Strict enforcement on Tobacco Control Law from May 1, 2013
Sunday, 13 Oct 2024
Article 2
Relationship between this Convention and other agreements and legal instruments
 
1. In order to better protect human health, Parties are encouraged to imple­ment measures beyond those required by this Convention and its protocols, and nothing in these instruments shall pre­vent a Party from imposing stricter re­quirements that are consistent with their provisions and are in accordance with international law.
2. The provisions of the Convention and its protocols shall in no way affect the right of Parties to enter into bilateral or multilateral agreements, including regional or    subregional agreements, on issues relevant or additional to the Con­vention and its protocols, provided that such agreements are compatible with their obligations under the Convention and its protocols. The Parties concerned shall communicate such agreements to the Conference of the Parties through the Secretariat.
 
PART II: OBJECTIVE, GUIDING
PRINCIPLES AND GENERAL OBLIGATIONS
 
Article 3
Objective
The objective of this Convention and its protocols is to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic con­sequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke by providing a framework for tobacco control measures to be implemented by the Parties at the national, regional and international lev­els in order to reduce continually and substantially the prevalence of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.
 
Article 4
Guiding principles
To achieve the objective of this Con­vention and its protocols and to imple­ment its provisions, the Parties shall be guided, inter alia, by the principles set out below:
1. Every person should be informed of the health consequences, addictive na­ture and mortal threat posed by tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke and effective legislative, executive, administrative or other measures should be contemplated at the appropriate gov­ernmental level to protect all persons from exposure to tobacco smoke.
2. Strong political commitment is nec­essary to develop and support, at the national, regional and international levels, comprehensive multisectoral measures and coordinated responses, taking into consideration:
(a) the need to take measures to pro­tect all persons from exposure to tobacco smoke;
(b) the need to take measures to pre­vent the initiation, to promote and sup­port cessation, and to decrease the con­sumption of tobacco products in any form;
(c) the need to take measures to pro­mote the participation of indigenous indi­viduals and communities in the develop­ment, implementation and evaluation of tobacco control programmes that are so­cially and culturally appropriate to their needs and perspectives; and
(d) the need to take measures to ad­dress gender-specific risks when develop­ing tobacco control strategies.
3. International cooperation, particu­larly transfer of technology, knowledge and financial assistance and provision of related expertise, to establish and imple­ment effective tobacco control programmes, taking into consideration local culture, as well as social, economic, political and legal factors, is an important part of the Con­vention.
4. Comprehensive multisectoral mea­sures and responses to reduce consump­tion of all tobacco products at the na­tional, regional and international levels are essential so as to prevent, in accor­dance with public health principles, the incidence of diseases, premature disability and mortality due to tobacco con­sumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.
5. Issues relating to liability, as deter­mined by each Party within its jurisdic­tion, are an important part of comprehen­sive tobacco control.
6. The importance of technical and financial assistance to aid the economic transition of tobacco growers and workers whose livelihoods are seriously affected as a consequence of tobacco control pro­grammes in developing country Parties, as well as Parties with economies in tran­sition, should be recognized and ad­dressed in the context of nationally de­veloped strategies for sustainable devel­opment. .
7. The participation of civil society is essential in achieving the objective of the Convention and its protocols.
Article 5
General obligations
1. Each Party shall develop, imple­ment, periodically update and review comprehensive multisectoral national to­bacco control strategies, plans and programmes in accordance with this Con­vention and the protocols to which it is a Party.
2. Towards this end, each Party shall, in accordance with its capabilities:
(a) establish or reinforce and finance a national coordinating mechanism or focal points for tobacco control; and
(b) adopt and implement effective legis­lative, executive, administrative and/or other measures and cooperate, as appro­priate, with other Parties in developing appropriate policies for preventing and reducing tobacco consumption, nicotine addiction and exposure to tobacco smoke.
3. In setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to to­bacco control, Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law.
4. The Parties shall cooperate in the formulation of proposed measures, proce­dures and guidelines for the implementa­tion of the Convention and the protocols to which they are Parties.
5. The Parties shall cooperate, as ap­propriate, with competent international and regional intergovernmental organiza­tions and other bodies to achieve the ob­jectives of the Convention and the proto­cols to which they are Parties.
6. The Parties shall, within means and resources at their disposal, cooperate to raise financial resources for effective implementation of the Convention through bilateral and multilateral funding mech­anisms.
 
PART III: MEASURES REIATING TO THE REDUCTION OF DEMAND FOR TOBACCO
 
Article 6
Price and tax measures to reduce the demand for tobacco
1. The Parties recognize that price and tax measures are an effective and impor­tant means of reducing tobacco consump­tion by various segments of the popula­tion, in particular young persons.
2. Without prejudice to the sovereign right of the Parties to determine and es­tablish their taxation policies, each Party should take account of its national health objectives concerning tobacco control and adopt or maintain, as appropriate, mea­sures which may include:
(a) implementing tax policies and, where appropriate, price policies, on to­bacco products so as to contribute to the health objectives aimed at reducing to­bacco consumption; and
(b) prohibiting or restricting, as appro­priate, sales to and/or importations by international travellers  of tax- and duty-­free tobacco products.
3. The Parties shall provide rates of taxation for tobacco products and trends in tobacco consumption in their periodic reports to the Conference of the Parties, in accordance with Article 21.
 
