On 23 December 2014, Spain deposited its instrument of accession to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. Spain, the second of the EU member states to do so, followed Mongolia, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Gabon and Austria.

The first protocol to the WHO FCTC was adopted on 12 November 2012 at the fifth session of the Conference of the Parties in Seoul, Republic of Korea. It is now open for ratification, acceptance, approval, formal confirmation or accession by all WHO FCTC Parties. It will enter into force upon ratification by 40 Parties.

Nine Parties - Cambodia, China, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Thailand and Viet Nam participated in the first in a series of multisectoral workshops to promote ratification of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. The workshop was hosted by the Government of Myanmar and held from 9-11 December in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

Dr Vera Luiza da Costa e Silva, Head of the Convention Secretariat, met Dr Thein Thein Htay, Deputy Minister of Health of Myanmar, today, in advance of the Multisectoral Workshop for Parties to the WHO FCTC in Asia to Promote Ratification of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, which is due to start tomorrow. Heads of departments relevant to tobacco control of the Ministry of Health also participated in the meeting.

A new law took effect on 3 December in Brazil, prohibiting indoor smoking across the country. Before the federal law came into effect, eight states already had their own legislation. The law prohibits smoking of cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, pipes and other tobacco products in public or private places in common use, such as halls and corridors of residential buildings, restaurants and clubs - even if the environment is partially enclosed by a wall, partition, ceiling or awning.

Beijing Government adopted anti-smoking legislation to ban smoking in all indoor public places, workplaces and public transport vehicles on Friday. The regulation is scheduled to become effective on June 1 next year.

According to the bill, smoking is also prohibited in open-air space in kindergartens, schools, child welfare institutions, women and children's hospitals, fitness and sports venues, and cultural relic protection sites that are open to the public.

Hungary has been Party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control since 2005. In recent years, the Government of Hungary has adopted and implemented a series of strong tobacco-control measures. The most important of these are the smoking ban in indoor public places and some outdoor public places, the significant tax increase on cigarettes, the inclusion of combined warnings (text and pictures) on cigarette packages, and the drastic reduction in the number of stores selling tobacco products.

19 November 2014 In his speech concerning the budget and economic policy of the Government of Ghana, the Minister of Finance, Seth E Terkper, indicated that Ghana will move towards increasing the excise duty rate of tobacco products. This increase will improve compliance by Ghana with Article 6 of the Convention and will be in line with the guidelines for implementation of Article 6, adopted at the sixth session of the COP in October 2014.

The WHO FCTC Secretariat together with colleagues from the WHO and other UN agencies conducted needs assessment missions in Jamaica, Congo and Togo in August 2014. These missions were possible through the funding by the EU.

A series of meetings were held with stakeholders from various government agencies, civil society, academia, UN and donor organizations, to discuss achievements and challenges and to identify needs and gaps in implementation of the WHO FCTC.

Austria ratified the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products and has become its fifth Party. It is the first country of the European Union to ratify the Protocol, and also the first from the European Region of WHO.  

The new pictorial warnings notification by Government of India mandates 85% pictorial warnings on both sides of the tobacco product packages. The notification was issued on 15 October 2014 and is to come into effect from 1 April 2015.

Of the 85 per cent space of the warning, 60 per cent will be devoted to pictures while 25 per cent will be covered by text. Currently, the size of the warning is 40 per cent.