Page 141 - TAIWAN TOBACCO CONTROL ANNUAL REPORT 2019

The 7th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 7) was held in New Delhi, India from November 7 to 12, 2016. The following consensuses were reached by the parties: 1. E-cigarette regulation: Respect for national sovereignty, reasons for controls or prohibitions don’t have to be based on scientific evidence; maintenance of simultaneous use of the terms "prohibition" and "regulation"; the scope of regulation shall be expanded to include manufacturing, importation, delivery, display, and sale; regulation methods shall still be based on the three categories of tobacco products, drugs, and general products. 2. Control or prevention of hookah hazards: Increased regulation intensity and ban on adding of flavors. 3. Ratification of the proposal in Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC, emphasis on cross-departmental and international cooperation to address undue influence of tobacco dealers. 4. Other key resolutions and proposals involve the following Articles: Guidelines and certain clauses of Article 9 and Article 10 (Regulations governing regulation and disclosure of tobacco products components); advertising, promotion, and sponsorship as stipulated in Article 13; Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products in Article 15; guidance for tobacco farmers to transition to other crops as stipulated in Article 17; civil and criminal liability of tobacco dealer as stipulated in Article 19; reporting and information exchange as stipulated in Article 21; and the requirement to take into account gender risks when formulating Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act strategies. The 8th conference of the Parties was held in Geneva, Switzerland between October 1, 2018 and October 6, 2018. The main adopted resolutions include: 1. Regulation of the contents of tobacco products and of tobacco product disclosures (including water pipe smoking, smokeless tobacco, and heated tobacco): Existing and new knowledge databases for reducing the addictiveness on tobaccos, market development and use of new tobacco products and market monitoring, the composition of smokeless tobacco products and the attractiveness of chemicals released, and the improvement of the ability to detect tobacco products. 2. Collaboration and mutual support to implement and improve the effectiveness of the Convention: The Implementation Review Committee was set up, with the terms of reference including systematic and quantitative review of the tobacco control regulations and policies of Parties, its implementation and effectiveness, and making recommendations as a reference for the Conference of the Parties (COP) and Parties, while providing professionals to support Party assistance (major dispute). 3. The identity of parties should be transparent: To avoid formulation and implementation of tobacco hazard prevention policies from being interfered with by tobacco industry. 4. Tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship: A work team is set up in compliance with Article 13 of the FCTC: Supplement to Guidelines for Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship, incorporating provisions on entertainment media. 5. On the protection of public health policies with respect to tobacco control from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry. 139 Research, Monitoring, and International Exchange