Jump to full article: Reuters, 2010-03-21
Author: Stephanie Nebehay
Intro: GENEVA (Reuters) - Negotiators have made significant progress on a global pact to halt smuggling and counterfeiting of tobacco products in a week of talks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday.
But they did not discuss a proposal to ban sales of duty-free cigarettes, which activists say are frequently diverted into illicit trade that costs governments an estimated $40 billion in lost taxes.
Instead, negotiators from 168 countries did agree in closed meetings on the outline of a "tracking-and-tracing" system for tobacco products, the WHO and non-government organizations said.
Senior health officials will attempt to hammer out remaining differences when they meet in Uruguay in November to finalize the treaty, formally a protocol to the 2005 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
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