Countries push back on WHO as COP11 softens stance on vaping and nicotine alternatives
December 3, 2025
A total of 160 Parties gathered from 17-22 November 2025 in Geneva for the Eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC (Photo: WHO FCTC)
The World Health Organisation’s COP11 tobacco control conference saw an unexpected wave of resistance from several countries, leading to the softening of proposals targeting vaping, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products, according to a post-summit blog by Alberto Hernandez, policy manager at the World Vapers’ Alliance.
Hernandez said the WHO entered the week aiming to “push through stricter global measures against vaping, nicotine pouches, and heat-not-burn products – all without scientific justification, public transparency, or consumer inclusion.” But what was expected to be a smooth process “turned into an open challenge to WHO’s authority,” he wrote.
New Zealand, Albania, Gambia, Mozambique, North Macedonia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Serbia were among those pushing back in favour of national flexibility and harm reduction. As a result, Hernandez said “many of the most aggressive ‘forward-looking’ provisions were softened or turned into non-binding guidelines,” with the WHO and supporting NGOs “forced to retreat.”
One flashpoint came when New Zealand received the symbolic ‘Dirty Ashtray’ award, which Hernandez argued “reinforced the absurdity of the current system,” given the country’s record on harm reduction.
The blog also described divisions within the European Union delegation. Despite an internal agreement not to pursue global bans, Hernandez said “the European Commission and Danish COP Presidency attempted to do precisely that – behind closed doors and without mandate.” Italy, Greece and Poland reportedly opposed the move, exposing “a deeper rift between national governments and Brussels bureaucrats.”
By the final days, negotiations had lost momentum, with several hardline measures removed or downgraded. According to Hernandez, “the cigarette filter ban was removed, and all measures exceeding the convention were made voluntary rather than binding,” while several proposals were postponed to COP12 in Armenia in 2027.
A call from St Kitts and Nevis for harm-reduction products to be recognised within public health strategies “rallied significant support,” Hernandez said, although entrenched opposition meant it failed to reach consensus.
Despite the shift in tone, Hernandez criticised the closed-door nature of COP negotiations, saying: “Meetings were still held behind closed doors. Consumers were still excluded… Yes, the tone may have shifted – but the process hasn’t.”
The official WHO account of COP11 struck a very different tone, emphasising environmental action, liability measures and progress on future tobacco control strategies. Andrew Black, acting head of the FCTC Secretariat, said the decisions agreed “will contribute towards saving millions of lives in the years to come and protecting the planet from the environmental harms of tobacco.”
Delegates adopted measures inviting countries to consider regulatory options for tobacco and nicotine product components that increase environmental harm, alongside a system-wide ban on the use and sale of tobacco products and novel nicotine products across all UN premises.
The conference also advanced discussions around liability under Article 19 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and reaffirmed the need to strengthen protections against industry interference.
More than 1,600 delegates attended COP11, including Parties, NGOs and youth observers. COP12 will be held in Yerevan, Armenia in 2027.
Hernandez called on the consumer advocacy community to maintain pressure: “The momentum is real, but now is the time to accelerate it, not retreat.”
