These are the positions of the Ethiopian Organization for Cancer Prevention and Research (CPR – Ethiopia). Each heading states what we are asking for. Underneath it sits the measurement the position rests on, the year that measurement refers to, its source, and the policy brief that sets out the full evidence.
Closing the gap between Ethiopia’s tobacco tax and the WHO benchmark
Total tax on the most-sold cigarette brand in Ethiopia was 45.93% of the retail price in 2024 — specific excise 16.67%, ad valorem excise 16.22% and value added tax 13.04%, with no import duties or other taxes. WHO’s benchmark is 75%, and 41 countries met it in the 2025 report on the global tobacco epidemic (opens in a new tab), which describes taxation as the most cost-effective of the demand-reduction measures and names young people and low-income groups as most responsive to price. We support closing that 29.07-point gap. Full brief.
Accession to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products
Ethiopia ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control on 25 March 2014. The Illicit Trade Protocol is a separate instrument, in force since 25 September 2018 with 73 Parties and 54 signatories, and Ethiopia appears on neither list (opens in a new tab). On WHO’s 2025 report on the global tobacco epidemic, one in every ten cigarettes consumed worldwide is illicit, and illicit trade can be tackled while taxes are being raised. The Protocol figures of 73 Parties and 54 signatories were recorded from the depositary list in August 2026. We support accession.