • EU Abstains from COP11 Vote Amid Internal Disagreements

    EU Abstains from COP11 Vote Amid Internal Disagreements

    “The European Union will not participate in a vote on a revised treaty at the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (COP11) in Geneva,” Brussels Signal reported today (November 17), highlighting deep divisions among member states over tobacco policy. Internal EU disagreements pit “progressive” countries that support stricter measures like flavor bans and plain packaging against more cautious states that advocate for harm-reduction tools and consumer choice. Attempts to reach a consensus under the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU reportedly failed, despite a proposed compromise, the article said.

    The abstention has sparked mixed reactions. Public health advocacy groups expressed concern that a weakened EU position could embolden tobacco industry tactics, while harm-reduction proponents, including the World Vapers Alliance, welcomed the outcome as preserving space for evidence-based policies. Analysts warn that overly broad restrictions could drive consumers back to combustible cigarettes or underground markets, undermining public health gains.

  • CAPHRA Calls on Philippines to Champion Consumers at COP11 

    CAPHRA Calls on Philippines to Champion Consumers at COP11 

    The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) appealed to the Philippines’ Department of Health (DOH) to represent Filipino consumers at the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), scheduled to begin November 17 in Geneva. In a letter to Health Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa, CAPHRA said consumers have been excluded from FCTC discussions for 20 years. Philippine representative Clarisse Virgino stressed that millions of Filipinos have shifted from smoking to regulated alternatives such as vapes and heated tobacco, demonstrating that harm reduction works.

    CAPHRA pointed to the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act, enacted in 2022, as a model for risk-proportionate, science-based regulation. The group urged the DOH to recognize harm reduction as a public health pillar, share Filipino consumers’ success stories with COP11 delegates, and advocate for greater consumer and scientific participation in global tobacco policy.

    Virgino said the Philippines could show regional leadership by promoting inclusive, evidence-based policies as several Asia-Pacific nations, including Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, tighten vaping regulations.

  • WHO’s Tobacco Targeting Threatens Zimbabwe’s Economy

    WHO’s Tobacco Targeting Threatens Zimbabwe’s Economy

    Zimbabwe’s multi-billion-dollar tobacco industry is confronting a potential crisis as the World Health Organization (WHO) considers pushing for tighter global controls—and potentially a ban on tobacco production—over alleged child labor, environmental harm, and concentration of market power in financing, according to Bulawayo. If enforced, the measures could devastate Zimbabwe’s economy. Tobacco is the country’s fourth-largest foreign currency earner after gold, platinum, and remittances, generating $1.2 billion in 2025 and supporting more than 135,000 growers.

    Agriculture Minister Dr. Anxious Masuka said the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and other anti-tobacco forums were intensifying efforts to discourage production in developing countries. He said such measures would not only devastate economies like Zimbabwe’s but also deepen poverty among farmers who depend on the crop. At a recent T5 Meeting in Harare, attended by regional producers including Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, Masuka warned that anti-tobacco efforts under the FCTC threaten livelihoods and national stability. He argued that tobacco remains a legal crop and an adult-choice product, and that attempts to criminalize its production were unjustified.

    Masuka said the Tobacco Value Chain Transformation Plan—which aims to raise output to 500 million kg by 2030, increase local financing, and promote value addition—will strengthen sustainability while diversifying farmer incomes. Zimbabwe achieved a record 355 million kg harvest last season, its highest ever. However, analysts warn that if the WHO proceeds with restrictions or trade barriers, the country could face severe economic fallout, threatening export revenues and rural livelihoods amid existing inflation and drought pressures.