Article 7
Non-price measures to reduce the demand for tobacco
 
The Parties recognize that comprehen­sive non-price measures are an effective and important means of reducing tobacco consumption. Each Party shall adopt and implement effective legislative, ex­ecutive, administrative or other measures necessary to implement its obligations pursuant to Articles 8 to 13 and shall cooperate, as appropriate, with each other directly or through competent in­ternational bodies with a view to their implementation. The Conference of the Parties shall propose appropriate guide­lines for the implementation of the provi­sions of these Articles.
 
Article 8
Protection from exposure to tobacco smoke
 
1. Parties recognize that scientific evi­dence has unequivocally established that exposure to tobacco smoke causes death, disease and disability.
2. Each, Party shall adopt and imple­ment in areas of existing national jurisdiction as determined by national law and actively promote at other jurisdic­tional levels the adoption and implemen­tation of effective legislative, executive, administrative and/or other measures, providing for protection from exposure to tobacco smoke in indoor workplaces, pub­lic transport, indoor public places and, as appropriate, other public places.
 
Article 9
Regulation of the contents of tobacco products
The Conference of the Parties, in con­sultation with competent international bodies, shall propose guidelines for test­ing and measuring the contents and emissions of tobacco products, and for the regulation of these contents and emis­sions. Each 'Party shall, where approved by competent national authorities, adopt and implement effective legislative, ex­ecutive and administrative or other mea­sures 'for such testing and measuring, and for such regulation.
 
Article 10
Regulation of tobacco product disclosures
 
 
Each Party shall, in accordance with its national law, adopt and implement effective legislative, executive, adminis­trative or other measures requiring manufacturers and importers of tobacco products to disclose to governmental au­thorities information about the contents and emissions of tobacco products. Each Party shall further adopt and implement effective measures for public disclosure of information about the toxic constituents of the tobacco products and the emissions that they may produce.
 
Article 11

Packaging and la-belling of tobacco products

1. Each Party shall, within a period of three years after entry into force of this Convention for that Party, adopt and implement, in accordance with its na­tional law, effective measures to ensure that:
 (a) tobacco product packaging and la-­belling do not promote a tobacco product by any means that are false, misleading, deceptive or likely to create an erroneous impression about its characteristics, health effects, hazards or emissions, in­cluding any term, descriptor, trademark, figurative or any other sign that directly or indirectly creates the false impression that a particular tobacco product is less harmful than other tobacco products. These may include terms such as "low tar", "light", "ultra-light", or "mild"; and
(b) each unit packet and package of to­bacco products and any outside packaging and la-belling of such products also carry health warnings describing the harmful effects of tobacco use, and may include other appropriate messages. These warn­ings and messages:
(i) shall be approved by the competent national authority,
(ii) shall be rotating,
(iii) shall be large, clear, visible and legible,
(iv) should be 50% or more of the prin­cipal display areas but shall be no less than 30% of the principal display areas,
(v) may be in the form of or include pic­tures or pictograms.
2. Each unit packet and package of to­bacco products and any outside packaging and la-belling of such products shall, in addition to the warnings specified in paragraph l (b) of this Article, contain information on relevant constituents and emissions of tobacco products as defined by national authorities.
 3. Each Party shall require that the warnings and other textual information specified in paragraphs l (b) and para­graph 2 of this Article will appear on each unit packet and package of tobacco products and any outside packaging and la-belling of such products in its principal language or languages.
4. For the purposes of this Article, the term "outside packaging and labelling" in relation to tobacco products applies to any packaging and labelling used in the re­tail sale of the product.
 
Article 12
Education, communication, training and public awareness
 
Each Party shall promote and strengthen public awareness of tobacco control is­sues, using all available communication tools, as appropriate. Towards this end, each Party shall adopt and implement effective legislative, executive, adminis­trative or other measures to promote:
(a) broad access to effective and com­prehensive educational and public aware­ness programmes on the health risks in­cluding the addictive characteristics of tobacco consumption and exposure to to­bacco smoke;
(b) public awareness about the health risks of tobacco consumption and expo­sure to tobacco smoke, and about the benefits of the cessation of tobacco use and tobacco-free lifestyles as specified in Article 14.2;
(c) public access, in accordance with national law, to a wide range of informa­tion on the tobacco industry as relevant to the objective of this Convention;
(d) effective and appropriate training or sensitization and awareness programmes on tobacco control addressed to persons such as health workers, community workers, social workers, media profession­als, educators, decision-makers, administrators and other concerned persons;
(e) awareness and participation of pub­lic and private agencies and nongovern­mental organizations not affiliated with the tobacco industry in developing and implementing intersectoral programmes and strategies for tobacco control; and
(f) public awareness of and access to information regarding the adverse health, economic, and environmental conse­quences of tobacco production and con­sumption.
 
