Noting that progress in combating illicit tobacco trade has been slow in the Southeast Asia Region, with appropriate policies and tools either not in place or not optimally implemented, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday called on member nations to take effective steps to track, trace and eliminate illicit trade of the products and control unrecorded alcohol.

“Effective control of illicit tobacco trade and unrecorded alcohol is a challenging and daunting task but now is the time to prudently make our decisions and choose the best way forward,” WHO Regional Director Saima Wazed urged in her opening remarks at a regional workshop in New Delhi to address the challenges of illicit tobacco trade and unrecorded alcohol. “As a first step, all our remaining member states should become parties to the WHO FCTC (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products,” she said. India and Sri Lanka from the WHO’s Southeast Asia Region are parties to the WHO FCTC protocol so far.

The workshop is exploring integrating “quitlines” for tobacco, alcohol and substance use, besides global best practices to monitor and combat illicit tobacco trade and unrecorded alcohol consumption.

Wazed also called on member countries to devote optimal resources to develop, implement and sustain effective track-and-trace mechanisms for tobacco products.  Experience from many countries shows illicit trade can be successfully addressed, even when tobacco taxes and prices are raised, Wazed said.

“It is essential to compile existing and generate new regional evidence to enable policymakers to make better-informed and more effective policy decisions to monitor and combat illicit tobacco trade and unrecorded alcohol,” she added.