Geneva, 22 November
Today at COP11, the Global Alliance for Tobacco Control (GATC) announced in the daily bulletin that St. Kitts & Nevis and Dominica received the Dirty Ashtray Award — and as youth from Latin America, we’re seriously concerned.
St. Kitts and Nevis received the Ashtray for promoting an industry-driven “harm reduction” initiative and for repeatedly failing to understand and follow the Rules of Procedure. This behavior is not new: as highlighted by global civil society in recent months, the country has shown a pattern of aligning with tobacco industry interests and echoing industry narratives ahead of treaty negotiations, a conduct documented in multiple civil society alerts.
Dominica was recognized with the same negative distinction for backing this harmful initiative, while also obstructing progress on Article 18 through procedural stalling and a refusal to compromise, delaying critical decisions on environmental protections related to tobacco production.
These actions undermine global efforts to advance public health and weaken the collective progress Parties are striving to achieve at COP11. As civil society from Latin America, we reaffirm that tobacco industry interference (direct or indirect) has no place in FCTC negotiations, and we urge all Parties to uphold their obligations under Article 5.3 to protect health policy from commercial and vested interests.
Before COP11, leading health organizations had sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis expressing concern about protecting public health policymaking from tobacco industry influence and warning that the industry prioritizes profits over people’s lives, particularly by marketing addictive products such as e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco products to youth.
In this context, Latin American organizations, including the Youth Latin American Network CREA and Salud Justa Mx among others, remain fully committed to defending the right to health, supporting strong implementation of the WHO FCTC, and calling out any attempts by the tobacco and nicotine industries to derail life-saving policies.
