Overview
- The weeklong FCTC conference in Geneva brings more than 1,400 delegates from 183 Parties and is due to conclude with a declaration on 22 November.
- An expert paper tabled at COP11 proposes 16 actions, including banning the manufacture and import of filters, prohibiting flavorings and additives, and exploring non‑commercial sales and tobacco‑free generation policies.
- WHO and FCTC officials argue filters provide no health benefit, account for massive plastic pollution—about 4.5 trillion discarded annually—and should be outlawed.
- Monitoring reports highlight rising adolescent e‑cigarette use—an estimated 15 million aged 13–15—with regulatory gaps such as no minimum age in about 74 countries and only seven with comprehensive flavor bans.
- Negotiations face resistance as a new index details intensified tobacco‑industry interference and the European Commission states it is not planning an EU‑level filter ban.