Article 13
Tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship
 
1. Parties recognize that a comprehen­sive ban on advertising, promotion and sponsorship would reduce the consump­tion of tobacco products.
2. Each Party shall, in accordance with its constitution or constitutional prin­ciples, undertake a comprehensive ban of all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. This shall include, subject to the legal environment and technical means available to that Party, a compre­hensive ban on cross border advertising, promotion and sponsorship originating from its territory. In this respect, within the period of five years after entry into force of this Convention for that Party, each Party shall undertake appropriate legislative, executive, administrative and/ or other measures and report accordingly in conformity with Article 21.
3. A Party that is not in a position to undertake a comprehensive ban due to its constitution or constitutional principles shall apply restrictions on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. This shall include, subject to the legal environment and technical means avail­able to that Party, restrictions or a com­prehensive ban on advertising, promo­tion and sponsorship originating from its territory with cross-border effects. In this respect, each Party shall undertake ap­propriate legislative, executive, adminis­trative and/or other measures and report accordingly in conformity with Article 21.
4. As a minimum, an in accordance with its constitution or constitutional principles, each Party shall:
(a) prohibit all forms of tobacco adver­tising, promotion and sponsorship that promote a tobacco product by any means that are false, misleading or deceptive or likely to create an erroneous impression about its characteristics, health effects, hazards or emissions;
(b) require that health or other appro­priate warnings or messages accompany all tobacco advertising and, as appropri­ate, promotion and sponsorship;
(c) restrict the use of direct or indirect incentives that encourage the purchase of tobacco products by the public;
(d) require, if it does not have a compre­hensive ban, the disclosure to relevant governmental authorities of expenditures by the tobacco industry on advertising, promotion and sponsorship not yet pro­hibited. Those authorities may decide to make those figures available, subject to national law, to the public and to the Conference of the Parties, pursuant to Article 21;
(e) undertake a comprehensive ban or, in the case of a Party that is not in a po­sition to undertake a. comprehensive ban due to its constitution or constitutional principles, restrict tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship on radio, tele­vision, print media and, as appropriate, other media, such as the internet, within a period of five years; and
(f) prohibit, or in the case of a Party that is not in a position to prohibit due to its constitution or constitutional prin­ciples restrict, tobacco sponsorship of in­ternational events, activities and/or par­ticipants therein.
5. Parties are encouraged to implement measures beyond the obligations set out in paragraph 4.
6. Parties shall cooperate in the devel­opment of technologies and other means necessary to facilitate the elimination of cross-border advertising.
7. Parties which have a ban on certain forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship have the sovereign right to ban those forms of cross-border tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship entering their territory and to impose equal penalties as those applicable to domestic advertising, promotion and sponsorship originating from their terri­tory in accordance with their national law. This paragraph does not endorse or approve of any particular penalty.
8. Parties shall consider the elabora­tion of a protocol setting out appropriate measures that require international col­laboration for a comprehensive ban on cross-border advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
 
Article 14
Demand reduction measures concerning tobacco dependence and cessation
 
1. Each Party shall develop and dis­seminate appropriate, comprehensive and integrated guidelines based on scientific evidence and best practices, taking into account national circumstances and pri­orities, and shall take effective measures to promote cessation of tobacco use and adequate treatment for tobacco depen­dence.
2. Towards this end, each Party shall endeavour to:
(a) design and implement effective programmes aimed at promoting the ces­sation of tobacco use, in such locations as educational institutions, health care fa­cilities, workplaces and sporting environ­ments;
(b) include diagnosis and treatment of tobacco dependence and count selling ser­vices on cessation of tobacco use in na­tional health and education programmes, plans and strategies, with the participa­tion of health workers, community work­ers and social workers as appropriate;
(c) establish in health care facilities and rehabilitation centres programmes for diagnosing, count selling, preventing and treating tobacco dependence; and
(d) collaborate with other Parties to fa­cilitate accessibility and afford ability for treatment of tobacco dependence includ­ing pharmaceutical products pursuant to Article 22. Such products and their con­stituents may include medicines, products used to administer medicines and diag­nostics when appropriate.
 
