Tag: Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products

Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade Turns Six

The Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products celebrates its sixth anniversary today.
The international treaty, which currently has 69 parties, aims to eliminate all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products through a comprehensive package of measures to be implemented by countries in cooperation with each other. The protocol builds upon and complements Article 15 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which requires parties to implement measures to counter illicit trade in tobacco products, such as supply chain control measures and cooperation in law enforcement and prosecution.  
The protocol also addresses issues such as transnational organized crime, corruption, money laundering, national security, losses in government revenues, poverty and tobacco-related diseases. 
According to the World Health Organization, illicit trade accounts for about 11 percent of total global tobacco trade, and its elimination could increase global tax revenues by an estimated $47.4 billion annually.
September 25, 2024
Jordan Joins Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade

Image: konstan/JaRiRiyawat
Jordan has joined the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade of Tobacco Products, reports The Jordan Times.
Health Minister Firas Hawari described the step as an important milestone for the success of the National Action Plan 2024-2026, which is part of the broader National Tobacco Control Strategy 2024-2030.
The Protocol is based on Article 15 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, to which Jordan was one of the first countries to accede.
This article addresses the threats posed by illicit trade and the measures that countries must take to prevent it. The protocol aims to strengthen cooperation between countries, facilitate the exchange of information, and enforce effective measures.
August 1, 2024
COP11 and MOP4 Meetings Announced

Photo: Olrat
The World Health Organization has announced the approximate dates of the 11th session of the conference of the parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (COP11) and the fourth session of the meeting of the parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (MOP4).
COP11 will take place in the week of Nov. 17, 2025, at the Geneva International Conference Centre.
MOP4 will take place in the week of Nov. 24, 2025, at the WHO headquarters.
The specific dates will be communicated later.
June 7, 2024
New COP and MOP Bureaus Elected
Photo: butenkow
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.
February 27, 2024
Anti-Illicit Trade Convention Concludes

Photo: Ivan Semenovych
The Third session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP3) to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products concluded Feb. 15 with new commitments to combat the black market.
“Our meeting this week took important decisions on tobacco tracking-and-tracing systems and approved a road map to conduct evidence-based research on illicit trade,” said Adriana Blanco Marquizo, who as head of the Secretariat of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control also oversees the Protocol.
“We also agreed on improvements for the reporting system our Parties use, which will strengthen the quality of data on implementation of the Protocol that can help guide future tobacco control efforts,” she said in a statement.
The MOP is the governing body of the Protocol, which is an international treaty that entered into force in 2018 and aims to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products through a package of measures to be taken by countries acting in cooperation with one another.
“It is a global solution to a global problem,” said Blanco Marquizo.
Illicit trade accounts for about 11 percent of total global tobacco trade, and its elimination could increase global tax revenues by an estimated $47.4 billion annually.
Representatives from 56 Parties to the Protocol and 27 non-Party States gathered in Panama City, Feb.12-14 to tackle a range of issues from progress on implementation of the treaty to sustainable financing for tobacco control.
MOP3 also adopted the Panama Declaration that calls on national governments to be alert for what it described industry campaign to undermine efforts to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products.
The Panama Declaration also emphasized the need for effective action to prevent and combat illicit trade in tobacco products, which requires a comprehensive international approach to—and close cooperation on—all aspects of illicit trade in tobacco, tobacco products and tobacco manufacturing equipment.
Contradicting the observations of some tobacco grower representatives and consumer activists, the WHO said MOP3 was open to the media.
February 16, 2024
EU Tracking System Under Fire in Panama

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
During the meeting in Panama of the parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (MOP3), European Member of Parliament Anne-Sophie Pelletier today expressed her concerns about the shortcomings of the European tobacco product tracing system.
According to Pelletier, the Dentsu tracking system fails to comply with World Health Organization protocol—which the EU ratified in 2016—in part due to its association with the tobacco business.
Dentsu’s system is split between IT firms that operate information-tracking databases on those codes for individual manufacturers and importers, and an overarching level that gathers all that data into a “secondary data repository.” At the end of 2018, Dentsu Tracking, a subsidiary of Japan’s Dentsu Group, was awarded a contract to operate this secondary repository.
During a debate in Brussels on Feb. 8, European lawmakers highlighted the inefficiency of the European tobacco product tracing system, with several member states lamenting an increase in the level of tobacco parallel trade since its implementation in 2019.
Furthermore, European parliamentarians questioned the choice of Dentsu Tracking as the provider, and that company’s recruitment of Jan Hoffmann, a former official of the EU’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG Sante), as director of its regulatory affairs and compliance division.
Dentsu has denied that Hoffman had any part in either awarding the contract to the company during his stint at DG Sante, or that he is using his Commission contacts to help the company in any way. “His hiring at Dentsu was carried out in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations,” Dentsu Tracking’s CEO Philippe Castella was quoted as saying by Politico in 2023.
February 13, 2024
Panama Anti-Illicit Trade Meeting Kicks Off

