The International Tobacco Growers Association (ITGA) asked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to stop the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control from banning dozens of delegates from its November FCTC plenary session.

“The FCTC has already banned tobacco farmers, tobacco manufacturers, respected international law enforcement agencies such as Interpol, the media and general public from previous COP meetings and is now applying this undemocratic approach to sovereign nation states” ITGA said in a letter that accused the FCTC of preparing to ban dozens of appointed and elected officials in delegations representing tobacco-growing states. The seventh meeting of the FCTC’s Congress of the Parties (COP7) will be held 7-12 Nov near the Indian capital city, New Delhi. The FCTC is an adjunct of the UN World Health Organisation.
“The proposed country delegate ban fundamentally impinges on the sacred sovereignty of these nations and undermines important principles enshrined by the United Nations’ Charter,” states the letter signed by ITGA President Francois van der Merwe and Antonio Abrunhosa, the organisation’s CEO. “Decisions taken at COP7 will directly affect the livelihoods of more than 30 million tobacco farmers, as well as rural workers and their families in Africa and around the world.” The letter is available at: https://goo.gl/Buh7iS