illicit-trade-wco-2013

REVENUE
INITIATIVES
The WHO Protocol to Eliminate Illicit
Trade in Tobacco Products
The Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco
Products was adopted on 12 November 2012, during
the Fifth Session of the Conference of the Parties of
the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
(FCTC) of the WHO held in Seoul, Republic of Korea.
The Protocol was developed in response to the growing
international movement of illicit trade in tobacco
products and aims to combat the illegal trade in
tobacco products through control of the supply chain
and enhanced international cooperation, thereby
protecting people around the world from the health risks
of tobacco, ensuring that all Customs, excise and other
tax revenues due are collected and accounted for, and
reducing the burden on national health systems.
In its preamble, the Protocol stresses that Parties shall
take "into account that effective action to prevent and
combat illicit trade in tobacco products requires a
comprehensive international approach to, and close
cooperation on, all aspects of illicit trade..." 7 . It makes
specific reference to enhanced cooperation between
the Convention Secretariat, UNODC, WCO and other
bodies, as appropriate.
Several areas within the mandate and expertise of the
WCO, including the development of effective enforcement
strategies for the control of cross-border movements
of goods, people and conveyances, its leading
role in securing the international supply chains, and
the provision of technical assistance to its Members,
are of high significance for raising awareness of the
Protocol and its implementation upon entry into force.
Initial cooperation between the Convention Secretariat
and the WCO has occurred, particularly during the
negotiations of the Protocol and following its adoption,
and demonstrated the potential benefits of such
collaboration in the interest of the Parties to the WHO
FCTC and to the Protocol. The WCO and the FCTC
Secretariat will continue to explore ways of enhancing
such cooperation in raising awareness of the Protocol
and its relevant provisions among national Customs
authorities, and promoting multi-sectorial dialogue and
coordination between health, Customs and other
relevant sectors, in view of assisting countries in the
process of ratification and entry into force of the
Protocol.
By the end of April 2014, the Protocol had fifty-four
signatories and one ratification.
The Protocol will enter into force on the 90 th day
following the date of deposit of the 40 th instrument of
ratification.
WCO Assessment Questionnaire
on the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade
in Tobacco Products
Considering the relevance of the WHO Protocol for
Customs administrations and their activities to fight illicit
trade in tobacco, the WCO Secretariat wished to
obtain a clearer picture on the level of awareness of
this instrument and its potential implications amongst
its Members, and therefore prepared and circulated a
questionnaire in July 2013.
The questionnaire intended to touch upon key aspects
of the Protocol, particularly provisions related to supply
chain control, offences and international cooperation.
This was done with the aim of assessing the
Members’ current situations and identifying potential
gaps. The final part of the survey was aimed at obtaining
information on the capability of our Members to
estimate the scale of illicit trade in tobacco products.
Feedback was received from 87 Members across the
6 WCO regions. The highest percentage of replies
came from Europe, followed by East and Southern
Africa, South America, North America, Central
America and the Caribbean, and the Far East, South
and South East Asia, Australasia and the Pacific
Islands. A lower percentage of replies were received
from North Africa, the Near and Middle East and West
and Central Africa (see Table 9) .
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Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, World Health Organisation 2013,
http://www.who.int/fctc/protocol/about/en/
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ILLICIT TRADE REPORT 2013