Geneva, October 2, 2014 – JTI (Japan Tobacco International) today published an Opinion from leading international law expert Sir Franklin Berman QC, about the WHO’s lack of transparency in tobacco-related meetings. The report was commissioned after the public, including the media, was prevented from observing the fifth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP5) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
In his Opinion, Sir Franklin reviewed the history and practice of WHO FCTC’s COP. He confirmed that by excluding the public, COP breaches its own Rules of Procedure, and that Article 5.3 cannot be used as a justification for exclusion at the Conference.
Article 5.3 aims to protect policy decision-making from undue influence, but is often misrepresented or used as an excuse to shut out the tobacco industry. At COP5, approximately 200 tobacco control lobbyists were registered as observers or attended as official delegates, whereas only 30 places were made available to the entire public (media, business, academics, etc.) to observe proceedings. The public was nevertheless excluded from the Conference.
Sir Franklin has reviewed the decisions to exclude the public from FCTC meetings. He concluded that the procedures under which the decisions were taken were ‘highly questionable’ and fall far short of what constitutes sound administrative practice and the rule of law, as recognized in the ‘Recommended Rules and Practices’ of the International Law Association (ILA).
“Businesses like ours bring expertise to the table and should be able to contribute to the development of policies that concern our industry,” says Michiel Reerink, Global Regulatory Strategy Vice President. “We clearly raised our concerns regarding exclusion in a letter to the WHO on 20 June 2014, which included concrete proposals to improve transparency. Unfortunately, we have yet to receive a reply. Any moves to shut out the public again during the COP6 proceedings in Moscow would show a worrying lack of integrity at the heart of the COP process, not to mention serve as another demonstration of the WHO FCTC ‘breaking its own rules’.”
Provisional agenda items for COP6 include (a) the implementation of Article 5.3 of the FCTC; (b) participation of the members of the public in the sessions of the COP and its subsidiary bodies, and (c) possible amendment to the Rules of Procedure of COP. The presence of these items on the agenda provides a unique opportunity for the WHO and COP to make significant improvements to the transparency and inclusivity of the COP process.