Korea to host anti-smoking confab

Korea will host a World Health Organization (WHO) conference on smoking aimed at reducing the sales of tobacco products worldwide.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Thursday 1,000 delegates from 170 countries will attend the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on Nov. 12 for six days. The meeting will take place at the COEX in southern Seoul.

“We look forward to enhancing our non-smoking policy through this convention,” the ministry said in a statement.

All of the participating countries are among the 175 members of the FCTC that was formed to help people across the world stop smoking and to stop the illegal trade of cigarettes.

The agenda for the Seoul conference is from Article 15 of the FCTC — “Measures relating to the reduction of the supply of tobacco.”

The ministry said that the member nations have tried for years to make the article practical in each of their countries in four previous meetings since 2006.

“With a record number of delegates including government officials, anti-tobacco civic group members and health experts, we hope to make impressive progress this time,” said Kwon Hyung-won, a member of the ministry’s task force for the convention.

Article 15 encourages FCTC member countries to root out any illegal trade of tobacco products, including smuggling, illicit manufacturing and counterfeiting, and to implement related national laws.

Korea has cooperated under the article and found a total of 638 cases of such illegalities from 2006 to February 2011, according to the ministry.

“Most of the people involved were local international travelers who purchased more than one carton of cigarettes at duty free stores and tried to bring them back,” Kwon said.

“Those cases are minor compared to other countries where criminal gangs are involved, but we’ll continue to fulfill FCTC regulations.”

Apart from preventing the illegal trade of tobacco products, the government also has made efforts to reduce the domestic distribution of cigarettes, another recommended policy by the FCTC.

The ministry on Thursday drafted guidelines to enhance its current no-smoking policy.

The guidelines propose to include all restaurants and expressway cafeterias as smoke-free zones by January 2015. It also proposes to insert a warning note on every cigarette pack. The note reads “The amount of tar inhaled varies with a person’s smoking habits,” and is designed to contradict the advertisement of cigarette companies that sell low-tar products, which are supposedly “healthier” than high-tar cigarettes.

The ministry said the delegates appreciate Korea’s effort to fulfill FCTC regulations in this conference and hopes to come up with “unanimous consent” concerning Article 15.

“FCTC members have sought to draw out a protocol on the article in the past four meetings, and we hope to finalize one when we meet here in Seoul,” Kwon said. <The Korea Times/Yi Whan-woo>

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