Governmental Parties at the Regie to Set a Lebanese Position of the Items on COP8 Agenda

The Regie hosted, in its Hadath Headquarter, a first of its kind meeting of six Lebanese governmental officials in order to set a position that "addresses the threats that the items on COP8 agenda for next October pose to tobacco sector", according to a Regie statement.

The meeting was attended by the Director of Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Ambassador Bilal Qabalan, the Head of the Industrial Cooperation and Relations Department at the Ministry of Industry Bassem Shebou, the Director of the Land Control Division in Beirut at the General Directorate of Customs Captain Abdel Salam Zarzour, the Consumer Protection Coordinator at the Ministry of Economy and Trade Dr. Mohammad Abou Haidar, the Government Commissioner to the Regie, Mrs. Mirna Baz, as well as two members of the Regie’s management committee, Eng. Mazen Abboud and Dr. Essam Salman.

First, a welcoming speech by the Director of Public Relations, Mrs. Nahla Salim, in which she conveyed to the participants the greetings of the Regie’s President and General Manager Eng. Nassif Seklaoui. Then Abboud gave a speech on behalf of Seklaoui, in which he asked "is what is proposed by COP8 will actually reduce the health bill in developing countries and reduce the number of smokers or it will contribute to reduce the incomes of these countries and keep the bill health high?" 

 

He added: "Will the profits resulting from the smuggling will reach international organizations that tackle health problems or will it be used to finance the lower economies owned by terrorist organizations?"  "Will the major countries sponsoring these agreements will commit themselves to them or will they make them a sword on the necks of the countries that do not go along with them?" He stressed the need to "draft a unified Lebanese position that takes into account the views of all concerned partners in the sector in order to protect Lebanon's interests."

The Regie’s Head of General Management Department Mrs. Mariam Hariri displayed a presentation explaining the position of the Administration of the COP7 decisions and the COP8 proposals. She enumerated the effects of the decisions of the Conference of the Parties, including "the impact on tax revenues and the sector’s lower income that is an essential component of the government’s revenues, damaging the economic cycle and the workforce involved in the cultivation, manufacture, and trade of tobacco, disregarding the demographic and economic nature and the specificity of each States (…), and the increase of smuggling resulting from unstudied decisions."

According to Mrs. Hariri, the Regie seeks “to strengthen the tobacco sector as a legitimate national industry, agriculture, and trade generating a major state income", "to sustain this sector and to support the national economy". "What bring us together today are common concern and common issue: protecting and reinforcing national economy against challenges facing it". "We cannot look at tobacco sector only from the perspective of health damage; we must rather look at it with a comprehensive and impartial view. We must take into consideration the economic benefits it offers and the specificity of Lebanon." She called for "raising the level of coordination and information exchange between public administrations to protect the future of the sector and raising awareness of the risks of the provisions of this agreement and the impact ratifying it".