Interference around COP 9 & MOP 2

Background

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is an international treaty that aims to reduce the demand and supply of tobacco.¹ The WHO FCTC includes a specific obligation, Article 5.3, requiring Parties to protect public health policies from commercial and vested interests of the tobacco industry.²

• More information on Article 5.3, and tobacco industry attempts to undermine the FCTC, can be found on the TobaccoTactics FCTC page.
• A summary and timeline of FCTC regulations can be found on: FCTC Regulations on the Need to Protect Public Health Policies from Tobacco Industry Interference

FCTC parties usually meet every two years at a Conference of the Parties (COP).³

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 9^th session, or COP 9 as it is called, was postponed from 2020 to November 2021, to be held virtually.

Immediately following COP 9 is the second Meeting of the Parties (MOP 2). This oversees the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. This treaty was adopted at COP 5 and addresses means of countering illicit trade in tobacco products.⁴

This page summarises interference by the tobacco industry and its allies around the 9^th Conference of the Parties (COP 9).  It also covers the second session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP2).

Incidents of documented interference at previous COPs are can be found in a timeline on:
History of Interference by the Tobacco Industry and its Allies During COP and MOP

Grants from the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World

The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW) is wholly funded by Philip Morris International (PMI). Details of grants noted below can be found in FSFW’s tax returns.⁵⁶

INNCO

• In 2020, the International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organisations (INNCO) received a grant of US$65,000 to: “assist the organization in its work to garner consensus and support for COP 9 to consider harm reduction as integral to tobacco control”.⁵ INNCO received a further US$52,000 for this grant in 2021.⁶ During COP 9, INNCO organised some lobbying activities:
  • Published a report titled “Misinfodemic Dossier” criticising the WHO and Bloomberg Philanthropies.⁷⁸
  • Organised a demonstration outside the UK Parliament.⁹
  • Participated in a parallel event organised by CAPHRA.¹⁰

INNCO again had its application rejected for observer status at COP.¹¹

Knowledge Action Change

• Another major FSFW grantee,⁵⁶  Knowledge-Action-Change (K-A-C), publisher of the Global State of Tobacco-Harm Reduction (GSTHR) reports, has criticised the FCTC and COP. K-A-C  released a GSTHR report titled “Fighting the Last War: The WHO and International Tobacco Control” on 27 October 2021.¹² Fellow FSFW grantees, and now ex-President of the FSFW Derek Yach, spoke at the launch event. Ahead of the launch, GSTHR released a set of briefing papers that criticise the WHO FCTC and sought to use the UK’s stance on harm-reduction to influence international discussions at COP 9.¹³

Analysis of FSFW’s 2020 tax return shows it awarded specific COP 9-related grants to two organisations, in Pakistan and Argentina, in addition to INNCO.⁵

Alternative Research Institute – Pakistan

• Pakistan’s Alternative Research Institute, received US$176,400 in 2020 to “build a momentum to include smokers’ concern in tobacco efforts before the COP 9”.¹⁴ It received a further US$193,760 in 2021.⁶

Asociación Argentina de Servicios Médicos de Avanzada – Argentina

• In 2020, the Argentinian Asociación Argentina de Servicios Médicos de Avanzada, received US$128,850 from FSFW for a project to “garner consensus and support for the ninth session of Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (COP 9) to consider harm reduction as integral to tobacco control”.⁵ It received a further US$11,699 in 2021.⁶

Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey – Turkey

• In September 2021, the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), another FSFW grantee, ¹⁵ launched a report titled “The Economics of Curbing Smoking in Turkey: A Scoping Review”.¹⁶ The report argues that the effectiveness of the implementation of WHO FCTC measures in the countries that adopted them have not all been up to expectations.

