COP & MOP

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is an international treaty that aims to reduce the demand and supply of tobacco.¹ The WHO FCTC includes a specific obligation, Article 5.3, to protect public health policies from commercial and vested interests of the tobacco industry.²³

• More information on Article 5.3, and tobacco industry attempts to undermine the FCTC, can be found on the TobaccoTactics FCTC page.

FCTC parties usually meet every two years at a Conference of the Parties (COP).⁴

Immediately following COP is the Meeting of the Parties (MOP). This oversees the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. This treaty was adopted at COP 5 and addresses means of countering the illicit trade in tobacco products.⁵

COP and MOP are the governing bodies for the treaty, and they decide on how to achieve effective implementation of the treaties.

• A summary of COP and MOP decisions relating to protecting public health from the tobacco industry can be found on: FCTC Regulations on the Need to Protect Public Health Policies from Tobacco Industry Interference

The first COP was held in February 2006, and the first MOP in 2018.

Industry interference

TobaccoTactics details interference by the tobacco industry and its allies at these events:

• COP 10 & MOP 3 (2023)
• COP 9 & MOP 2 (2021)
• See also the timeline summary: History of Interference by the Tobacco Industry and its Allies during COP and MOP

Relevant Links

• World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)
• FCTC COP website
• The Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products
• MOP website
• The tobacco epidemic has not gone away (WHO news, 1 November 2021)

TobaccoTactics Resources

• Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
• Protocol to Eliminate Illicit trade in Tobacco Products
• FCTC Regulations on the Need to Protect Public Health Policies from Tobacco Industry Interference
• Interference around COP 10 & MOP 3
• Interference around COP 9 & MOP 2
• History of Interference by the Tobacco Industry and its Allies during COP and MOP

TCRG Research

• Attempts to undermine global public health: observations from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’s COP10, Karin Silver, Britta K. Mathes, Hala Alaouie, Tom Gatehouse, Rachel Maynard, John Mehegan, Sherif Elmitwalli, Adam Bertscher and Raouf Alebshehy, Health Promotion International, 2 May 2024, doi:10.1093/heapro/daae038