Shanta Lal Mulmi, executive director of Resource Centre for Primary Health Care, said the time for FCTC implementation was shortening while countries in SEA continued to be vulnerable to tobacco industry tactics.

A three-day South East Asian Conference on Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Guidelines is being organised jointly by the Ministry of Health and Population, Government of Nepal and Framework Convention Alliance in association with Resource Centre for Primary Health Care beginning tomorrow. Eleven member countries are participating the meet.

“We are going to ask SEA countries to make mandatory pictorial health warnings on tobacco products,” said Mulmi at a programme, adding that they were introducing comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

In 2003, the SEA nations agreed to make picture-based warnings mandatory on tobacco packs within three years of the treaty’s enforcement and to ban tobacco advertising within five years for each party.

Most countries in WHO’s SEA region became parties of the treaty by 2004. But the countries are yet to ban all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship comprehensively and all, except Thailand, are yet to meet FCTC requirements for pictorial warnings.

Mulmi said the conference would create pressure for the passing of draft Tobacco Control Law of Nepal, which has been delayed. Nepal has been party of the treaty since 2006.

The conference is also discussing adoption of suitable legal measures to protect public health policies with respect to tobacco control from commercial and other vested interests of the industry.FCTC is the world’s first global public health treaty.

It has been signed by 168 of the 192 WHO member states while 167 WHO member states are parties to the Convention.