On May 31 every year, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners mark World No Tobacco Day
(WNTD), highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use and
advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption.
For World No Tobacco Day 2015, WHO is calling on countries to work together to end the illicit trade of tobacco products.
From many angles, the illicit trade of tobacco
products is a major global concern, including health, legal and
economic, governance and corruption.
Scale of the problem
The
illicit tobacco market may account for as much as one in every 10
cigarettes consumed globally, according to studies, including
information supplied by the global customs community. The European
Commission estimates that illicit trade in cigarettes costs the EU and
their Member States over €10 billion annually in lost tax and customs
revenue.
Illicit trade is not a problem just in
high-income countries; almost all countries throughout the world are
subject to illicit trade in some form or another. In response to the
threat posed by illicit tobacco trade, the international community
negotiated and adopted in November 2012 the Protocol to Eliminate
Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, the first protocol to the WHO FCTC.
Goals of the WNTD 2015 campaign
Raise
awareness on the harm to people’s health caused by the illicit trade in
tobacco products, especially the youth and low-income groups, due to
the increased accessibility and affordability of these products due to
their lower costs.
Show how health care gains and
programmes, tobacco control policies, like increased tax and prices,
pictorial health warnings and other measures are undermined by the
illicit trade in tobacco products.
Demonstrate how the tobacco industry has been involved in the illicit trade of tobacco products.
Highlight
how the illicit trade of tobacco products is a means of amassing great
wealth for criminal groups to finance other organised crime activities,
including drugs, human and arms trafficking, as well as terrorism.
Promote
the ratification of, accession to and use of the Protocol to Eliminate
Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products by all Parties to the WHO Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and its early entry into force
through the active involvement of all relevant stakeholders.
The
global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year, of
which more than 600 000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand
smoke. Unless we act, the epidemic will kill more than 8 million people
every year by 2030. More than 80% of these preventable deaths will be
among people living in low-and middle-income countries.
Key public messages
The illicit trade of tobacco products is detrimental to your health and your interests. Here is why?
Illicit
tobacco products hook young people into tobacco experimentation and use
because they are more affordable. Such illicit products also mislead
young tobacco users by not displaying health warnings and sometimes
involving children in illegal selling activities.
Illicit
trade takes tax revenue away from the Government, which could have
otherwise been spent on the provision of public services, instead
directing such funds into the hands of criminals.
Illicit trade strengthens corruption and weakens good governance.
Tobacco
companies have been known to use loopholes in tobacco control
governance systems and indulge in the illicit trade of tobacco products.
Calls to action
For policy makers
Policy
makers must recognize that the illicit tobacco trade not only
exacerbates the global tobacco epidemic and its related health
consequences, but that it has security implications through financing
organised crime, including drugs, human and arms trafficking, as well as
terrorism.
Ratification of the Protocol to
Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products is necessary to respond to
the financial, legal and health impacts of the illicit trade of tobacco
products.
For the public
Members
of the public should recognize the adverse health, economic and social
impacts of the illicit trade of tobacco products, including the linkages
with human trafficking and organized drug crimes.
Members
of the public can join the WNTD awareness-raising campaign, including
through social media, to amplify messages and advice that governments
and WHO will be issuing to curb the illicit trade of tobacco products.
For academia
Academic
institutions can undertake additional research on the subject of the
illicit trade of tobacco products to further document its harmful
impacts, as well as the benefits to health, State finances and the
control of criminal activities of curbing the trade of illicit tobacco
products.
A further area of research is the active role the tobacco industry plays in supporting the illicit tobacco trade.
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