The Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products will enter into force in 90 days following its fortieth ratification by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on 27 June, the Secretariat of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO, FCTC) announced in a press release.

The protocol is first legally binding tobacco control instrument adopted under the FCTC and aims to create a path toward the elimination of illicit trade of tobacco products.
“This achievement is a milestone in the history of tobacco control, as the Protocol contains a full range of measures to combat illicit trade distributed in three categories: preventing illicit trade, promoting law enforcement and providing the legal basis for international cooperation,” the press note read.
Based on international cooperation and information sharing, the protocol requires the establishment of a global track-and-trace system for tobacco. The protocol text can be read here: https://goo.gl/afJQzo
The first session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (MOP12) will take place from 8-10 October in Geneva, Switzerland, following the eighth Conference of the Parties of the WHO FCTC (COP8).