GSTHR Paper Explains COP10
The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction project reminds advocates about the Briefing Paper explaining the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and Conference of the Parties
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by Dave Cross
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In short, the FCTC is an agreement between countries on how to tackle tobacco related issues and the COP is the conference where they come together for a jolly.
“Decisions taken at these meetings influence how international tobacco control policies are implemented at a national level. The decisions taken at COP10 will be very significant in determining the future of safer nicotine products, such as nicotine vapes, snus, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products,” says GSTHR.
COPWATCH recently said: “COP10 preparations are advancing when it comes to the FCTC Secretariat. The provisional agenda and some other documents were published earlier this month.”
“Storm clouds continue to gather over the global future of tobacco harm reduction,” says harm reduction advocacy expert Martin Cullip in an article for Filter Magazine.
Cullip highlights how the WHO is pushing for nations to adopt traditional tobacco control measures for legislation applied to vaping.
Worryingly, he adds: “There appears to be no room for objective evaluation of the science in advance of COP10. Instead, the WHO is dishonestly railroading delegates toward a preordained outcome of heavy restrictions and prohibition when they gather in Panama.”
The GSTHR Briefing is an excellent explainer of what the representatives from more than 180 countries will be getting up to.
It provides an overview of the FCTC COP, covering:
- What is the FCTC, what are COP meetings and how do they function?
- Who attends and contributes to COP meetings?
- Which non-state observers are present at COP meetings?
- How can those who are not participants engage with COP meetings?
Previously, Professor Gerry Stimson, Emeritus Professor at Imperial College London, said: “With no media present, FCTC COP meetings are shrouded in a secrecy more akin to a UN Security Council meeting – and in direct contrast to other COP meetings, for example those on climate change. This Briefing Paper gives policymakers, health officials and consumers more insight into the processes of COP10 and the opportunity to engage more fully prior to and during the event in Panama.”
The Briefing Paper is currently available in (click to access or see below): English, French, German, Indonesian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. Further translations (Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Russian and Swahili) will be uploaded to the Briefing Paper’s translations page shortly.
If sharing on social media, the most commonly used hashtag for discussions around WHO FCTC COP10 is #COP10. Tag @GlobalStateTHR if sharing on Twitter/X.
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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