EU isolated in WHO tobacco negotiations, "act now" says ITRC

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The International Travel Retail Confederation (ITRC) today called for more support for the European Union's negotiating position on the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

The ITRC said in a statement it was alarmed to learn that the EU found itself completely isolated at recent negotiations in Geneva when recommending that the proposal for the global abolition of tax and duty free tobacco sales be withdrawn from the FCTC proposal. This was the disturbing conclusion drawn from the EU's briefing to interested parties, attended by ITRC and IAADFS representatives, held in Luxembourg last Monday.

This development piles on a new danger to duty-free tobacco sales. The EU now says it favours the exchange of information to assess the impact of abolition and the key Commission spokesman stated that he now anticipated that the EU would have to consider changing its position on the duty-free issue.

ITRC director-general, Keith Spinks, said today: "Duty free is a legitimate part of the global travel experience. I am very concerned about the Commission's interpretation of recent events. It confirms our belief that the entire industry must begin taking action now if we are to stand any chance of eliminating this unwarranted attack."