INTERNATIONAL. Following the signatures of Ecuador and The Republic of Congo, a total of 100 countries plus the European Community have signed the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Announcing the figure, the WHO said: “With their signatures, 100 governments which represent 4.5 billion people have underscored their intention to become a party to the Convention.” [Editor’s note: That figure has now moved to 102.]
The statement underlines the scale of the challenge faced by the travel retail industry in protecting its right to sell duty free tobacco products in the future.
The FCTC decree encouraged signatory countries to prohibit or restrict duty free sales. The call has already been taken up by Bhutan (banned) and South Africa (proposed ban) and discussed by several other countries, including South Korea and New Zealand.
In February the “˜encouragement’ was stepped up a gear as the WHO has declared that FCTC signatories MUST include measures to restrict or prohibit duty free tobacco sales.
WHO director-general Dr Lee Jon-Wook said: “I commend these [signatory] countries, urge the remaining ones to sign, and encourage all signatories who have not yet ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to do so.”
He said nine countries have now ratified the FCTC. These are Fiji, India, Malta, Mongolia, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Seychelles and Sri Lanka. International Travel Retail Confederation (ITRC) director-general Keith Spinks said the ITRC was continuing to brief duty free companies globally about the threat posed to their sales, especially in Latin America and Africa. He added: “Our main focus is in the Asia/Pacific region where we know there is a specific threat. The New Zealand government has put in place a study looking at the feasibility of banning duty free tobacco products.”
OTHER RECENT WHO/FCTC STORIES
WHO rewrites key anti-duty free clause in tobacco treaty
– 19 February 2004
