COP11 Concludes Without Major Tobacco Regulatory Progress

The Eleventh Conference of Parties (COP11) to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control took place November 17-22, 2025, in Geneva, Switzerland marking one of the most important annual global tobacco-control meetings. 

What is COP

COP meetings are where international delegates and tobacco control experts debate and adopt new policy models that often shape global tobacco advocacy priorities. Historically, COP gatherings have produced frameworks on taxation, packaging, and product regulation that later appear in U.S. states and localities, making the developments at COP11 especially relevant for the premium cigar industry.

What Happened at COP11

At COP11, delegates advanced several traditional tobacco-control measures, including steps toward holding the tobacco industry legally liable for environmental and health harms, but failed to reach agreement on how to regulate newer nicotine products such as e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches. The split and failure to adopt policies on newer products was driven largely by divisions within the European Union, which collectively stalled efforts to adopt stronger global standards for novel products. As a result, COP11 deferred decisions on these emerging categories until the next conference, leaving international guidance unsettled at a time when many countries are actively debating their own regulatory frameworks.

What COP11 Developments Mean for Premium Cigars

For the premium cigar industry, COP11’s outcomes signal that while global tobacco-control efforts continue to advance, the immediate regulatory risks lie not in international mandates, especially since the United States is not a party to the FCTC, but in how domestic tobacco control advocates and legislators will use COP11’s themes to influence state and local policy. In particular, the conference’s focus on industry liability and environmental harms provides new rhetorical and regulatory frameworks that could appear, alongside traditional policies like flavor bans and increased taxation, across state legislatures and localities heading into 2026

Whats Next

COP12 will convene next year in Armenia, to once again debate the future of tobacco control. In the meantime, CRA will continue engaging at both the international, through our partnership with the European Cigar Manufacturers Association, and at the domestic levels to ensure that premium cigars are clearly distinguished from mass-market tobacco and evaluated through an appropriate, evidenced-based lens as new regulatory proposals emerge.