1 Introduction

All the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) have for years had a fruitful government collaboration in the tobacco control area. Denmark, Iceland and Norway have now taken this collaboration a step further by adopting this Guide. These governments are committed to reducing the prevalence of tobacco and nicotine use and its associated health, social, economic and environmental costs, and the inequalities it causes. There is no safe level of tobacco and nicotine consumption. These products are highly addictive and dangerous to health, especially for children and young people.

FCTC Article 5.3 requires public officials to protect public health policies in relation to tobacco control «from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry». This Guide outlines the legal obligations placed on public agencies and officials by the FCTC and as such should be viewed as a part of a comprehensive strategy of tobacco control.

The purpose of this Guide is to provide guidance to agencies and public officials on the implementation of the obligations under FCTC Article 5.3. It is intended as a framework for best practice implementation of these obligations. The Guide is not intended to replace legislative requirements, regulatory frameworks or policies.

Also, this Guide is not intended to affect the legal obligations of agencies and public officials, for example, to maintain the secrecy and confidentiality of information or to ensure privacy, nor is it intended to prevent legitimate and necessary engagement with the tobacco industry for the purposes of effectively regulating the tobacco industry and its products.

Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC

Under the FCTC Article 5, all parties must adopt and implement effective measures for preventing and reducing tobacco consumption, nicotine addiction and exposure to tobacco smoke.

The FCTC also obliges all parties to take steps to protect its tobacco control policy setting and implementation from interference from the tobacco industry and its interests. This obligation comes from Article 5.3 of the FCTC, which states:

«In setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law».

World Health Assembly resolution WHA54.18 on transparency in tobacco control process, citing the findings of the Committee of Experts on Tobacco Industry Documents, states that «the tobacco industry has operated for years with the express intention of subverting the role of governments and of WHO in implementing public health policies to combat the tobacco epidemic». The Preamble of the FCTC recognized the Parties’ «need to be alert to any efforts by the tobacco industry to undermine or subvert tobacco control efforts and the need to be informed of activities of the tobacco industry that have a negative impact on tobacco control efforts».

The Nordic Governments and the tobacco industry are pursuing conflicting goals – there is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry’s interests and the Governments’ public health policy interests.2 For these reasons, public officials should interact with the tobacco industry only when and to the extent strictly necessary to achieve effective regulation and policy development.

The FCTC Parties have adopted ‘Guidelines for Implementation’ of Article 5.3 in order to help Parties in interpreting and meeting their legal obligations under Article 5.3. The purpose of these guidelines is to ensure that efforts to protect tobacco control from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry are comprehensive and effective. Parties should implement measures in all branches of government that may have an interest in, or the capacity to, affect public health policies with respect to tobacco control.