WHO Press Conference
Press Conference Announcement
The illicit tobacco trade supplies an estimated 580 billion cigarettes annually, about 10% of total supply, creating major health, economic and security concerns around the world.
In the lead-up to World No Tobacco Day on 31 May, the World Health Organization is calling on countries to combat this trade by adopting the Protocol to Eliminate the Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. The Protocol, a supplementary treaty to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), has so far been adopted by seven countries. 40 are needed for the Protocol to come into force.
In the lead-up to World No Tobacco Day on 31 May, the World Health Organization is calling on countries to combat this trade by adopting the Protocol to Eliminate the Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. The Protocol, a supplementary treaty to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), has so far been adopted by seven countries. 40 are needed for the Protocol to come into force.
Dr Douglas Bettcher, Director of the WHO’s Department for the Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases Dr Vera da Costa e Silva, head of the WHO FCTC Secretariat
