Monday was quite a long, activity-filled day. As I mentioned in a previous post, the regional consultations took place in the morning. In the AMRO discussions, the Article 8 guidelines were the key item under discussion. The content of the guidelines was supported by nearly all of the countries in the AMRO region, but further discussion is slated to take place today.
The plenary was next, during which a number of countries provided brief statements about their country’s approach to tobacco control.
Several countries, such as Mexico, Palau, and Jamaica, took the opportunity to express their support for the Article 8 guidelines.
However, the highlight of the discussions came from the Australia delegation which stated that they would contribute $200,000 USD to the development of protocols and guidelines.
Hopefully, other countries will follow their example and make contributions of their own.
The country statements were followed by statements by three NGOs: Framework Convention Alliance, Corporate Accountability International, and International Alliance of Women.
The plenary ended with presentations by Doug Bettcher, Head of the Tobacco-Free Initiative, on the report of the Interim Secretariat and the report of the UN Ad Hoc Interagency Task Force on Tobacco Control and speeches by Dr. Haik Nikogosian, incoming President of the Convention Secretariat and Ambassador Juan Martabit (Chile), Chair of the Conference of the Parties.
The afternoon began with parallel lunchtime briefings on illicit trade and cross-border advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, followed by plenaries for the two Committees: Committee A which addresses substantive matters (e.g., protocols and the guidelines for implementation) and Committee B which manages procedural matters (e.g., financial resources and mechanisms of assistance).
I was on “booth duty” during the afternoon and was unable to attend any of these sessions firsthand, but according to reports from colleagues, this is what was discussed and decided:
Committee A: It looks like the Article 8 guidelines will be unanimously accepted, but a few parties are tweaking some of the introductory language. The discussion on the Article 8 guidelines will continue tomorrow.
Illicit Trade: A small workgroup was proposed to negotiate a protocol on this issue. The workgroup is likely to include some experts.
Cross-border advertising, promotion, and sponsorship will be discussed tomorrow. The report of the study group on Alternative Crops was shared.
Committe B:
Agenda item 5.2: There have been some challenges with regard to reporting, including lack of response (only 19% of the parties reported their data) and variations in data collection. Five key facilitators were chosen to make recommendations on how Committee B would make revisions to the reporting requirements and procedures.
Agenda item 5.1: With regard to financial resources and mechanisms of assistance, it was suggested that countries conduct a needs assessment. A proposal was presented by Kenya. Discussion on the proposal and on next steps will continue tomorrow.
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