Tobacco Industry Meeting with Government in Brazil

• In August 2021, there was a collaboration meeting between members of the Brazilian government and the tobacco industry in preparation for COP 9. During this meeting, the tobacco industry asked for the support of the Brazilian government.¹⁷ A summary of tobacco industry positions was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to “ensure that the government takes into account the views of the tobacco supply chain and act to ensure that COP 9 does not result in harm to their interests”.¹⁸Civil society organisations denounced the industry’s attempts to interfere with the preparations for COP 9. As a result, the Brazilian National Commission for the Implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (CONICQ), called for an open meeting in September. During this meeting, Federal Deputy for Rio Grande do Sul Marcelo Moraes and other government representatives, dismissed CONICQ efforts to discuss the Brazilian positions towards COP 9, arguing that CONICQ’s existence was under legal challenge.¹⁸¹⁹CONICQ was created in 2003, within the scope of the Ministry of Health, and has achieved international acclaimed for its achievements in tobacco control policies. However, along with other institutional spaces, the Commission was extinguished by the Decree No. 9,759/2019, during President Bolsonaro´s administration. The issue was taken to the Federal Supreme Court, where the measure was declared unconstitutional. After this decision, the Ministry of Health reinstated CONICQ´s legitimacy and existence. Over 70 organizations working in tobacco control in Brazil, Latin America and the world supported CONICQ and requested “the urgent and necessary formal reconstitution of the Conicq, by means of a presidential decree” ¹⁹ to prevent the tobacco industry undermining of the institution and any setbacks to the implementation of the FCTC.

COP Enquiry run by UK All Party Parliamentary Group

• In February 2021, the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Vaping, which is made up of MPs with a common interest in the issue but has no legislative power, set up an inquiry into COP 9. The consultation report was published in March 2021 listing several recommendations, including that the UK should consider its options in relation to future funding of WHO and WHO FCTC, and that it should consider withdrawing funds if WHO continues to discourage vaping as a form of smoking cessation.²⁰ It also called for the UK to include harm reduction public health experts in its delegation to COP 9 and to encourage other member states to follow suit.²⁰ Submissions to the inquiry included one from a tobacco company, Japan Tobacco International (JTI); and other individuals and organisations with industry links: the Adam Smith Institute, the International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organisations (INNCO), Mark Pawsey MP, JUUL Labs, the Reason Foundation, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), and The Federation of Philippine Industries, which has tobacco company members including Philip Morris International (PMI) and JTI.²¹

COP 9 highlights

Held virtually in 2021, COP 9 provided the opportunity for Parties to meet and for some decisions to be made before 2023. However, most key discussions were postponed until COP10. Tobacco industry interference was detected, as the tobacco control community and several parties had warned.²²

Interference Within the Conference of Parties

Statements by the delegations of some parties argued for the  inclusion of “all” stakeholders in tobacco control discussions.²³ and for investment in harm reduction efforts. Delegations that were more actively using pro-industry statements were mostly coming from low-and middle-income countries (LMICs),²⁴²⁵ and from non-parties to the FCTC.²⁶ Evidence shows that the tobacco industry puts even higher pressure into LMICs, where the FCTC implementation is often in its initial phases.²⁷²⁸

Noise around COP

Tobacco industry allies that could not attend COP 9 sessions, did not miss the opportunity to advocate on behalf of the industry´s interests on social media and through small scale street demonstrations²⁹³⁰ Attacks on WHO, COP and FCTC by tobacco industry allies aimed at undermining the importance of the work of WHO, the COP and the relevance of the FCTC, while at the same time requesting observer status to officially join COP.³¹³²³³ Side events were organized to discuss what was happening at COP including parallel stream called “sCOPe” broadcast on YouTube.³⁴

More detail on FSFW grantee activities during COP 9 can be found in the STOP FSFW COP 9 Monitoring Brief

Relevant Links

• World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)
• FCTC COP website
• WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products
• FCTC MOP website
• The tobacco epidemic has not gone away (WHO news, 1 November 2021)

TobaccoTactics Resources

• COP & MOP
• Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
• Protocol to Eliminate Illicit trade in Tobacco Products
• Illicit Tobacco Trade