The Secretary-General received the following communications relating to the interpretative declaration made by the Czech Republic upon ratification:
Czech Republic (July 8, 2016)
"On the Communication of Australia to the Interpretative Declaration of the Czech Republic to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control ("Convention") concerning Article 5.3 of the Convention
First, the Czech Republic confirms that it has taken note of the Communication of Australia to the Interpretative Declaration made by the Czech Republic to Framework Convention on Tobacco Control ("Convention") concerning Article 5.3 (General obligations) of the Convention.
In response, the Czech Republic refers to its previous Communication on the related Communication of Uruguay 2, where the reasons for the Interpretative Declaration of the Czech Republic in respect of Article 5.3 of the Convention are fully explained.
With regard to point No. 1 of the Communication of Australia, the Czech Republic emphasizes its awareness of the fact that the Convention does not recognize any "right to non-discriminatory treatment of the tobacco industry". The purpose of the Interpretative Declaration made by the Czech Republic is to confirm that at the same time the Convention does not prohibit the "non-discriminatory treatment of the tobacco industry" and thereby maintains, within the commitments made in the Convention, the possibility of certain level of interaction with the tobacco industry.
Finally, the current national legislative and other initiatives related to the prevention of tobacco use may be considered as evidence of the immense effort of the Czech Republic in promoting tobacco control and the implementation of the Convention including its Article 5.3."
The Secretary-General received the following communications relating to the interpretative declaration made by the Czech Republic upon ratification:
Czech Republic (January 10, 2013)
"On the Communication of Uruguay to the Interpretative Declaration of the Czech Republic to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Concerning Article 5(3) FCTC:
When depositing the FCTC ratification instrument, the Czech Republic made an Interpretative Declaration to the FCTC. This Declaration is solely of an interpretative nature and the Czech Republic thereby raised no reservations against the text of the FCTC; under Article 30 of the FCTC this is not even possible. Under no circumstances the Czech Republic, by means of this act, challenges the obligations imposed on the Parties by the FCTC.
On Article 5(3) of the FCTC the Czech Republic declares that it 'considers Article 5(3) a provision not affecting the right to non-discriminatory treatment of the tobacco industry by the Parties and thus permitting the necessary extent of cooperation with the tobacco industry as regards tobacco control'. This statement was made to alleviate certain concerns and possibly misunderstandings, which some Czech competent authorities expressed regarding the interpretation of Article 5(3). Some public administration tasks require limited contact with the tobacco industry, such as consultations with all relevant subjects concerned, including tobacco industry, while preparing a regulatory impact assessment of a new legislation related to tobacco products regulation, performance of reporting and control tasks, etc.
After all, a certain level of interaction of the Parties to the FCTC with the tobacco industry is mentioned also by the Guidelines for implementation of Article 5(3) - Principle No. 2 'Establish measures to limit interactions with the tobacco industry and ensure the transparency of those interactions that occur.' The Declaration thus corresponds with Recommendation No. 2.1 under this Principle, according to which 'the parties should interact with the tobacco industry only when and to the extent strictly necessary to enable them to effectively regulate the tobacco industry and tobacco products.'
Naturally, all necessary interactions are done in full awareness of the fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the interests of the tobacco industry and the interests of the public health protection. It should also be stressed that the word 'cooperation' used in the Czech Interpretative Declaration should be interpreted as not exceeding the sense of the 'interaction' which is mentioned in the Guidelines for implementation of Article 5(3)."
Заявление, сделанное при ратификации:
"Чешская Республика делает следующее пояснительное заявление по Конвенции:
Чешская Республика приветствует международное сотрудничество в области борьбы против табака, нацеленное на укрепление здоровья населения.
Чешская Республика заявляет, что она не рассматривает рекомендации, принятые Конференцией сторон, в качестве инструментов, непосредственно устанавливающих юридические обязательства в соответствии с Конвенцией.
Чешская Республика заявляет, что не будет поддерживать никаких будущих предложений, изменяющих Конвенцию или касающихся ее Протоколов, которые противоречили бы конституционным принципам Чешской Республики, а также обязательствам, являющимся результатом ее членства в Европейском союзе и международным соглашениям о свободной торговле, к которым присоединилась Чешская Республика.
Чешская Республика также заявляет, что считает, что Статья 5 (3) не затрагивает право на недискриминационное отношение к табачной промышленности сторонами и, таким образом, она разрешает необходимую степень сотрудничества с табачной промышленностью в отношении борьбы против табака."
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