ITGA applauds regional opposition to new tobacco guidelines
Published:Wednesday | November 17, 2010 | 12:00 AM
The International Tobacco Growers' Association (ITGA) has praised the decision by the Council of Ministers of the African, Caribbean and Pacific grouping to oppose new guidelines by the World Health Organization's (WHO) to ban certain ingredients used in tobacco products.
But the WHO is expected to adopt the measure this week at its fourth Conference of the Parties in Uruguay.
"The latest WHO guidelines for articles nine and 10 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) would virtually eliminate blended cigarettes, which require ingredients, and account for half of global consumption," said the ITGA in a statement.
"The knock-on effect would be a drastic reduction in demand for burley and oriental tobacco used to make these products," it said, adding "the ban is being proposed despite WHO acknowledgments that products without ingredients are just as harmful as those with".
The ITGA said the ACP is the most recent organisation to question the WHO's approach and follows calls by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Caribbean Community and the African Union to reject these decisions on the grounds that they could cause major economic and social devastation to developing countries.
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"The ACP has recognised that these WHO guidelines should not be adopted," said Antonio Abrunhosa, chief executive of the ITGA, representing 30 million tobacco growers.
"Their message to the WHO is very clear; impacted stakeholders must be properly consulted before decisions are taken. The WHO has controversially decided to exclude tobacco farmers from all discussions around the development of FCTC guidelines, dismissing them as interferences," Abrunhosa said.
The ITGA said it was urging every country attending the conference here to fully understand the impact of adopting articles 9 and 10 of the FCTC.
"These guidelines will destroy the livelihoods of millions of some of the poorest people in the world for no health benefit," Abrunhosa said.
- AP