Controlling the Supply Chain for Key Inputs to Cigarette Manufacturing: Considerations of Article 6.5 of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products

This Report was written by Tatiana Villacres, Sehr Malik, and Jeff Drope from Economics for Health. The report examines different approaches to controlling key inputs across the tobacco supply chain in line with the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. The authors conducted a review of existing literature on the topic and institutional reports, as well as short interviews with relevant representatives from Ministries of Trade, Finance, and/or Agriculture in 7 Parties across 4 regions. Parties use licensing or registration, data reporting requirements, due diligence, audits, excise tax on inputs, tracking and tracing systems, and cargo tracking systems to control their supply chains. The findings, however, show that efforts remain largely limited and inconsistent across Parties. The report concludes with guiding questions and next steps for governments to meaningfully strengthen their tobacco control mechanisms.