PART IV: MEASURES RELATING TO THE REDUCTION OF THE SUPPLY OF TOBACCO
 
Article 15
Illicit trade in tobacco products
 
1. The Parties recognize that the elimi­nation of all forms of illicit trade in to­bacco products, including smuggling, il­licit manufacturing and counterfeiting, and the development and implementa­tion of related national law, in addition to sub regional, regional and global agree­ments, are essential components of to­bacco control.
2. Each Party shall adopt and imple­ment effective legislative, executive, ad­ministrative or other measures to ensure that all unit packets and packages of to­bacco products and any outside packaging of such products are marked to assist Parties in determining the origin of to­bacco products, and in accordance with national law and relevant bilateral or multilateral agreements, assist Parties in determining the point of diversion and monitor, document and control the move­ment of tobacco products and their legal status. In addition, each Party shall:
(a) require that unit packets and pack­ages of tobacco products for retail and wholesale use that are sold on its domes­tic market carry the statement: "Sales only allowed in (insert name of the coun­try, sub national, regional or federal unit)" or carry any other effective mark­ing indicating the final destination or which would assist authorities in deter­mining whether the product is legally for sale on the domestic market; and
(b) consider, as appropriate, developing a practical tracking and tracing regime that would further secure the distribu­tion system and assist in the investiga­tion of illicit trade.
3. Each Party shall require that the packaging information or marking speci­fied in paragraph 2 of this Article shall be presented in legible form and/or appear in its principal language or languages.
4. With a view to eliminating illicit trade in tobacco products, each Party shall:
(a) monitor and collect data on cross border trade in tobacco products, including illicit trade, and exchange information among customs, tax and other authorities, as appropriate, and in accordance with national law and relevant applicable bilat­eral or multilateral agreements;
(b) enact or strengthen legislation, with appropriate penalties and remedies, against illicit trade in tobacco products, including counterfeit and contraband cigarettes;
 (c) take appropriate steps to ensure that all confiscated manufacturing equip­ment, counterfeit and contraband ciga­rettes and other tobacco products are de­stroyed, using environmentally friendly methods where feasible, or disposed of in accordance with national law;
(d) adopt and implement measures to monitor, document and control the stor­age and distribution of tobacco products held or moving under suspension of taxes or duties within its jurisdiction; and
(e) adopt measures as appropriate to enable the confiscation of proceeds de­rived from the illicit trade in tobacco products.
5. Information collected pursuant to subparagraphs 4(a) and 4(d) of this Ar­ticle shall, as appropriate, be provided in aggregate form by the Parties in their periodic reports to the Conference of the Parties, in accordance with Article 21.
6. The Parties shall, as appropriate and in accordance with national law, promote cooperation between national agencies, as well as relevant regional and interna­tional intergovernmental organizations as it relates to investigations, prosecu­tions and proceedings, with a view to eliminating illicit trade in tobacco prod­ucts. Special emphasis shall be placed on cooperation at regional and sub regional levels to combat illicit trade of tobacco products.
7. Each Party shall endeavour to adopt and implement further measures includ­ing licensing, where appropriate, to con­trol or regulate the production and dis­tribution of tobacco products in order to prevent illicit trade.
 
Article 16

Sales to and by minors

 
1. Each Party shall adopt and imple­ment effective legislative, executive, ad­ministrative or other measures at the appropriate government level to prohibit the sales of tobacco products to persons under the age set by domestic law, na­tional law or eighteen. These measures may include:
(a) requiring that all sellers of tobacco products place a clear and prominent in­dicator inside their point of sale about the prohibition of tobacco sales to minors and, in case of doubt, request that each tobacco purchaser provide appropriate evidence of having reached full legal age;
(b) banning the sale of tobacco products in any manner by which they are directly accessible, such as store shelves;
(c) prohibiting the manufacture and sale of sweets, snacks, toys or any other objects in the form of tobacco products which appeal to minors; and
(d) ensuring that tobacco vending ma­chines under its jurisdiction are not ac­cessible to minors and do not promote the sale of tobacco products to minors.
2. Each Party shall prohibit or promote the prohibition of the distribution of free tobacco products to the public and espe­cially minors.
 
3. Each Party shall endeavour to pro­hibit the sale of cigarettes individually or in small packets which increase the affordability of such products to minors.
4. The Parties recognize that in order to increase their effectiveness, measures to prevent tobacco product sales to mi­nors should, where appropriate, be imple­mented in conjunction with other provi­sions contained in this Convention.
5. When signing, ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to the Convention or at any time thereafter, a Party may, by means of a binding written declara­tion, indicate its commitment to prohibit the introduction of tobacco vending ma­chines within its jurisdiction or, as appro­priate, to a total ban on tobacco vending machines. The declaration made pursu­ant to this Article shall be circulated by the Depositary to all Parties to the Convention.
6. Each Party shall adopt and imple­ment effective legislative, executive, ad­ministrative or other measures, including penalties against sellers and distributors, in order to ensure compliance with the obligations contained in paragraphs 1-5 of this Article.
7. Each Party should, as appropriate, adopt and implement effective legislative, executive, administrative or other mea­sures to prohibit the sales of tobacco prod­ucts by persons under the age set by do­mestic law, national law or eighteen.
 
Article 17
Provision of support for economically viable alternative activities
 
Parties shall, in cooperation with each other and with competent international and regional intergovernmental organiza­tions, promote, as appropriate, economi­cally viable alternatives for tobacco work­ers, growers and, as the case may be, in­dividual sellers.
 

PART V: PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT

 
Article 18
Protection of the environment and the health of persons
 
In carrying out their obligations under this Convention, the Parties agree to have due regard to the protection of the environment and the health of persons in relation to the environment in respect of tobacco cultivation and manufacture within their respective territories.
 
