Curtailing sales of illicit goods will be the theme for World No Tobacco Day on 31 May, 2015, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a statement also promising a push to ratify its stalled protocol to stamp out unlawful trade

“Ratification of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products is necessary to respond to the financial, legal and health impacts of the illicit trade of tobacco products”, WHO said. Nearly 180 countries are party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, but the treaty protocol gained only 54 signatories and FCTC says it currently has five parties. Forty countries must ratify, which means 35 more are needed.
A global track and trace system for legal tobacco products is part of the protocol, which awaits ratification since January, 2013. Upon adoption, protocol provisions would apply only to FCTC members that become protocol parties.