Home Page

1The Secretary-General received the following communications relating to the interpretative declaration made by the Czech Republic upon ratification:



Uruguay (17 July 2012)

“The Government of Uruguay acknowledges receipt of the Depositary Notification on the interpretative declaration made by the Czech Republic when acceding the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of the World Health Organization on 1 June 2012.

In this regard, the Government of Uruguay would like to state that such interpretative declaration cannot be deemed to be a reservation, expressly prohibited under article 30 of the FCTC, nor can it be considered to exempt any Party of its obligations under the Convention.

Article 5.3 of the FCTC expressly states that ‘Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law’.

Uruguay wishes to remind States Parties of the Guidelines for implementation of Article 5.3 of the FCTC, which state that ‘there is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry’s interests and public health policy interests’.”



   

Czech Republic (10 January 2013)

“On the Communication of Uruguay to the Interpretative Declaration of the Czech Republic to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Concerning Article 5(3) FCTC

When depositing the FCTC ratification instrument, the Czech Republic made an Interpretative Declaration to the FCTC. This Declaration is solely of an interpretative nature and the Czech Republic thereby raised no reservations against the text of the FCTC; under Article 30 of the FCTC this is not even possible. Under no circumstances the Czech Republic, by means of this act, challenges the obligations imposed on the Parties by the FCTC.

On Article 5(3) of the FCTC the Czech Republic declares that it ‘considers Article 5(3) a provision not affecting the right to non-discriminatory treatment of the tobacco industry by the Parties and thus permitting the necessary extent of cooperation with the tobacco industry as regards tobacco control’. This statement was made to alleviate certain concerns and possibly misunderstandings, which some Czech competent authorities expressed regarding the interpretation of Article 5(3). Some public administration tasks require limited contact with the tobacco industry, such as consultations with all relevant subjects concerned, including tobacco industry, while preparing a regulatory impact assessment of a new legislation related to tobacco products regulation, performance of reporting and control tasks, etc.

After all, a certain level of interaction of the Parties to the FCTC with the tobacco industry is mentioned also by the Guidelines for implementation of Article 5(3) - Principle No. 2 ‘Establish measures to limit interactions with the tobacco industry and ensure the transparency of those interactions that occur.’ The Declaration thus corresponds with Recommendation No. 2.1 under this Principle, according to which ‘the parties should interact with the tobacco industry only when and to the extent strictly necessary to enable them to effectively regulate the tobacco industry and tobacco products.’

Naturally, all necessary interactions are done in full awareness of the fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the interests of the tobacco industry and the interests of the public health protection. It should also be stressed that the word ‘cooperation’ used in the Czech Interpretative Declaration should be interpreted as not exceeding the sense of the ‘interaction’ which is mentioned in the Guidelines for implementation of Article 5(3).”

   

Australia (5 January 2015)

“WHEREAS the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Government of Australia has approved the lodgement of an Interpretative Declaration ('Declaration') in relation to the text of an Interpretative Declaration lodged by the Czech Republic on its ratification on 1 June 2012 of the WHO Framework

Convention on Tobacco Control done at Geneva on 21 May 2003 [2005] ATS 7('Convention') which entered into force for Australia on 27 February 2005;

NOW THEREFORE THESE PRESENTS CERTIFY that Australia's Declaration with regard to the Declaration lodged by the Czech Republic upon its ratification of the Convention on 1 June 2012 isas follows:

1. Australia declares that the Convention does not recognise any 'right to non-discriminatory treatment of the tobacco industry'.

2. Australia recognises that Article 5.3 (General obligations) of the Convention requires the Parties to act to protect their tobacco control policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law.

3. Australia declares its understanding that Parties to the Convention should interact with the tobacco industry only when and to the extent strictly necessary to enable them to effectively regulate the tobacco industry and  tobacco products, and should ensure that any such interactions are conducted transparently.”



Czech Republic (8 July 2016)

“On the Communication of Australia to the Interpretative Declaration of the Czech Republic to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (‘Convention’) concerning Article 5.3 of the Convention

First, the Czech Republic confirms that it has taken note of the Communication of Australia to the Interpretative Declaration made by the Czech Republic to Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (‘Convention’) concerning Article 5.3 (General obligations) of the Convention.

In response, the Czech Republic refers to its previous Communication on the related Communication of Uruguay 2, where the reasons for the Interpretative Declaration of the Czech Republic in respect of Article 5.3 of the Convention are fully explained.

With regard to point No.  1 of the Communication of Australia, the Czech Republic emphasizes its awareness of the fact that the Convention does not recognize any “right to non-discriminatory treatment of the tobacco industry”. The purpose of the Interpretative Declaration made by the Czech Republic is to confirm that at the same time the Convention does not prohibit the “non-discriminatory treatment of the tobacco industry” and thereby maintains, within the commitments made in the Convention,  the possibility of certain level of interaction with the tobacco  industry.

Finally, the current national legislative and other initiatives related to the prevention of tobacco use may be considered as evidence of the immense effort of the Czech Republic in promoting tobacco control and the implementation of the Convention including its Article 5.3.”

2On 11 October 2005, the Government of China informed the Secretary-General of the following:
In accordance with the provision of article 153 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and article 138 of the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, the Government of the People’s Republic of China decides that the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the declaration made by the People’s Republic of China on the prohibition of the introduction of tobacco vending machines shall apply to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

3With the following territorial exclusion:
.....the Convention does not until further notice apply to the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

4See note 1 under "Montenegro" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.

5With the following territorial exclusion:

"... consistent with the constitutional status of Tokelau and taking into account the commitment of the Government of New Zealand to the development of self-government for Tokelau through an act of self-determination under the Charter of the United Nations, this ratification shall not extend to Tokelau unless and until a Declaration to this effect is lodged by the Government of New Zealand with the Depositary on the basis of appropriate consultation with that territory."

6On 7 November 2019, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland notified the Secretary-General that its ratification of the Convention would extend to the territories of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey, as follows:



“…the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland hereby extends the application of the United Kingdom's ratification of the Convention to Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey, for whose international relations the United Kingdom is responsible.

The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland considers the extension of the Convention to Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey to take effect on the date of deposit of this notification…”



On 29 June 2020, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland notified the Secretary-General that its ratification of the Convention would extend to the territory of Gibraltar, as follows:

“… the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland hereby extends to the territory of Gibraltar, for the international relations of which the United Kingdom is responsible, the application of the United Kingdom's ratification of, firstly, the Convention and, secondly, the Protocol.

The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland considers the extension of the Convention and the Protocol to the territory of Gibraltar will take effect on the date of deposit of this notification.”



On 14 March 2023, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland notified the Secretary-General that its ratification of the Convention would extend to the territory of the Cayman Islands, as follows:

“… the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britainand Northern Ireland hereby extends the United Kingdom’s ratification of the Convention to the territory of the Cayman Islands, for the international relations of which the United Kingdom is responsible.

The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland considers the extension of the Convention to the territory of the Cayman Islands shall take effect on the date of deposit of this notification.”