PART VI: QUESTIONS RELATED TO LIABILITY
 
Article 19
Liability
1. For the purpose of tobacco control, the Parties shall consider taking legisla­tive action or promoting their existing laws, where necessary, to deal with crimi­nal and civil liability, including compen­sation where appropriate.
2. Parties shall cooperate with each other in exchanging information through the Conference of the Parties in accor­dance with Article 21 including:
(a) information on the health effects of the consumption of tobacco products and exposure to tobacco smoke in accordance with Article 20.3(a); and
(b) information on legislation and regu­lations in force as well as pertinent juris­prudence.
3. The Parties shall, as appropriate and mutually agreed, within the limits of national legislation, policies, legal practices and applicable existing treaty arrange­ments, afford one another assistance in legal proceedings relating to civil and criminal liability consistent with this Convention.
4. The Convention shall in no way af­fect or limit any rights of access of the Parties to each other's courts where such rights exist.
5. The Conference of the Parties may consider, if possible, at an early stage, tak­ing account of the work being done in rel­evant international for-a, issues related to liability including appropriate interna­tional approaches to these issues and ap­propriate means to support, upon request, the Parties in their legislative and other activities in accordance with this Article.
 
PART VII: SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND COMMUNICATION OF INFORMATION
 
Article 20
 Research, surveillance and exchange of information
   1. The Parties undertake to develop and promote national research and to coordinate research programmes at the regional and international levels in the field of tobacco control. Towards this end, each Party shall:
(a) initiate and cooperate in, directly or through competent international and re­gional intergovernmental organizations and other bodies, the conduct of research and scientific assessments, and in so doing promote and encourage research that ad­dresses the determinants and conse­quences of tobacco consumption and expo­sure to tobacco smoke as well as research for identification of alternative crops; and
(b) promote and strengthen, with the support of competent international and regional intergovernmental organizations and other bodies, training and support for all those engaged in tobacco control activities, including research, implemen­tation and evaluation.
2. The Parties shall establish, as appro­priate, programmes for national, regional and global surveillance of the magnitude, patterns, determinants and consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke. Towards this end, the Parties should integrate tobacco surveil­lance programmes into national, regional and global health surveillance programmes so that data are comparable and can be analysed at the regional and international levels, as appropriate.
3. Parties recognize the importance of financial and technical assistance from international and regional intergovern­mental organizations and other bodies. Each Party shall endeavour to:
(a) establish progressively a national system for the epidemiological surveil­lance of tobacco consumption and related social, economic and health indicators;
(b) cooperate with competent interna­tional and regional intergovernmental organizations and other bodies, including governmental and nongovernmental agencies, in regional and global tobacco surveillance and exchange of information on the indicators specified in paragraph 3(a) of this Article; and
(c) cooperate with the World Health Organization in the development of gen­eral guidelines or procedures for defining the collection, analysis and dissemination of tobacco -related surveillance data.
4. The Parties shall, subject to national law, promote and facilitate the exchange of publicly available scientific, technical, socioeconomic, commercial and legal in­formation, as well as information regard­ing practices of the tobacco industry and the cultivation of tobacco, which is rel­evant to this Convention, and in so doing shall take into account and address the special needs of developing country Par­ties and Parties with economies in transi­tion. Each Party shall endeavour to:
(a) progressively establish and main­tain an updated database of laws and regulations on tobacco control and, as appropriate, information about their en­forcement, as well as pertinent jurispru­dence, and cooperate in the development of programmes for regional and global tobacco control;
(b) progressively establish and main­tain updated data from national surveil­lance programmes in accordance with paragraph 3(a) of this Article; and
(c) cooperate with competent interna­tional organizations to progressively es­tablish and maintain a global system to regularly collect and disseminate informa­tion on tobacco production, manufacture and the activities of the tobacco industry which have an impact on the Convention or national tobacco control activities.
5. Parties should cooperate in regional and international intergovernmental or­ganizations and financial and development institutions of which they are members, to promote and encourage pro­vision of technical and financial resources to the Secretariat to assist developing country Parties and Parties with econo­mies in transition to meet their commit­ments on research, surveillance and ex­change of information.
 
 
 
Article 21
 Reporting and exchange of information
   1. Each Party shall submit to the Con­ference of the Parties, through the Secre­tariat, periodic reports on its implementa­tion of this Convention, which should in­clude the following:
 
(a) information on legislative, executive, administrative or other measures taken to implement the Convention;
(b) information, as appropriate, on any constraints or barriers encountered in its implementation of the Convention, and on the measures taken to overcome these barriers;
(c) information, as appropriate, on fi­nancial and technical assistance provided or received for tobacco control activities;
(d) information on surveillance and re­search as specified in Article 20; and
(e) information specified in Articles 6.3, 13.2, 13.3, 13.4(d), 15.5 and 19.2.
2. The frequency and format of such reports by all Parties shall be deter­mined by the Conference of the Parties. Each Party shall make its initial report within two years of the entry into force of the Convention for that Party.
3. The Conference of the Parties, pursu­ant to Articles 22 and 26, shall consider arrangements to assist developing coun­try Parties and Parties with economies in transition, at their request, in meeting their obligations under this Article.
4. The reporting and exchange of infor­mation under the Convention shall be subject to national law regarding confi­dentiality and privacy. The Parties shall protect, as mutually agreed, any confiden­tial information that is exchanged.
 
