The ninth meeting of the WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation (WHO TobReg) provided a forum for scientists to deliberate on issues pertinent to public health in the area of tobacco product regulation and to update knowledge in targeted tobacco product regulation related topics. The meeting focused specifically on the Conference of Parties (COP) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) requests at its seventh session as outlined in documents FCTC/COP7/(4), FCTC/COP7/(9) and FCTC/COP7(14) and discussed the following background papers which were commissioned by WHO:
- Waterpipe tobacco smoking: prevalence, health effects and interventions to reduce use.
- Approaches to reducing toxicant concentrations in smokeless tobacco (SLT) products.
- State of the science review on global nicotine reduction strategy.
- Clinical pharmacology of nicotine in electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).
- Sugars Content in Tobacco Product.
- A regulatory strategy for reduction of toxicant exposure from cigarette smoking.
- Next priority list of toxicants.
- Heated tobacco products (HTPs).
- The science of flavour in tobacco products.
It was a closed working group meeting for WHO TobReg members, key facilitators of the Working Group on Articles 9 and 10 of the COP to the WHO FCTC, invited speakers and the WHO Tobacco Free Initiative. The meeting is part of the process of crafting documents for presentation at the eight session of the COP in October 2018. The resulting WHO TobReg advisory opinions and recommendations will be compiled into the 7th technical report series (TRS) of the study group, which will be presented to the WHO Executive Board at its 144th session in January 2019. The scientifically sound recommendations, which will be published by WHO, will guide Member States in achieving the most effective and evidence-based means to bridge regulatory gaps in tobacco control, to develop coordinated regulatory framework for tobacco products, to guide international policy and to provide access to scientific information.
The ninth meeting of WHO TobReg took place in Minnesota, Minneapolis from 5–7 December 2017 and was generously hosted by the Masonic Cancer Centre, University of Minnesota.