Statement in closing plenary by Ulysses Dorotheo

The Framework Convention Alliance on Tobacco Control (FCA), the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) would like to congratulate the Conference of the Parties on a successful and historic session. We thank you for resisting any interference by the tobacco industry and unanimously adopting strong Guidelines on taxation and pricing, which will undoubtedly save many thousands of lives. Your decisions on reporting and sustainable measures also set the FCTC on solid ground for moving forward in the future. We also congratulate you on other decisions on travel support for low- and middle-income countries, on trade and investment issues, and many others too numerous to list.  We would also bring your attention to continuing work such as the implementation review mechanism, which should be carefully considered between now and the COP’s 7^th session. Finally, FCA, the Union, and SEATCA would like to thank our hosts, the government of the Russian Federation, for its hospitality and graciousness.