The highly anticipated biannual gathering of Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) member states, known as the tenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) has been postponed until next year. The summit, which determines tobacco policy for the majority of the world, had been scheduled for November 20-25 in Panama.
The FCTC Secretariat (leadership group) announced that the delay was solely due to "the current security situation" in host nation Panama. According to the Secretariat, the postponed sessions "are expected to be held in Panama, as early as possible in 2024, at dates to be confirmed."
Panama has been shaken by political turmoil in recent months. Two people were killed earlier this week amid protests over a contentious government contract awarded to a Canadian corporation for an open-pit copper mine west of the country's capital Panama City.
Another reason for the postponement, according to FCTC watchdog site COPWATCH, might be because the consortium in charge of organizing the conference (and receiving $5 million in financing) withdrew at the last minute due to corruption charges.
Every two years, the notoriously insular and secretive COP conference take place, during which participants routinely decide to keep the press media out. All 183 FCTC Parties have agreed to adapt their national laws and regulations to decisions voted on by the whole FCTC, implying that COP meetings dictate tobacco policy for the majority of the globe. (The United States does not sign the FCTC but sends a delegation to the COP.)
Due to the COVID pandemic, the preceding FCTC conference (COP 9) was conducted virtually in 2021. The FCTC Secretariat then agreed to postpone critical debates on vapes and other low-risk nicotine products until COP 10.
The Secretariat, together with its supporters in the World Health Organization (WHO) and Bloomberg Philanthropies, will push for the following stances at COP 10:
- Eliminating vaping tastes
- Prohibiting open-system (refillable) products
- Eliminating nicotine salt e-liquid
- Redefining "smoke" to include smokeless vapor
- All nicotine products will be regulated and taxed as harshly as cigarettes.
The FCTC Secretariat consistently offers COP observer accreditation to anti-tobacco and anti-vaping organizations that assist shape the leadership's restrictive policies but refuse to allow nicotine user groups, which are genuine players in the debates.
