CARICOM Member States have taken a major step in meeting their obligation under Article 11 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a release from the Caricom Secretariat said on December 12.
Article 11 calls on countries which are a party to the Convention, within a period of three years after entry into force, to adopt and implement effective measures to ensure tobacco packages are labeled according to guidelines developed by the World Health Organization FCTC Secretariat. This is according to a statement issued after the Thirty-Fifth meeting of the CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on December 11.
The statement said that COTED, at its meeting held in Guyana, made an historic decision by adopting the Regional Standard for the Labeling of Retail Packages of Tobacco Products as presented by the CARICOM Regional Organization for Standards and Quality (CROSQ). All Member States present at the Thirty-Fifth COTED Meeting voted in favour of the Regional Standard. The details of the regional standard were not released.
The Convention calls for parties to, among other requirements, implement rotating health warnings on tobacco packaging that covers at least 30 per cent (ideally 50 per cent) of the display areas, which may include pictures or pictograms. In adopting the Regional Standard on Tobacco Labeling, CARICOM countries would have met this important obligation, the statement said.
In so doing, CARICOM Member States have also met the related obligation under the Port-of-Spain Declaration (2007) on Non–Communicable Diseases.
All manufacturers, importers, retailers and other entities engaged in the production and or trade of tobacco products within any Member State of CARICOM need to comply with the Regional Standards.
In September this year, former Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy had blamed the absence of warnings on local cigarette packets to the delay by CROSQ in finalizing the regional standard.
He had told Stabroek News: “We have developed a local legislation for Guyana but Guyana is a part of CROSQ and we did not want to proceed with a Guyana standard when we are a part of CROSQ and CROSQ haven’t done their own legislation… They are the ones who held it back,” Ramsammy told Stabroek News.
In 2009, Ramsammy had committed to packaging that reflected the dangers of smoking in keeping with the FCTC However, by the time he demitted office last year no such legislation was in place.
Ramsammy said in September that with regards to Guyana, legislation had already been drafted and agreed upon but was being stalled by CROSQ. “It makes no sense for us to implement it and then have to change it back to the Caribbean Standard,” he said.
The Minister said that he understood that at the level of COTED, two CARICOM countries had wanted amendments but he is of the view that if they are taking too long then Guyana should proceed on its own.
The issue of cigarette packaging was back in public focus in September this year after a landmark ruling in Australia upheld Canberra’s tough anti-tobacco marketing laws.
According to Reuters, Australia’s highest court endorsed tough new anti-tobacco marketing laws, dismissing a legal challenge from global cigarette companies in a major test case between tobacco giants and anti-smoking campaigners.
Tobacco giants British American Tobacco, Britain’s Imperial Tobacco, Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco challenged the laws in Australia’s High Court, claiming the rules were unconstitutional because they effectively extinguished their intellectual property rights. The judges hearing the case did not find that the laws breached the constitution.
The Australia decision means cigarettes and tobacco products must be sold in plain olive green packets without branding from December 1, 2012. The plain packages will also carry graphic health warnings.
