Plain packaging of tobacco products came into effect in Oman in April 2024. The measure is in accordance with Ministerial Decision 67/2023 Deeming an Omani Standard Specification Binding.

Pursuant to decision FCTC/COP7(11), the Convention Secretariat has developed a Database of experts and institutions that can provide Parties, upon request, with technical assistance related to tobacco industry liability.

Tobacco kills 8.7 million people every year, including up to half its users in addition to non-users exposed to deadly second-hand smoke. The burden of tobacco reaches far beyond health, weakening the economy, disrupting social systems and damaging the environment. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) bear a greater portion of the global burden, with over 80% of tobacco users living in LMICs. 

Without adequate investment in tobacco control it is estimated that up to 1 billion people could die from tobacco-related diseases during this century alone.

Urgent and whole-of government action is needed to tackle the tobacco burden, calling for a response from all government sectors. 

The Tobacco Control Sectoral Briefs are series of 13 provided by UNDP that map out roles and first steps different parts of government can take to help achieve the SDGs by reducing tobacco use.

The briefs are available through this webpage. For the moment, they are only available in English, but the translated versions in the other official languages of the United Nations will be available soon.

This webinar will showcase how the WHO FCTC and the negotiations of the Treaty to End Plastic Pollution can be an example of international cooperation that aligns not only with the calls for greater cooperation between the WHO FCTC and UNEP made during COP10, but also the aims of the UN Summit of the Future to create the conditions in which implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development can be more readily achieved through increased cooperation. The webinar will also highlight ASH’s key priorities and perceived opportunities around the plastic treaty negotiations.

Co-sponsors: Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub for Articles 17 and 18, Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Génération Sans Tabac, the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC) and the Stop Tobacco Pollution Alliance (STPA).

Invited entities: Government representatives from health, environmental and other ministries. Tobacco control focal points. Intergovernmental agencies, including WHO, PAHO, WHO Regional Offices, Secretariat of the WHO FCTC, UNEP, INC Secretariat, OHCHR, WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub for Articles 17 and 18, NGO Observers to the Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC.

• Date: 16 April 2024
• Time: 09:00 ET / 06:00 PT / 13:00 GMT
• Duration: 60 minutes
• Interpretation: English, French and Spanish.
• Link for registration to the Zoom session: available here.

Presentations' topics:   

1. The decision on Article 18 of the WHO FCTC adopted by COP10: Decision to protect the environment from the harms of tobacco, an example of global governance coherence and synergy – Dr Adriana Blanco, Secretariat of the WHO FCTC.
2. Cigarette Filters and Tobacco Produce Waste: Problematic and Avoidable Plastics to be banned – Dr Tomas Novotny, San Diego State University. 
3. Mitigating individual, institutional and structural conflicts of interest in UN treaty negotiations. Lessons from the WHO FCTC and the plastic treaty negotiations – Dr Robert Ralston, University of Edinburgh.

Moderator: Laurent Huber, Executive Director, ASH

Format: Three presentations from subject matter experts on the above referenced topics, followed by a Question-and-Answer dialogue with participants.

For additional questions, please, contact kh.cetab@fiocruz.br