Yorkshire lawyer tackles illegal tobacco trade

A LAWYER from Sheffield is working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to tackle the illicit trade in tobacco products.

Sarah Maylor, who works in the Sheffield office of Halliwells, will travel to Durban later this month to work as a legal consultant at the third Conference of the Parties of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Last month she travelled to Geneva to support the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body on Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products established by the FCTC.

Ms Maylor has worked with WHO on several occasions. She has been involved since the first Conference of the Parties, held in 2006 in Geneva, and last year she was invited to Bangkok to provide free legal support at the second Conference of the Parties.

Ms Maylor, a construction law specialist, first became involved with the WHO’s first ever international treaty following a chance meeting with a health law specialist from the WHO on her travels in Vietnam. She agreed to carry out some short-term legal consultancy work for the FCTC, and her involvement has grown from there.

She said: “Given the current financial climate, I am delighted that Halliwells continues to support the World Health Organization and the Parties to the FCTC by providing my services as a legal consultant at no cost. I am also very excited to be heading to South Africa for my third secondment this year.”