How Illicit Tobacco Trade Is Tackled Worldwide

The World Health Organization estimates that 1 in every 10 cigarettes and tobacco products consumed around the world is illicit. Governments respond with a treaty called the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, which entered into force on 25 September 2018 and had 73 Parties by 25 September 2026. Canada ratified the parent Framework Convention in 2004, but the UN Treaty Collection’s participant list for the Protocol, checked on 27 October 2026, does not include Canada.

How big is illicit tobacco trade worldwide?

WHO’s tobacco fact sheet gives the global estimate: 1 in 10. The same fact sheet argues that raising tobacco taxes and cutting illicit trade are not opposites. It says countries have reduced illicit trade even while raising taxes and prices, which increased tax revenue and reduced use, and it calls tobacco taxes the most cost-effective way to reduce tobacco use, especially among youth and low-income groups.

WHO’s 2012 announcement of the Protocol describes the harm in qualitative terms: substantial revenue losses to governments around the world, and vast profits for illegal traders. It does not give a market-share or revenue-loss figure, and nor does the Secretariat’s 2026 news release, which says only that the trade “fuels criminal networks, undermines public health, and deprives governments of vital revenue.”

Why it is a health issue: cheaper, unregulated cigarettes undercut price increases, escape age checks and warnings, and keep people smoking. For how this plays out in Canada, where Health Canada estimates illegal products at 10 to 20% of the tobacco market, see the contraband tobacco overview.

What does the Illicit Trade Protocol do?

WHO announced the Protocol on 12 November 2012 as a global system to reduce illicit trade through supply-chain control and cross-border cooperation. Its main tools:

• Tracking and tracing (Article 8). A global information-sharing focal point that lets Parties exchange tracking information.
• Licensing and supply-chain controls. The announcement lists licensing among the measures, and a working group is now developing recommendations on controlling key inputs essential to manufacture (Article 6.5).
• International cooperation (Article 29 and Article 24). Mutual legal assistance and cooperation on investigation and prosecution of offences.

When did it take effect, and who is in?

Event	Date
Announced by WHO	12 November 2012
Opened for signature	10 January 2013
Entered into force	25 September 2018 (90th day after the 40th ratification)
First Meeting of the Parties	8 to 10 October 2018, Geneva
Parties	73, with 54 signatories (UN Treaty Collection, accessed 27 October 2026)

A country can only join the Protocol if it is a Party to the Framework Convention. Canada became one on 26 November 2004; see the WHO tobacco treaty and Canada. The UN table does not show Canada as a signatory or Party to the Protocol. We did not find an official Canadian statement explaining that status, so this page takes no view on why.

What does Canada do about illicit tobacco domestically?

Canada’s measures sit under its own laws and strategy rather than the Protocol. Health Canada’s 2025 strategy report estimates illegal tobacco at 10 to 20% of the market. The history of the country’s own smuggling crisis is covered in 1990s cigarette smuggling in Canada, the link between price and illicit supply in tobacco taxation, and the market structure in who makes cigarettes in Canada.