The Secretary-General received the following communication relating to the interpretative declaration made by the Czech Republic upon ratification:
Uruguay (July 17, 2012)
"The Government of Uruguay acknowledges receipt of the Depositary Notification on the interpretative declaration made by the Czech Republic when acceding the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of the World Health Organization on 1 June 2012.
In this regard, the Government of Uruguay would like to state that such interpretative declaration cannot be deemed to be a reservation, expressly prohibited under article 30 of the FCTC, nor can it be considered to exempt any Party of its obligations under the Convention.
Article 5.3 of the FCTC expressly states that 'Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law'.
Uruguay wishes to remind States Parties of the Guidelines for implementation of Article 5.3 of the FCTC, which state that 'there is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry's interests and public health policy interests'."