Devex: Global tobacco protocol short of 7 countries to become international treaty in 2018
“…The Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade on Tobacco is the first protocol under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and was adopted in November 2012 by parties to the convention. The protocol is seen as a tool to help curb tobacco consumption, whose low price rates — particularly if purchased through illegal means — has become attractive and affordable to tobacco users in low- and middle-income countries. … But to date, only 33 countries party to the convention have ratified it. And in Asia Pacific, where billions of dollars are lost to government revenues from illicit tobacco trade, only one country, Mongolia, has ratified the protocol…” (Ravelo, 12/15).