Key Decisions Made – And Not Made – at MOP3

The Third session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (MOP3) concluded on 15 February, in Panama City, after taking ‘decisive action to combat illicit trade in tobacco products’, according to a press release from the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

The three-day meeting was attended by over 500 delegates representing 56 (out of 68) parties to the Protocol, as well as 27 non-party states, and NGOs/IGOs concerned with tobacco control.

‘Our meeting this week took important decisions on tobacco tracking and tracing systems and approved a road map to conduct evidence-based research on illicit trade,’ said Dr Adriana Blanco Marquizo, who as Head of the Convention Secretariat also oversees the Protocol.

Let’s look more closely at these decisions, which, while addressing some key aspects of the Protocol and its implementation, appear to leave some other, critical issues unaccounted for.