Geneva, 22 May 2018
Office of the
Secretary General
Dear Madam Speaker,
Dear Mr Speaker,
In March 2018 Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General, and I
wrote to you to ask for your support in ensuring the ratification of the Protocol to
Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. The situation has become urgent as the
Protocol needs to be ratified by a minimum of 40 countries before 2 July 2018 in order
to enter into force. This deadline is fast approaching.
I have already received feedback from some parliaments about the steps being taken
in response to our request to ratify the Protocol, for which I am most grateful. I would
strongly urge all other parliaments to likewise advise me on the measures that you
have been able to take.
The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and the Protocol
are key global instruments to counter the negative impact of tobacco
on people’s
health and countries’ economies.
The Protocol in particular is necessary for the
provision of a strengthened global normative framework to support appropriate country
responses to counter the illicit trade in tobacco products. However, both instruments
can only be effective if implemented at the country level. Parliaments especially are
decisive to the process through the exercise of their legislative, oversight and
budgetary powers.
It is part of our joint responsibility to make every endeavour to address tobacco as one
of the leading preventable causes of death globally. Accordingly, I once again urge
you to join our efforts in ensuring the ratification of the Protocol.
The IPU, together with our partners in the WHO and WHO FCTC Secretariat, stand
ready to provide any technical advice or support should the need arise, and I look
forward to hearing from you about the outcomes of any initiatives undertaken with
respect to the Protocol.
Yours sincerely,
Martin Chungong
Secretary General