Article 22
Cooperation in the scientific, technical, and legal fields and provision of related expertise
 
1. The Parties shall cooperate directly or through competent international bod­ies to strengthen their capacity to fulfill the obligations arising from this Conven­tion, taking into account the needs of de­veloping country Parties and Parties with economies in transition. Such cooperation shall promote the transfer of technical, scientific and legal expertise and technol­ogy, as mutually agreed, to establish and strengthen national tobacco control strat­egies, plans and programmes aiming at, inter alia:
(a) facilitation of the development, transfer and acquisition of technology, knowledge, skills, capacity and expertise related to tobacco control;
(b) provision of technical, scientific, le­gal and other expertise to establish and strengthen national tobacco control strat­egies, plans and programmes, aiming at implementation of the Convention through, inter alia:
(i) assisting, upon request, in the devel­opment of a strong legislative foundation as well as technical programmes, includ­ing those on prevention of initiation, pro­motion of cessation and protection from exposure to tobacco smoke;
(ii) assisting, as appropriate, tobacco workers in the development of appropriate economically and legally viable alternative livelihoods in an economically viable man­ner; and
(iii) assisting, as appropriate, tobacco growers in shifting agricultural produc­tion to alternative crops in an economi­cally viable manner;
(c) support for appropriate training or sensitization programmes for appropriate personnel in accordance with Article 12;
(d) povision, as appropriate, of the nec­essary material, equipment and supplies, as well as logistical support, for tobacco control strategies, plans and programmes;
(e) identification of methods for tobacco control, including comprehensive treat­ment of nicotine addiction; and
(f) promotion, as appropriate, of re­search to increase the affordability of comprehensive treatment of nicotine ad­diction.
2. The Conference of the Parties shall promote and facilitate transfer of techni­cal, scientific and legal expertise and technology with the financial support se­cured in accordance with Article 26.
 
PART VIII: INSTITUTIONAL ARRA­NGEMENTS AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES
 
Article 23
Conference of the Parties
1. A Conference of the Parties is hereby established. The first session of the Conference shall be convened by the World Health Organization not later than one year after the entry into force of this Convention. The Conference will deter­mine the venue and timing of subsequent regular sessions at its first session.
2. Extraordinary sessions of the Confer­ence of the Parties shall be held at such other times as may be deemed necessary by the Conference, or at the written re­quest of any Party, provided that, within six months of the request being commu­nicated to them by the Secretariat of the Convention, it is supported by at least one-third of the Parties.
3. The Conference of the Parties shall adopt by consensus its Rules of Procedure at its first session.
4. The Conference of the Parties shall by consensus adopt financial rules for it­self as well as governing the funding of any subsidiary bodies it may establish as well as financial provisions governing the functioning of the Secretariat. At each ordinary session, it shall adopt a budget for the financial period until the next ordinary session.
5. The Conference of the Parties shall keep under regular review the implemen­tation of the Convention and take the decisions necessary to promote its effec­tive implementation and may adopt pro­tocols, annexes and amendments to the Convention, in accordance with Articles 28, 29 and 33. Towards this end, it shall:
(a) promote and facilitate the exchange of information pursuant to Articles 20 and 21;
(b) promote and guide the development and periodic refinement of comparable methodologies for research and the col­lection of data, in addition to those pro­vided for in Article 20, relevant to the implementation of the Convention;
(c) promote, as appropriate, the devel­opment, implementation and evaluation of strategies, plans, and programmes, as well as policies, legislation and other measures;
(d) consider reports submitted by the Parties in accordance with Article 21 and adopt regular reports on the implementa­tion of the Convention;
(e) promote and facilitate the mobiliza­tion of financial resources for the imple­mentation of the Convention in accor­dance with Article 26;
(f) establish such subsidiary bodies as are necessary to achieve the objective of the Convention;
(g) request, where appropriate, the ser­vices and cooperation of, and information provided by, competent and relevant orga­nizations and bodies of the United Na­tions system and other international and regional intergovernmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations and bodies as a means of strengthening the implementation of the Convention; and
(h) consider other action, as appropri­ate, for the achievement of the objective of the Convention in the light of experi­ence gained in its implementation.
6. The Conference of the Parties shall establish the criteria for the participation, of observers at its proceedings.
 
