Geneva, November 7, 2016 – The World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Secretariat’s reports on trade and the settlement of disputes are veiled attempts at “Empire Building”.
The Convention Secretariat has manufactured a conflict with international trade and investment agreements by pretending they are obstacles to the implementation of the FCTC. It distorts international trade and investment law in order to justify its attempts to exclude tobacco from trade agreements, and establish its own dispute settlement mechanism to deliberate on trade; a clear attempt to reach beyond the FCTC’s mandate and competence. [...]