INB-4 ends without final agreement

The Intergovernmental Negotiating Body on a Protocol on Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products' fourth session (INB-4) ended without final agreement, but Parties did make some significant progress.

Parties agreed important provisions to control the supply chain for tobacco products, including a tracking and tracing system for cigarettes and other products as well as a licensing system for manufacturers and others involved in the tobacco trade. 

The talks’ outcomes will be reported to the next Conference of Parties to the parent treaty for the protocol, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, in Montevideo, Uruguay in November 2010.

Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) director  Laurent Huber said the negotiations had not yet achieved an effective and workable protocol but they had made some progress.

“We look forward to continuing to work with governments until they can agree to an effective tool to curb the illicit trade of tobacco products, a global curse that robs governments of uncollected tax revenues, promotes the consumption of tobacco products which in turn leads to premature death and disease,” he said.

The FCA participated in INB-4 (which took place in Geneva, Switzerland from 14-21 March 2010) and distributed a range of important resource materials that are listed below.

INB-4 resource materials

Bulletins

• Bulletin Issue 97: features impact of illicit cigarette trade on health and revenue; ban remote sales; illicit trade in Togo; industry global scare campaign; Bulgaria - conduit for smuggling; free zones; and cigarette smuggling in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  Download issue [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 123.02 KB]
  
• Bulletin Issue 98: features tracking and tracing; comercio ilicito del tabaco en Uruguay; and Romania bans duty-free tobacco.
  Download issue [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 2.23 MB]
  
• Bulletin Issue 99: features extradition; illicit tobacco a danger to kids health benefits of higher taxes; include key inputs; and fighting illicit trade in Jordan.
  Download issue [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 2.35 MB]
  
• Bulletin Issue 100: features don't MOP the COP; protocol internally linked; use of UNTOC; conoce a tu cliente y la Diligencia debida; and holes like Swiss cheese smokescreen for smuggling.
  Download issue [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 886.55 KB]
  
• Bulletin Issue 101: features time to look for common ground; West African situation; BAT’s complicity in smuggling; tracking and tracing works in Kenya; Les douanes doivent être davantage impliquées en Afrique; and Il est temps d’interdire à l’échelle mondiale la vente de tabac par internet/à distance.
  Download issue [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 913.2 KB]
  
• Bulletin Issue 102: features digesting the Thursday night surprise; information sharing is critical; unlawful manufacturing in China 3 non-price factors behind smuggling; Nepal case study; US moves to ban cigs by post; and cellulose acetate tow 5 don’t free the free zones; and Philippines - freeport haven for illicit trade.
  Download issue [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 148.79 KB]
  
• Bulletin Issue 103: features home stretch; ¿Por qué tener un Protocolo es importante para América del Sur?; Miami vice; illicit trade in Iran; addressing counterfeit in the protocol; and fighting illicit trade in Bangladesh.
  Download issue [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 1.49 MB]
  
• Bulletin Issue 104: features what happens next; coopération internationale - clé du succès du protocole; Canadian store association runs disinformation campaign; record-breaking 2009 for Irish customs; Singapore success story; and alternative wording.
  Download issue [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 5.32 MB]
  

Media releases

• Treaty negotiations on Illicit Trade Protocol on Tobacco Products making progress, but not there yet

Briefing notes

• Key issues - cover note for briefing papers
• Key concepts
• Key inputs
• Offences, penalties and enforcement, and information sharing
• Duty free sales
• Tracking and tracing
• Manufacturing equipment
• Licensing
• Internet and remote sales
• Free zones
• Due Diligence (customer identification and verification) and blocking

Comments

• Comments on Secretariat technical paper on tracking and tracing
• FCA Comments on the chairperson's text