The European Commission called on the European Union to follow through on a commitment made more than two years ago to ratify the illicit tobacco trade protocol of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Only seven countries, including EU members Spain and Austria, have ratified the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products since it was approved at an FCTC meeting in Seoul, Korea, in November, 2012. Forty ratifications are necessary for the protocol to take effect, the Commission noted in its statement. Ratification by the 26 member countries that have not done so and the EU as a ratifying body would add raise the number of approving parties to 34.
FCTC is the first international treaty operating under the auspices of the World Health Organisation.