Romar Beling
The tobacco industry is likely to face fierce challenges in 2018, especially
with a growing antidemocratic wave for the exclusion of the sector from na-
tional and international forums. This is the evaluation by the executive direc-
tor of the Brazilian Association of Tobacco Industries (Abifumo), Carlos Galant.
In his view, the theme will probably be the main debate at the eighth edition of
the Convention of the Parties (COP 8) of the countries that signed the treaty of
the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in October 2018, in Ge-
neva, Switzerland.
A
dangerous
year
With the COP8 about to take place inGeneva,
Switzerland, inOctober 2018, and a growingwave
relative to the exclusionof the tobacco sector fromthe
debates, leaves the sector on the alert
The sector is facing a growing wave of loss of
representativeness of the tobacco supply chain
and of the possibility of dialogue in different fo-
rums. An example of this is the model of politi-
cal relationship suggested by theUnitedNations
Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and
control of Noncommunicable Diseases (UNI-
ATF). “Such proposal extrapolates Article 5.3 of
the FCTC, as it intends to exclude, in fact, the en-
tire tobacco sector fromall debating forums that
exist under the umbrella of the United Nations
Organization (UNO)”, Galant warns. “Unfortu-
nately, it was already successful at the realm of
the United Nations Economic and Social Coun-
cil (Ecosoc) and at the UN Global Pact (UNGC),
even with support from the representatives of
the Brazilian government”.
In his view, the unprecedented adoption of
such policies against a legal and legitimate sec-
tor, preferring exclusion to dialogue, does not
comply with UNO’s principles of responsibility,
transparency, participation and inclusion. “Such
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