GENEVA, Oct. 14 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The World Health Organization (WHO)
calls upon all countries not yet parties to the WHO Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) to act swiftly. Otherwise they will not be able to
participate as full Parties in the governing body for the WHO FCTC, the
Conference of the Parties (COP), when it meets for the first time early next
year.
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Countries must deposit the instrument of ratification (or equivalent) in
New York by 8 November 2005 to participate with full powers in the first
Conference of the Parties.
The COP is the supreme body of the Convention, which will oversee the
implementation of the WHO FCTC. Its first session will take place in Geneva
from 6-17 February 2006. A country becomes a contracting party to the WHO
FCTC 90 days after the deposit of a valid instrument of ratification or
equivalent at the UN headquarters in New York. Therefore, for a Member State
to participate as full Party during the entire Conference it is vital that the
deposit of the instrument be done before 8 November 2005.
During the first COP, Parties will take decisions in technical, procedural
and financial matters relating to the implementation of the Treaty such as the
establishment of the permanent Secretariat, funding and financial support and
monitoring and reporting on implementation progress among others.
"With the deposit of China's ratification, the total population protected
by the Treaty is now over four billion, more than half the world's population.
We are calling for more countries to join for the first Conference of the
Parties, which will be decisive in shaping the future of global tobacco
control," said Dr Catherine Le Gales-Camus, WHO Assistant Director-General for
noncommunicable diseases and mental health.
The WHO FCTC currently has 89 Parties. Another 105 countries are eligible
to become parties to the Treaty.(*)
Notes to editors:
The WHO FCTC has provisions that set international standards on tobacco
price and tax increases, tobacco advertising and sponsorship, labelling,
illicit trade and second-hand tobacco smoke among others.
For current status and full text of the WHO FCTC, please visit:
http://www.who.int/tobacco/areas/framework/signing_ceremony/countrylist/en .
For further information, please contact:
Marta Seoane, Communications Officer,
Tobacco Free Initiative, WHO Geneva
Tel: +41-22-791-2489
Mobile: +41-79-475-5551
Email: seoanem@who.int
All WHO News Releases, Fact Sheets and Features as well as other
information on this subject can be obtained on Internet on the WHO home page:
http://www.who.int .
SOURCE World Health Organization
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CONTACT:
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