Article 24
                                                          Secretariat
 
1. The Conference of the Parties shall designate a permanent secretariat and make arrangements for its functioning. The Conference of the Parties shall en­deavour to do so at its first session.
2. Until such time as a permanent sec­retariat is designated and established, secretariat functions under this Conven­tion shall be provided by the World Health Organization.
3. Secretariat functions shall be:
(a) to make arrangements for sessions of the Conference of the Parties and any subsidiary bodies and to provide them with services as required;
 (b) to transmit reports received by it pursuant to the Convention;
(c) to provide support to the Parties, par­ticularly developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition, on request, in the compilation and communica­tion of information required in accordance with the provisions of the Convention;
(d) to prepare reports on its activities under the Convention under the guid­ance of the Conference of the Parties and submit them to the Conference of the Parties;
(e) to ensure, under the guidance of the Conference of the Parties, the necessary coordination with the competent interna­tional and regional intergovernmental organizations and other bodies;
(f) to enter, under the guidance of the Conference of the Parties, into such administrative or contractual arrangements as may be required for the effective dis­charge of its functions; and
(g) to perform other secretariat func­tions specified by the Convention and by any of its protocols and such other func­tions as may be determined by the Con­ference of the Parties.
 
Article 25
Relations between the Conference of the Parties and intergovernmental organizations
   In order to provide technical and finan­cial cooperation for achieving the objective of this Convention, the Conference of the Parties may request the cooperation of competent international and regional in­tergovernmental organizations including financial and development institutions.
 
Article 26
                                                    Financial resources
 
1. The Parties recognize the important role that financial resources play in achiev­ing the objective of this Convention.
2. Each Party shall provide financial support in respect of its national activities intended to achieve the objective of the Convention, in accordance with its national plans, priorities and programmes.
3. Parties shall promote, as appropri­ate, the utilization of bilateral, regional, subregional and other multilateral chan­nels to provide funding for the develop­ment and strengthening of multisectoral comprehensive tobacco control programmes of developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition. Accord­ingly, economically viable alternatives to tobacco production, including crop diversi­fication should be addressed and supported in the context of nationally developed strategies of sustainable development.
4. Parties represented in relevant re­gional and international intergovern­mental organizations, and financial and development institutions shall encourage these entities to provide financial assis­tance for developing country Parties and for Parties with economies in transition to assist them in meeting their obliga­tions under the Convention, without lim­iting the rights of participation within these organizations.
5. The Parties agree that:
(a) to assist Parties in meeting their obli­gations under the Convention, all relevant potential and existing resources, financial, technical, or otherwise, both public and private that are available for tobacco con­trol activities, should be mobilized and uti­lized for the benefit of all Parties, especially developing countries and countries with economies in transition;
(b) the Secretariat shall advise develop­ing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition, upon request, on available sources of funding to facilitate the implementation of their obligations under the Convention;
(c) the Conference of the Parties in its first session shall review existing and potential sources and mechanisms of as­sistance based on a study conducted by the Secretariat and other relevant infor­mation, and consider their adequacy; and
(d) the results of this review shall be taken into account by the Conference of the Parties in determining the necessity to enhance existing mechanisms or to establish a voluntary global fund or other appropriate financial mechanisms to channel additional financial resources, as needed, to developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition to assist them in meeting the objectives of the Convention.
 

PART IX: SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES

 Article 27
    Settlement of disputes
1. In the event of a dispute between two or more Parties concerning the interpre­tation or application of this Convention, the Parties concerned shall seek through diplomatic channels a settlement of the dispute through negotiation or any other peaceful means of their own choice, in­cluding good offices, mediation, or concili­ation. Failure to reach agreement by good offices, mediation or conciliation shall not absolve parties to the dispute from the responsibility of continuing to seek to resolve it.
2. When ratifying, accepting, approv­ing, formally confirming or acceding to the Convention, or at any time thereafter, a State or regional economic integration organization may declare in writing to the Depositary that, for a dispute not re­solved in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, it accepts, as compulsory, ad hoc arbitration in accordance with proce­dures to be adopted by consensus by the Conference of the Parties.
3. The provisions of this Article shall apply with respect to any protocol as be­tween the parties to the protocol, unless otherwise provided therein.
 
 
PART X: DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONVENTION
 
Article 28
 Amendments to this Convention
1. Any Party may propose amendments to this Convention. Such amendments will be considered by the Conference of the Parties.
2. Amendments to the Convention shall be adopted by the Conference of the Parties. The text of any proposed amend­ment to the Convention shall be commu­nicated to the Parties by the Secretariat at least six months before the session at , which it is proposed for adoption. The Secretariat shall also communicate pro­posed amendments to the signatories of the Convention and, for information, to the Depositary.
3. The Parties shall make every effort to reach agreement by consensus on any proposed amendment to the Convention. If all efforts at consensus have been ex­hausted, and no agreement reached, the amendment shall as a last resort be adopted by a three-quarters majority vote of the Parties present and voting at the session. For purposes of this Article, Par­ties present and voting means Parties present and casting an affirmative or negative vote. Any adopted amendment shall be communicated by the Secretariat to the Depositary, who shall circulate it to all Parties for acceptance.
4. Instruments of acceptance in respect of an amendment shall be deposited with the Depositary. An amendment adopted in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article shall enter into force for those Parties having accepted it on the nineti­eth day after the date of receipt by the Depositary of an instrument of accep­tance by at least two-thirds of the Parties to the Convention.
5. The amendment shall enter into force for any other Party on the ninetieth day after the date on which that Party depos­its with the Depositary its instrument of acceptance of the said amendment.
 
