West Africa: Regional Conference on Tobacco Taxation in ECOWAS Countries

Source from:  Consortium pour la Recherche Économique et Sociale (Dakar)  11/22/2012

The Consortium for Social and Economic Research (CRES), in partnership with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and International Development Research Centre for International Development ( IDRC), organizes a regional conference to share country profiles made in the 15 countries in ECOWAS and regional synthesis on tobacco products taxation products. This high-level meeting will be held on Monday 26, Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 November 2012 at   hotel Azalaï-Independence at Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
 
The workshop aims to inform decision makers about the similarities and differences of current policies and practices regarding tobacco taxation in West Africa and on strategies to implement in the context of economic unions to harmonize these policies and practices.
 
The recommendations that will be made during the meeting will be used not only to improve tools for data collection, but also to draw conclusions from the country profiles and propose effective resolutions on taxation of tobacco products to reduce its consumption and its socio-economic consequences on ECOWAS populations.
 
The next steps of the project will be discussed on the basis of a timetable leading up to presentation to the Council of Ministers a draft new guidelines on tobacco taxation in West - Africa. This schedule will be made by representatives of ECOWAS and regional consultants on the basis of the conclusions and resolutions of the workshop. An action plan will be proposed and shared by all stakeholders: ECOWAS, UEMOA, country representatives, scientific committee members and partners to support the development. In addition, a round table will be organized with the technical and financial partners to discuss ways to discuss the next steps of the project and especially the second one, in order to avoid any disruption in the process.
 
Will take part in this meeting Ministries of Economy and Finance, Customs and Tax Authorities, Ministries of Health and Trade Commissions of ECOWAS, UEMOA and CEMAC, West African Health Organization, National Institutes of Statistics and Demography of 15 ECOWAS countries, representatives of research centers, civil society, IDRC, World Health Organization, as well as resource persons   and development partners.
 
The national and international press is invited to this important meeting.
 
About CRES

CRES is an association founded in 2004 by a group of researchers in various disciplines (economics, law, Quantitative Techniques, Sociology etc.) from Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (UCAD) , specialized in economic and social fields, and able to meet the needs of the African market in high-level expertise on issues related to national policies and major on going programs. Enditem