TOBACCO: WHO ITP ETRC: ‘Action on WHO ITP starts now’
As the industry rallies to formulate a response to the latest World Health Organization Illicit Trade Protocol that could seek to determine if duty free tobacco contributes to ‘illicit trade’, the European Travel Retail Confederation reminds stakeholders that the category has successfully defeated challenges to its existence before – and will do so again.
and retailers, during last month’s MEADFA Conference in Dubai, ETRC Secretary General Keith Spinks branded WHO claims that retail operators are complicit with illicit trade in duty free as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘totally unfounded’. “There is already a preconceived
starting point that duty free contributes to illicit trade,” Spinks made clear. “If we leave it as it stands and let
Keith Spinks, Secretary General, ETRC addresses attendees at a DFWC-organised workshop on the threats posed to DF&TR by the WHO's Illicit Trade Protocol in tobacco products. Source: Antoine Clément.
T
he World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Illicit Trade Protocol (ITP), part
of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), is gathering momentum ahead of the potential launch of a study that will seek to ascertain ‘the extent to which duty free contributes towards illicit trade’. The European Travel Retail
Confederation (ETRC) has warned that the WHO is using the protocol to achieve the objective of restricting and even banning duty free tobacco sales, an issue the industry is all too aware of given previous challenges executed via the FCTC and the ITP – which have been successfully repelled by the DF&TR industry. During a Duty Free World Council
(DFWC) organised workshop gathering key duty free tobacco stakeholders, including suppliers
“Unless we take action now, by 2021 we could see every country that has ratified the treaty being called upon to ban duty free sales.”
Keith Spinks, Secretary General, ETRC
48 TRBUSINESS
the WHO move forward without any intervention from governments, then they will come up with research to suggest it does contribute towards illicit sales – you can be sure of that. “This is about criminal activity –
not about traditional duty free trade as we know it. We need to address the issue of illicit trade, not duty free. We must take immediate action to ensure we protect our business.”
Tight timeline At the time the workshop was held, 70 countries had already signed the ITP with around 34 ratifying it. Importantly, 40 countries are
required to ratify the protocol. Crucially, it is only those that have ratified it that could be asked to ban duty free sales. At the time this magazine
went to press, a mere six country ratifications remained to reach the target, however TRBusiness would like to point out that this number is changing all the time. The ETRC envisages that this
target could be met by July. At that point, the WHO would in theory have sufficient support to implement the protocol later this year. Once it comes into effect, a
meeting will take place between countries that have ratified the treaty to consider what steps to take next on all elements of the ITP, including any study on duty free. A provisional date for this meeting has already been set for October, the
ETRC confirms. Moving forward, a 2020 meeting
could potentially determine that duty free ‘does contribute towards illicit trade’, paving the way for a potential restriction or ban on the tobacco trade by 2021. “Unless we take action now, by
2021 we could see every country that has ratified the treaty being called upon to ban duty free sales,” explained Spinks. “We support the idea of
eliminating illicit trade in tobacco products – it damages our business as well, but we’re not involved in that business.” In what TRBusiness gauges as
crucial next steps on the issue, the ETRC has made clear that the number one objective is to delay the study – the main reason being all elements of the ITP’s protocol need to be in place [track and tracing products being just one of the elements] before any study commences. The next step is to form strong
opposition to further restrictions or even an outright ban on duty free tobacco sales by making governments understand that duty free tobacco possesses a legitimate, well-regulated, controlled supply chain and is not involved in illicit trade, the ETRC moved to impress on attendees to the workshop. It is understood that the DFWC
will coordinate a campaign involving global duty free stakeholders through the regional associations to prevent the ITP study moving forward. “It’s essential that we engage
urgently, not wait another six months to start the process,” Spinks stated. “It’s a tough goal [protecting
duty free tobacco] but one we can achieve by working together,” Spinks concluded. “We can stop this happening, but we have a job to do.” «
FEBRUARY 2018
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