Jump to full article: New Europe, 2010-02-01
Author: Clara Hogan
Intro: Tobacco smuggling could get a lot harsher as an EP conference this evening, a UN Conference in March and a World Health Organisation report all point towards governments being too lax on the issue
European Union officials and international experts fighting against global illicit tobacco sales will meet tonight at a conference to discuss the ongoing concern over the illegal cigarette market just weeks before a vital United Nations meeting in March on the issue.
The UN will meet from 14 - 21 March on a new protocol that could secure a binding international agreement to combat the massive market of illegal tobacco sales. It will be the fourth meeting of the International Negotiating Body on the supplementary protocol to the already-in-place Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which passed in 2005 and was the first treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization.
Belgian Green MEP Bart Staes, who is hosting tonight's conference in Brussels to push more EU leadership on the issue, said it is necessary to have strong action rather thansimply more political talk.
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