Experts Warn of Rising Black Market, Call for Consumer-Centered Policy Reform

Overview

The final day of Good COP 2.0 brought sharp focus to the consequences of prohibitionist tobacco control policies worldwide. Speakers emphasized the global rise in illicit trade, gang violence, and punitive enforcement measures — all driven by governments adopting WHO-endorsed restrictions such as taxes and pre-market approval systems that ignore scientific evidence and consumer behavior.

Panelists examined the real-world harms of fundamentalist approaches, highlighted the importance of consumer voices in policymaking, and explored what effective, humane nicotine regulation should look like. In the American context, for example, sensible reforms would likely require at least a partial repeal of the Tobacco Control Act and a light-touch approach by the FDA. The day concluded with an open forum in which experts and attendees reflected on the week’s findings and emphasized the urgent need for reform within the WHO’s FCTC structure.

WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING:

Morning Sessions:

Opening Remarks (David Williams, Martin Cullip)

“Countries such as Tajikistan are standing up and saying they want evidence-based harm reduction. That’s so important and such a great start to a much-needed conversation. The Philippines discussing sovereignty was also critical in COP11’s opening sessions.” – David Williams

“In covering both COPs, the media is obsessed with the tobacco industry. Yet when companies come up with innovative approaches to tackle problems like climate change, their CEOs are embraced, not shunned. It’s absolute hypocrisy that the UN and WHO don’t extend this approach to THR.” – David Williams

“Media outlets are claiming that delegations standing up to the WHO are using ‘recycled industry talking points.’ That’s an easy way to avoid actually listening to what they have to say.” – Martin Cullip

Panel Discussion: Encouraging Criminality: the Dangers of Fundamentalism in Tobacco Control (Nancy Loucas, Jacob Grier, Dr. Rohan Sequeira, Mark Oates, Dr. Marina Murphy)

“One vape shop owner was arrested in Massachusetts for selling flavored vapes. He then proceeded to sell vapes out of his car, and the police spent time and money to catch him in the act. This is a guy that was ultimately sentenced and jailed for selling lifesaving products.”- Jacob Grier

“THR restrictions are tantamount to punishing people for things like wearing seatbelts. The worst part is that law enforcement is abusing these restrictions to get bribes.” – Rohan Sequeira

“Studies on THR product use tend to focus on the very small proportion of youth using nicotine. These studies ignore the far more important issue of adults using nicotine to quit smoking.” – Marina Murphy

“There’s no point in the government putting in laws that they aren’t going to police. We have to get the enforcement right in the U.K. and elsewhere.” – Mark Oates

“There is a portion of people that you’ll never reach by only appealing to the evidence. It’s also important to change the framing and shift the culture.” – Jacob Grier

Panel Discussion: “Nothing About Us: Without Us”: Consumers are the Most Important Voice (Mark Oates, Ignacio Leiva, Asa Saligupta, Filip Tokic, Clarisse Virgino)

 “I don’t know why we have to listen to these global bureaucrats that don’t listen to us and don’t know about us.” – Asa Saligupta

“There are important things we can do at a local level to fight for reform. Our local community was successfully able to reach out to the deputies charged with reforming laws urging them to expand harm reduction options.” – Ignacio Leiva

“The real work often starts after vaping laws are passed. Regulatory agencies can implement harsh restrictions that don’t even align with implementing laws.” – Clarisse Virgino

“When the Croatian government was implementing a new excise tax on e-liquids this year, they couldn’t even tell us when the tax would be implemented! That’s not real democracy.” – Filip Tokic

Afternoon Panels:

Panel Discussion: In an Ideal World, How Should Governments Regulate Nicotine? (Jeff Smith, Ignacio Leiva, Kurt Yeo, Ross Marchand)

“The FDA has a lot of authority over a lot of products. Unfortunately, the FDA is exceptionally risk averse and way too restrictive with approvals.” – Ross Marchand

“We’ve never once said we don’t want regulations. We desperately need regulations that make sense and can be enforced.” – Kurt Yeo

Panel Discussion: Reform of the WHO: the State They Are In (Maria Papaioannoy, Jeannie Cameron, Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos, Prof. Tikki Pangestu)

“Of the funds that are contributed to the WHO, a significant percentage goes to the FCTC Secretariat. Only a small amount goes toward running the programs. Meanwhile, a growing percentage of WHO funding comes not from member nations, but from outside groups with dubious agendas.” – Tikki Pangestu

“Mission creep is a problem at the WHO. Tobacco control has morphed into nicotine control, and leadership is actively farming in new issues to the detriment of consumers.” – Maria Papaioannoy

“What has happened at the WHO is a stalling of any kind of progress and a shift toward nicotine control. Sometimes it seems like the WHO thinks that smoking has been completely eliminated, and nicotine use is the only ‘problem’ left for them to solve.” – Konstantinos Farsalinos

“What’s being discussed at COP11 is very different from what the FCTC originally set out to do. Originally everything was about the elimination of smoking. This is unfortunately no longer the case.” – Jeannie Cameron

Regulator Watch (David Williams, Martin Cullip, Jacob Grier, Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos, Jeffrey Zamora, Clarisse Virgino)

“Companies are allowed to make money off solving climate change. Entrepreneurs should also be allowed to save smokers’ lives.” – David Williams

Dispatches from COP11

Yesterday, COP11 delegations directed their attention to Agenda Item 4.4, pertaining to Articles 9 and 10 of the WHO FCTC. At issue was the testing and measuring of tobacco product emissions, rules targeting those emissions and associated ingredients, and mandated disclosures regarding product toxicity and addictiveness. Even the pro-prohibition group Action on Smoking & Health has acknowledged that these efforts have been largely unsuccessful: “Work on Articles 9 and 10 started at COP 1 and measures were adopted at COP 4 and COP 7. A Working Group had been established, but progress stalled, so an Expert Group was then created, which issued partial guidelines related Articles 9 and 10. At COP 10, the recommendation was that future work on Articles 9 and 10 should be deferred for a future COP.”

As has been repeatedly discussed at Good COP 2.0, costly restrictions will only drive black market activity and limit consumer choice. Unsurprisingly, the WHO has yet to comprehend this basic insight.

Key Takeaways

• Punitive anti-nicotine policies are fueling illicit trade and criminal activity around the world.
• Consumers remain excluded from COP11 and national-level debates despite being the most directly affected stakeholders.
• Structural reform of international bureaucracies such as the WHO and national regulatory bodies such as the U.S. FDA is key to harm reduction progress.

Media

All post-conference media queries should be sent to Kara@protectingtaxpayers.org.

Thank you for attending and listening in! We will see you for the next “Good COP” in 2027.

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) organized a rapid response and fact checking conference in Geneva, Switzerland as the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) met for their biennial Conference of the Parties (Bad COP) to discuss tobacco-related issues. TPA’s event “Conference of the People (Good COP)” brought in experts and consumers, often ignored by WHO, to be heard during the discussion of tobacco and tobacco harm reduction. The Conference of the People (Good COP) is a launch vehicle for a broader coalition of taxpayer, free market, and harm reduction organizations to counter the message from the FCTC Secretariat and specifically address issues brought forth at COP. Currently, there is no cohesive, organized message to balance the misinformation stemming from the WHO and institutions under the auspices of the FCTC.