Article 29
 Adoption and amendment of annexes to this Convention
 
1. Annexes to this Convention and amendments thereto shall be proposed, adopted and shall enter into force in ac­cordance with the procedure set forth in Article 28.
2. Annexes to the Convention shall form an integral part thereof and, unless otherwise expressly provided, a reference to the Convention constitutes at the same time a reference to any annexes thereto.
         3. Annexes shall be restricted to lists, forms and any other descriptive material relating to procedural, scientific, technical                           or administrative matters.
 

PART XI: FINAL PROVISIONS

 
Article 30
Reservations
No reservations may be made to this Convention.
 
Article 31
Withdrawal
 
1. At any time after two years from the date on which this Convention has entered into force for a Party, that Party may withdraw from the Convention by giving written notification to the Depositary.
2. Any such withdrawal shall take effect upon expiry of one year from the date of receipt by the Depositary of the notifica­tion of withdrawal, or on such later date as may be specified in the notification of withdrawal.
3. Any Party that withdraws from the Convention shall be considered as also having withdrawn from any protocol to which it is a Party.
 
Article 32
        Right to vote
   1. Each Party to this Convention shall have one vote, except as provided for in paragraph 2 of this Article.
2. Regional economic integration orga­nizations, in matters within their compe­tence, shall exercise their right to vote with a number of votes equal to the num­ber of their Member States that are Par­ties to the Convention. Such an organization shall not exercise its right to vote if any of its Member States exercises its right, and vice versa.
 
Article 33
 Protocols
 
1. Any Party may propose protocols. Such proposals will be considered by the Conference of the Parties.
2. The Conference of the Parties may adopt protocols to this Convention. In adopting these protocols every effort shall be made to reach consensus. If all efforts at consensus have been exhausted, and no agreement reached, the protocol shall as a last resort be adopted by a three ­quarters majority vote of the Parties present and voting at the session. For the purposes of this Article, Parties present and voting means Parties present and casting an affirmative or negative vote.
3. The text of any proposed protocol shall be communicated to the Parties by the Secretariat at least six months before the session at which it is proposed for adoption.
4. Only Parties to the Convention may be parties to a protocol.
5. Any protocol to the Convention shall be binding only on the parties to the pro­tocol in question. Only Parties to a proto­col may take decisions on matters exclu­sively, relating to the protocol in question.
6. The requirements for entry into force of any protocol shall be established by that instrument.
 
Article 34
 Signature
 
This Convention shall be open for sig­nature by all Members of the World Health Organization and by any States that are not Members of the World Health Organization but are members of the United Nations and by regional eco­nomic integration organizations at the World Health Organization Headquarters in Geneva from 16 June 2003 to 22 June 2003, and thereafter at United Nations Headquarters in New York, from 30 June 2003 to 29 June 2004.
 
Article 35
 Ratification, acceptance, approval, formal confirmation or accession
 
1. This Convention shall be subject to ratification, acceptance, approval or ac­cession by States and to formal confirma­tion or accession by regional economic integration organizations. It shall be open for accession from the day after the date on which the Convention is closed for signature. Instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval, formal confirmation or accession shall be deposited with the Depositary.
2. Any regional economic integration organization which becomes a Party to the Convention without any of its Mem­ber States being a Party shall be bound by all the obligations under the Conven­tion. In the case of those organizations, one or more of whose Member States is a Party to the Convention, the organization and its Member States shall decide on their respective responsibilities for the performance of their obligations under the Convention. In such cases, the orga­nization and the Member States shall not be entitled to exercise rights under the Convention concurrently.
3. Regional economic integration organizations shall, in their instruments re­lating to formal confirmation or in their instruments of accession, declare the ex­tent of their competence with respect to the matters governed by the Convention. These organizations shall also inform the Depositary, who shall in turn inform the Parties, of any substantial modification in the extent of their competence.
 
Article 36
        Entry into force
1. This Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day following the date of deposit of the fortieth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval, for­mal confirmation or accession with the  Depositary.
2. For each State that ratifies; accepts or approves the Convention or accedes thereto after the conditions set out in paragraph of this Article for entry into force have been fulfilled, the Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day following the date of deposit of its instru­ment of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.
3. For each regional economic integra­tion organization depositing an instru­ment of formal confirmation or an instru­ment of accession after the conditions set out in paragraph 1 of this Article for en­try into force have been fulfilled, the Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day following the date of its depositing of the instrument of formal confirmation or of accession.
 
4. For the purposes of this Article, any instrument deposited by a regional eco­nomic integration organization shall not be, counted as additional to those deposited by States Members of the organization.
 
Article 37
Depositary
 
The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall be the Depositary of this Convention and amendments thereto and of protocols and annexes adopted in accordance with Articles 28, 29 and 33.
 
Article 38
Authentic texts
 
The original of this Convention, of which the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Rus­sian and Spanish texts are equally authen­tic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-­General of the United Nations.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the under­signed, being duly authorized to that ef­fect, have signed this Convention.
DONE at GENEVA this twenty-first day of May two thousand and three.

 
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