The World Health Organization, in collaboration with its member countries, will disclose toxic tobacco ingredients in a global move to scientifically assess the harmful effects of smoking.

At an international conference on tobacco control held in Seoul, about 140 participating countries agreed to list the poisonous contents of tobacco that threaten not only the health of smokers but also those around them, officials said. The new measure will allow governments around the world share the list of toxic contents and accelerate scientific research on harmful tobacco toxins. Tobacco contains more than 600 ingredients, but not all tobacco makers have been releasing the full list and their impact on human health, according to experts.

The development in the global anti-smoking efforts came during the fifth session of Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The six-day conference held at COEX in southern Seoul ended on Saturday.

The WHO FCTC is the first global treaty negotiated under the auspices of the WHO and provides a new legal dimension for international health cooperation.

On the first day of the conference, representatives of governments adopted a landmark protocol aimed at eliminating illicit trade in tobacco products. The protocol will allow governments and international communities to implement a “track and trace” system to investigate suspicious cigarette production and distribution channels.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan called the protocol a “game-changing” global pact to eliminate “a very sophisticated criminal activity.”

Smuggling, illicit manufacturing and counterfeiting are blamed for the rise in smoking among young people and generating a huge fiscal loss to governments.

“The elimination of all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products, including smuggling and illegal manufacturing, is an essential component of tobacco control,” said Ricardo Varela, president of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC.

Member parties of the WHO FCTC proposed policy recommendations to raise taxes on tobacco products, obligate tobacco companies to attach certificate of tax payments and delist cigarettes from duty-free shops. Representatives also discussed alternatives to tobacco growing, and smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes, but decided to finalize the matters at the next session. They also adopted Seoul Declaration that urges governments to implement tobacco control measures, on the regional and global level.

Before the conference ended on Saturday, representatives elected Moon Chang-jin, president of Korea Health Promotion Foundation, as the new president of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO FCTC. Moon replaces Varela of Uruguay who led the global conference in Seoul. Moon will lead the sixth conference to be held in Moscow in 2014, officials at the Health Ministry said.

With Moon being elected as the new president of the conference, the Korean government said it will strengthen its move to implement tobacco-related policies.

“The Korean government promises its full support as a chair country for the next two years. We will take full responsibility to push ahead with tobacco-related policies,” said Lim Jong-kyu, director general of health-care policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The Korean government has been expanding smoking zones and improving laws and regulations to reduce tobacco consumption since signing the convention in 2003. However, the retail price of tobacco in Korea is substantially lower than in other OECD countries. The government plans to increase the tobacco tax, but is hesitating due to the public’s anxiety over inflation.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)