Representatives of the member states of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC) signed a joint statement to eliminate any form of illegal trade of tobacco products, including smuggling, and counterfeiting and to strengthen the tobacco control measures. The statement was signed in a meeting staged by the Ministry of Health in Chisinau on June 5. Moldova is holding the BSEC presidency since this January until this June inclusive, IPN reports.

According to a communique of the Ministry of Health, in the opening of the event Deputy Minister of Health Svetlana Cotelea said over 1 billion lei is spent annually on the treatment and care for patients who suffer from diseases associated with smoking. For comparison, approximately the same sum is annually allocated for primary medical assistance services in Moldova. “Besides the negative influence on health, smoking has a substantial economic impact and the costs associated with tobacco, of 1-2% of the GDP at global level, show this,” she stated.

The meeting involved officials from Azerbaijan, Russia, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine and representatives of the BSEC secretariat. Moldova will hand over the BSEC presidency to Romania.