Approaches for Controlling Illicit Tobacco Trade — Nine Countries and the European Union

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death and disability around the globe, contributing to six million deaths per year. Illicit trade in tobacco products undermines global tobacco prevention and control interventions. This report illustrates the diversity of approaches for limiting illicit tobacco trade in a number of countries and the EU. These findings underscore the importance of continued adoption of the provisions outlined in the WHO protocol to improve the global capacity to reduce illicit trade in tobacco products. Once legally binding (ratified by at least 40 countries), the protocol will facilitate international cooperation, a core provision to counteract illicit trade. Further, continued monitoring of the implementation of the WHO protocol could counteract the negative economic, societal, and health effects of illicit tobacco trade. Understanding differences across countries in the implementation of the WHO FCTC Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products is important for assessing country-specific needs in implementing the protocol and for identifying best practices that address illicit tobacco trade and reduce tobacco-related disease and death globally.

Read the paper here via CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. For further details, see the background report Controlling Illicit Tobacco Trade: International Experience.