SMOKE FREE PARTNERSHIP UPDATES

Kiev, 19 February 2019 - Ukraine reports a decrease in the sales of cigarettes, in line with the country's successful steps towards increasing tobacco taxes in the past years. The SFP Coalition Partner NGO Advocacy Center 'Life' has prepared a press release with additional information.

Brussels, 12 February: SFP together with a number of its Coalition partners expressed serious concern regarding the possible introduction of separate smoking areas indoors, which could lead to a reversal of smoke-free policy in the country. 

Brussels, 6 February 2019: SFP supported the EU4Health Campaign in its reaction to the European Commission Reflection Paper, 'Towards a Sustainable Europe by 2030'.

Brussels, 28 January 2019: SFP, together with more than 200 signatories from the global public health community, supported an open letter to the WHO Director General and the Executive Board.

Last week, the importance of tobacco taxation was discussed in further detail in a blog post in The Tobacco Atlas.

Brussels, 17 December: The latest SFP infographic on tobacco industry presence in the EU policy-making environment is out.

Brussels, 11 December 2018: the Smoke Free Partnership Coalition expresses its congratulations and support for the efforts taken by the Dutch Government towards a healthier life through the recent adoption of the National Prevention Agreement.

In September 2018, SFP submitted an updated Position Paper on tobacco taxation to the European Commission's consultation on the possible revision of the Tobacco Tax Directive. The latest updated version of the paper, titled Tobacco Tax for a Healthier Europe, can be downloaded further below. 

Brussels, 29 November 2018 - Read the latest policy updates of the Smoke Free Partnership and the Coalition partners here.

Kiev, 15 November 2018 - Newly published results from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey show improvements in smoking prevalence rates among Ukrainian children. The SFP Coalition Partner NGO Advocacy Center 'Life' has prepared a press release with additional information.

Vilnius, February 2017 - Early last year, Lithuania reached a consensus position on tobacco industry interference. On this occasion, our SFP Coalition partner, the Lithuanian National Tobacco and Alcohol Control Coalition (NTAKK) prepared a statement with more information.

Brussels, 6 June 2018: Over 25 public officials, MEPs, public health advocates, gathered at the European Parliament in Brussels to mark World No Tobacco Day 2018, on the theme “Tobacco Breaks Hearts” and focusing on the impact of tobacco use on cardiovascular diseases.

In September 2018, the SFP Board adopted the following statement of principles in relation to e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products in the context of the review of the Tobacco Tax Directive.

The Romanian Pneumology and Cardiology Societies have released an executive summary of the 2018 No Tobacco Campaign, available below.

Nofumadores.org have created a petition to ban all smoking on Spanish beaches. Having achieved almost 120,000 signatures in two weeks, Nofumadores intends to take those signatures to the Health Ministry in the first weeks of September. Spanish beaches welcome millions of people each year, therefore, the policy could have an important impact on second-hand smoking and also contribute to a reduction of toxic waste produced by cigarette butts in our oceans. The petition can be found at:

https://www.change.org/p/que-todas-las-playas-sean-espacios-libres-de-humo-de-tabaco

Sofia, Bulgaria: following the roundtable organised by SFP in conjunction with the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU on 25-26 April 2018, the report below captures the key discussion points from the meeting.

Brussels, 6 April 2018 --- New leadership at the Smoke Free Partnership

In March 2018, SFP submitted a response to the public consultation on the future EU research priorities, including a detailed position paper on tobacco control research.

In March 2016, SFP conducted an exercise of identifying tobacco interest representatives registered in the EU’s Transparency Register. The search aimed to identify human and budget resources declared by the tobacco industry as lobbying towards the EU institutions. The results were published at https://smokefreepartnership.eu/position-papers-briefings-reports/sfp-briefing-on-article-5-3-of-the-fctc.

A similar exercise was conducted in 2017, relating to the updated declarations in the EU transparency register related 2015-2016 tobacco industry lobby spending.

Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control requires Parties to take measures to protect public health policies from tobacco industry interference. This briefing looks at how European countries have implemented those provisions. 

Brussels, 4 December 2017 – the Smoke Free Partnership, the Belgian Foundation against Cancer and the Romanian Association for Health Promotion have signed a letter, written with the support of over 35 other tobacco control and public health organisations, urging the Minister of Culture of Romania to reconsider the involvement of the tobacco industry in the organisation of the country’s participation to Europalia 2019.  

Brussels, 23 November 2017 - SFP’s Director Florence Berteletti and Nina Renshaw, Secretary-General of the European Public Health Alliance have signed a letter addressed to Sebastian Kurz, Minister of Foreign Affairs and designated Prime Minister of Austria, expressing the Public Health community’s concern with the implementation of the smoke-free legislation in Austria.

Kiev, 13 December 2017 - the Parliament of Ukraine plans to increase excise taxes on tobacco in 2018 by 30%, and approves a 7-year plan for increasing taxes on cigarettes. The team of the NGO "Life" have prepared a press release with details, benefits and challenges of the plan.

Brussels, 1st December 2017 – Member States approved the European Commission’s proposals for implementing acts on articles 15(11) and 16(2) of the Tobacco Products Directive, establishing technical standards for the EU tracking and tracing system and for security features applied to tobacco products.