NGOs’ “Dirty Ashtray” Award To New Zealand Exposes Deep Hypocrisy In Global Tobacco Control

Wednesday, 19 November 2025, 6:23 pm
Press Release: CAPHRA

CAPHRA strongly criticises the Global Alliance on Tobacco Control for presenting New Zealand with the “Dirty Ashtray Award” at WHO FCTC COP11 in Geneva. This decision reflects how the COP process has been driven by prohibitionist ideology rather than evidence and demonstrated public health success.

The divide within global tobacco control is increasingly visible. New Zealand’s delegation reported at COP11 that smoking rates have fallen more rapidly since 2019, with regulated access to vaping playing a decisive role. The country now records one of the lowest smoking rates in the world at 6.8 percent. These results are driven by harm reduction and regulated vaping, yet GATC dismisses the progress as “tobacco industry interference,” ignoring the substantial health gains achieved.

New Zealand upholds some of the strictest tobacco controls anywhere. Cigarette prices approach NZ$50 per pack, plain packaging is mandated, and smoke free laws are extensive.

Despite this, the country is criticised for allowing access to safer nicotine products. At the same time, Mexico, with a smoking rate twice that of New Zealand, receives the “Orchid Award” for rhetoric rather than measurable impact.

Emeritus Professor Ruth Bonita describes New Zealand’s decline in smoking as a positive development, noting that vaping has accelerated cessation and reduced disparities among Māori and Pacific communities. Smoking continues to account for nearly one third of the life expectancy gap between Māori and non Māori. She calls for continued access to affordable vaping alongside strong tobacco taxation.

Prohibition driven NGOs have placed ideology ahead of public health outcomes. Their influence reflects fractures seen across the European region, where some governments enforce restrictive bans while others rely on evidence and harm reduction. The FCTC Secretariat has permitted well funded NGOs to dominate proceedings, pressure delegations and exclude voices with lived experience, many of whom were denied access to COP11.

“Awarding the Dirty Ashtray to a country that is reducing smoking through harm reduction is not public health advocacy,” said CAPHRA Executive Coordinator Nancy Loucas. “It is ideological obstruction.”

CAPHRA urges the New Zealand government to lodge a formal protest at COP11. “Hold your ground,” Loucas said. “Demand accountability and transparency from anti vaping funded NGOs and insist on reforms that are guided by real world outcomes rather than political theatre.”

With eight million annual global deaths caused by tobacco, dismissing New Zealand’s proven model is a serious failure of public health responsibility. CAPHRA calls on COP delegations to uphold harm reduction as a core element of the treaty and reject attempts to undermine national sovereignty.

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