Sixth Meeting of the WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation (WHO TobReg)
Date: 22-24 November 2010 Place: Buenos Aires, Argentina
The WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation (WHO TobReg), previously known as the Scientific Advisory Committee on Tobacco Product Regulation (SACTob), was created to help guide international policy development in the area of tobacco product regulation and facilitate access to scientific information for Member States. TobReg's membership is drawn from national and international experts on product regulation, tobacco dependence treatment, risk assessment, marketing, toxicology, disease reduction, environmental tobacco smoke, waterpipes, smokeless tobacco, and laboratory analysis of tobacco contents, emissions, and design features. The objective of TobReg is to advise WHO on scientifically sound recommendations to Member States addressing the most effective and evidence-based means to fill regulatory gaps in tobacco control and to achieve a coordinated regulatory framework for tobacco products.
At the 6th annual meeting, TobReg focused on issues critical to advancing the field of tobacco product regulation, particularly in the context of the discussions surrounding tobacco product regulation at the 4th Conference of Parties to the WHO FCTC. The agenda items tabled at this TobReg meeting include heavy metals in tobacco products, Toxic Waste and Environmental Damage Caused by Cigarette Butts, the epigenetic effects of exposure to tobacco smoke, issues surrounding a global nicotine policy and a regulatory framework to reduce the addictiveness of tobacco products. The resulting TobReg advisory opinion will then be compiled into TobReg's fourth technical report series, which will be presented at the January 2012 Executive Board meeting.