Photo: Europol
The Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products kicks off today in Panama City.
The gathering brings together 68 parties that have been working together to halt illegal trade in tobacco products. The meeting, which will run until Feb. 15, is the third such gathering of the Parties to the Protocol and the first since 2021.
According to the World Health Organization, illicit trade accounts for about 11 percent of total global tobacco trade, and its elimination could increase global tax revenues by an estimated $47.4 billion annually.
Adriana Blanco Marquizo, head of the Secretariat of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control said that, despite its claims to the contrary, the tobacco industry profits from the illicit trade. “Implementing the protocol generates substantial funds for parties as it safeguards important tax revenues that can be utilized by governments to finance sustainable development,” she said in a statement.
The Meeting of the Parties will review the efforts underway to implement a tracking and tracing system.
A key component of the global tracking and tracing regime is the global information-sharing focal point, and the first phase of that initiative will begin to become available to parties once the meeting concludes.
Following an initial pilot phase, the new system will be open to all parties to the protocol, helping them to further secure the tobacco supply chain and assist in investigations.
The Meeting of the Parties will also consider ways to improve implementation of the protocol, determine the road ahead and highlight the need for additional evidence-based research. Reporting and information-sharing mechanisms will also be considered, as the sharing of experiences and best practices among parties is key to advancing the fight against illicit trade.
In addition to the parties that are signatories to the protocol, which is an international treaty, the meeting will host observers, including countries that are not yet parties to the treaty.
February 12, 2024
WHO Releases Provisional Agendas

Photo: Alexey Novikov
The World Health Organization has released its provisional agendas for the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the 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 (MOP3), the FCTC announced on its website.
Held in Panama, COP10 will take place Nov. 20-25 and MOP3 will take place Nov. 27-30.
The provisional COP10 agenda is here and the provisional MOP3 agenda is here. Participants in COP10 can register here and participants in MOP3 can register here.
Guidance on registration is also available on the FCTC website.
The FCTC is the first international treaty negotiated under the auspices of the WHO. It was adopted by the World Health Assembly on May 21, 2003, and entered into force on Feb. 27, 2005.
The Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products is the first protocol to the FCTC, and a new international treaty in its own right. The Protocol builds upon and complements Article 15 of the FCTC, which addresses means of countering illicit trade in tobacco products. It was adopted by consensus on Nov. 12, 2012, at the fifth session of the Conference of the Parties to the FCTC in Seoul and entered into force on Sept. 25, 2018. The Protocol currently includes 67 Parties.
July 6, 2023
MOP2 to ‘Strengthen Implementation’ of Protocol

Photo: Tobacco Reporter archive
The second Meeting of the Parties (MOP2) to the Protocol on Eliminating Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products ended today. This session built on the foundations of the treaty that only entered into force three years ago. The meeting was conducted virtually due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The three-day session saw a series of key decisions adopted, including the launch of an innovative plan to ensure reliable funding for the protocol. To strengthen implementation of the protocol, parties agreed to set up a new investment fund to help support the drive to end the illicit tobacco trade.
This new initiative will source financial contributions beyond the traditional health sector, establishing a capital investment fund, the earned revenue of which will be used to support the activities of the protocol.
The protocol provides tools for preventing illicit trade by securing the supply chain. MOP2 has developed a road map that will help improve the global track-and-trace system. The objective is to secure the tobacco supply chain and prevent the manufacture and circulation of illicit tobacco products. Parties to the protocol also agreed to develop a global network so that they can exchange information on the movement of tobacco products.
Fifty-nine parties to the MOP attended the session. The MOP2 also agreed to strengthen international cooperation to ensure greater assistance between parties—a step that is expected to accelerate the adoption of best practices and support the introduction of innovations. The parties also adopted a strategy for mechanisms of assistance and mobilization of financial resources to deepen the implementation of the protocol.
“Taxation is the single most effective tool for reducing tobacco use, but illicit trade in tobacco products undermines the effectiveness of tax policies,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghedreyesus, director general of the WHO, in a statement. “Illicit tobacco products also exacerbate inequalities because they are often cheaper and more accessible to vulnerable populations, such as young people.”
Adriana Blanco Marquizo, head of the WHO FCTC secretariat, said, “The protocol also supports us on matters that have been linked to our very safety and security. It is recognized that illicit trade in tobacco products is connected to transnational organized crime, raising income for its activities. Indeed, we have many reasons to work together to strengthen the effectiveness of the protocol.”
The next Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol will be held in Panama in 2023, along with the 10th Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
November 17, 2021
Illicit Trade Protocol Parties Convene

Photo: BAT
The participants in the World Health Organization Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products will convene Nov. 15–18 in the so-called meeting of the parties (MOP2). The virtual meeting follows the ninth Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which concluded last week.
The protocol, which entered into force in 2018, aims to combat illicit trade in tobacco, which according to the parties undermines tobacco control policies and public health. Parties to the protocol have enacted or strengthened national legislation aimed at tackling illicit trade in tobacco products.
Every year, an estimated $47 billion is lost globally to illicit trade in tobacco products. To reduce this loss and improve the effectiveness of tobacco control legislation, the parties this week will consider ways to move forward on implementation of the protocol, including amplifying its effects through improving international cooperation.
“We have serious work to conduct at this meeting,” said Adriana Blanco Marquizo, head of the FCTC secretariat, in a statement ahead of the gathering. “Not only does the illicit trade in tobacco products undermine progress being made on taxing tobacco products, but illicit trade is linked to cross-border organized crime and other activities which threaten our security.”
Among other topics, the parties will discuss ways of securing the supply chain of tobacco products; tracking and tracing technologies are key to achieving this objective. They will also propose the creation of a $25 billion fund to help finance the protocol. This potential new source of financial contributions is targeted at investors outside the traditional health sector.
Along with parties, there will be several state nonparty observers attending as well as a number of tobacco control organizations whose request for observer status is expected to be accepted by the MOP2.
The number of parties to the protocol will soon reach 64 as the treaty enters into force in the most recent country to have ratified it.
November 15, 2021