The Parties to this Convention,
Determined to give priority to their right to protect public health,
Recognizing that the spread of the tobacco epidemic is a global problem with serious consequences for public health that calls for the widest possible interna­tional cooperation and the participation of all countries in an effective, appropri­ate and comprehensive international re­sponse,
Reflecting the concern of the interna­tional community about the devastating worldwide health, social, economic and environmental consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke,
Seriously concerned about the increase in the worldwide consumption and pro­duction of cigarettes and other tobacco products, particularly in developing coun­tries, as well as about the burden this places on families, on the poor, and on national health systems,
Recognizing that scientific evidence has unequivocally established that tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke cause death, disease and disability, and that there is a time lag between the exposure to smoking and the other uses of tobacco products and the onset of to­bacco-related diseases,
Recognizing also that cigarettes and some other products containing tobacco are highly engineered so as to create and maintain dependence, and that many of the compounds they contain and the smoke they produce are pharmacologi­cally active, toxic,  mutagenic and carcino­genic, and that tobacco dependence is separately classified as a disorder in ma­jor international classifications of dis­eases,
Acknowledging that there is clear scien­tific evidence that prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke causes adverse health and developmental conditions for children,
Deeply concerned about the escalation in smoking and other forms of tobacco consumption by children and adolescents worldwide, particularly smoking at in­creasingly early ages
Alarmed by the increase in smoking and other forms of tobacco consumption by women and young girls worldwide and keeping in mind the need for full partici­pation of women at all levels of policy­making and implementation and the need for gender-specific tobacco control strategies,
Deeply concerned about the high levels of smoking and other forms of tobacco consumption by indigenous peoples,
Seriously concerned about the impact of all forms of advertising, promotion and sponsorship aimed at encouraging the use of tobacco products,
Recognizing that cooperative action is necessary, to eliminate all forms of illicit trade in cigarettes and other tobacco products, including smuggling, illicit, manufacturing and counterfeiting,
Acknowledging that tobacco control at all levels and particularly in developing countries and in countries with econo­mies in transition requires sufficient fi­nancial and technical resources commen­surate with the current and projected need for tobacco control activities,
Recognizing the need to develop appro­priate mechanisms to address the long-­term social and economic implications of successful tobacco demand reduction strategies,
Mindful of the social and economic dif­ficulties that tobacco control programmes may engender in the medium and long term in some developing countries and countries with economies in transition, and recognizing their need for technical and financial assistance in the context of nationally developed strategies for sus­tainable development,
Conscious of the valuable work being conducted by many States on tobacco control and commending the leadership of the World Health Organizations as well as the efforts of other organizations and bodies of the United Nations system and other international and regional intergov­ernmental organizations in developing measures on tobacco control,
Emphasizing the special contribution of nongovernmental organizations and other members of civil society not affili­ated with the tobacco industry, including health professional bodies, women's, youth, environmental and consumer groups, and academic and health care institutions, to tobacco control efforts nationally and internationally and the vital importance of their participation in national and international tobacco con­trol efforts,
Recognizing the need to be alert to any efforts by the tobacco industry to under­mine or subvert tobacco control efforts and the need to be informed of activities of the tobacco industry that have a nega­tive impact on tobacco control efforts,
Recalling Article 12 of the Interna­tional Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 Decem­ber 1966, which states that it is the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the high­est attainable standard of physical and mental health,
Recalling also the preamble to the Con­stitution of the World Health Organiza­tion, which states that the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition,
Determined to promote measures of to­bacco control based on current and rel­evant scientific, technical and economic considerations,
Recalling that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimina­tion against Women, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 1979, provides that States Par­ties to that Convention shall take appro­priate measures to eliminate discrimina­tion against women in the field of healthcare,
Recalling further that the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989, provides that States Parties to that Convention recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, Have agreed, as follows:
 
 
   
Article 1
Use of terms
   For the purposes of this Convention:
(a) "illicit trade" means any practice or conduct prohibited by law and which re­lates to production, shipment, receipt, possession, distribution, sale or purchase including any practice or conduct in­tended to facilitate such activity;
(b) "regional economic integration orga­nization" means an organization that is composed of several sovereign states, and to which its Member States have trans­ferred competence over a range of mat­ters, including the authority to make de­cisions binding on its Member States in respect of those matters;¹
(c) "tobacco advertising and promotion" means any form of commercial, communi­cation, recommendation or action with the aim, effect or likely effect of promot­ing a tobacco product or tobacco use ei­ther directly or indirectly;
(d) "tobacco control" means a range of supply, demand and harm reduction strategies that aim to improve the health of a population by eliminating or reducing their consumption of tobacco products and exposure to tobacco smoke;
(e) "tobacco industry" means tobacco manufacturers, wholesale distributors and importers of tobacco products;
(f) "tobacco products" means products entirely or partly made of the leaf tobacco as raw material which are manufactured to be used for smoking, sucking, chewing or snuffing;
¹ Where appropriate, national will refer equally to regional economic integration organizations.
(g) "tobacco sponsorship" means any form of contribution to any event, activ­ity or individual with the aim, effect or likely effect of promoting a tobacco prod­uct or tobacco use either directly or indi­rectly;