Paper short abstract:

An ethnographic account of the aspiration to monitor and control the presence of individuals connected to the tobacco industry within the ritual space of the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and the sense of unease that such tactics were not working.

Paper long abstract:

Drawing on theoretical perspectives straddling material culture studies, sensory anthropology and political discourse, this paper considers the aspiration of the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to protect public health policies from the vested interests of the tobacco industry. This concern is played out in the work of the biennial Conference of the Parties (COP), the governing body of the FCTC, where every effort is made to establish the venue as a tobacco-free ritual space, in terms both of the substance itself and of people who are connected to the tobacco industry. Based on participant-observation at the last four COPs but particularly COP7 held in Greater Noida, India, in November 2016, this paper charts the growing sense of unease amongst tobacco control activists that tobacco was present, if hidden, amongst various categories of person attending the event. Two issues became particularly contentious at COP7. One was the status of 'Members of the Public' (many of whom represent tobacco industry interests) and their access to the conference. The second was the proposal to screen Representatives of Parties in order to identify those with links to the industry, with the expressed goal of 'maximizing transparency'. While creating a smokefree space may be relatively easy, a space free of corporate tobacco interests is not. We consider various ways in which the influence of corporate tobacco interfaces with those of state representatives, such that seeking a tobacco-free space is strongly challenged by concerns about sovereignty and the relationship of national to international laws.