Recommendations by Fiji’s Health Minister that the Fijian Government sign and ratify the Protocol on Elimination of Illicit trade in Tobacco Products of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) has been endorsed by Cabinet.
Minister Sharma said that wide consultations have been undertaken in partnership between the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority, Fiji Police Boarder Control, Fiji Navy and other agencies during a workshop held on 3rd and 4th October this year.
The workshop was attended by members of the tobacco industry stakeholders including registered and licensed retailers familiar with the requirements of Tobacco Control Decree 2010.
“Tobacco is the single largest cause of death worldwide and a contributing risk factor to the increasing non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases and cancer,” said Dr Sharma.
“Tobacco kills 4 million people worldwide annually and half of these deaths occur in productive middle age,” he added.
Fiji was the first developing country to sign and ratify FCTC, which came into force on 25th February 2005 and is among the first 40 countries to have ratified the treaty.
As of August 2012, 176 countries have signed and ratified the treaty. The Protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products was adopted at the 5th Conference of Parties (COP) meeting in Seoul, South Korea on 12th to 17th November 2012.
“The Protocol requires that the licensing of manufacturers, importers, retailers and growers and also proper record keeping and Fiji has already met the requirement under Section 23-25 of the Tobacco Control Decree of 2010 Section,” said Dr Sharma.
“The protocol will be open for signature by all parties at the WHO headquarters in Geneva from January 2013 and thereafter at the UN headquarters in New York.”
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