148 Nations meet as Parties to Global Tobacco Treaty at COP-II

148 Nations meet as Parties to Global Tobacco Treaty at COP-II
2 July 2007

Governments urged to strengthen measures to prevent tobacco industry interference at COP-II

BANGKOK: The global tobacco treaty's second Conference of the Parties (COP2), commenced on last Friday (30 June), where governments met to advance the critical work of implementing the world's first corporate accountability treaty. Formally known as the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), the treaty is designed to reverse the global tobacco epidemic, which is projected to claim 10 million lives per year by 2030, primarily in the Global South.

Developing countries that championed a strong, enforceable treaty throughout negotiations are expected to push for rigorous enforcement and to stand firm in their resistance to powerful tobacco industry interference. Items on the agenda for the meeting include: tobacco smuggling, protection from exposure to tobacco smoke and tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Ongoing funding and protection of health policy from interference by tobacco corporations will also be addressed.

"Big Tobacco's interference in health policy is one of the greatest threats to the treaty's implementation and enforcement. Philip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Japan Tobacco (JT) use their political influence to weaken, delay and defeat tobacco control legislation around the world," explains Corporate Accountability International's Kathryn Mulvey. "While the industry claims to have changed its ways, it continues to use sophisticated methods to undermine meaningful legislation."

Thailand helped to set the pace for strong enforcement of the global tobacco treaty when the government closed the point-of-sale loophole in its tobacco advertising ban in 2005, and then rigorously enforced the policy change. Thai officials have evidence that Philip Morris/Altria continued paying 7-Eleven convenience stores to put up special displays in designated locations even after the loophole was closed. Health officials remained vigilant and succeeded in having the ads removed.

Members of the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnational (NATT) are urging governments to include specific measures to guard against tobacco industry interference in the protocols and guidelines that emerge from COP2. Decisions made in Bangkok will guide effective implementation of the treaty at the global and national levels, and help Parties overcome tobacco industry opposition.

"In Kenya, our government was successful in issuing a ban on public smoking and requiring larger health warnings on cigarette packets, but BAT's subsidiary complained the rules were untenable on the grounds that they were not consulted. Then the tobacco giant sued the government in an attempt to prevent the regulations from taking effect," says Emma Wanyonyi of Consumers Information Network, a member of NATT in Kenya. "We need stronger, more explicit measures to ensure that our public health policies and their implementation are protected from tobacco industry interference."
NATT members have documented cases of Philip Morris/Altria and British American Tobacco interfering in treaty ratification and implementation across the globe. However, NGOs and health officials remain optimistic about the treaty's enforcement and implementation.

"More than 145 countries, including over 80% of the world's population, have committed to the obligations of the global tobacco treaty," says Gallage Punyawardana Alvis of the Swarna Hansa Foundation, a NATT member from Sri Lanka. "We are confident that the second Conference of the Parties will set up structures to fulfill these commitments, without interference from the tobacco industry or countries that have not ratified the treaty."

Published in:

2 July 2007: Asian Tribune: http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/6364

3 July 2007: The Seoul Times: http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=5471

148 Nations meet as Parties to Global Tobacco Treaty at COP-II

148 Nations meet as Parties to Global Tobacco Treaty at COP-II
2 July 2007

Governments urged to strengthen measures to prevent tobacco industry interference at COP-II

BANGKOK: The global tobacco treaty's second Conference of the Parties (COP2), commenced on last Friday (30 June), where governments met to advance the critical work of implementing the world's first corporate accountability treaty. Formally known as the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), the treaty is designed to reverse the global tobacco epidemic, which is projected to claim 10 million lives per year by 2030, primarily in the Global South.

Developing countries that championed a strong, enforceable treaty throughout negotiations are expected to push for rigorous enforcement and to stand firm in their resistance to powerful tobacco industry interference. Items on the agenda for the meeting include: tobacco smuggling, protection from exposure to tobacco smoke and tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Ongoing funding and protection of health policy from interference by tobacco corporations will also be addressed.

"Big Tobacco's interference in health policy is one of the greatest threats to the treaty's implementation and enforcement. Philip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Japan Tobacco (JT) use their political influence to weaken, delay and defeat tobacco control legislation around the world," explains Corporate Accountability International's Kathryn Mulvey. "While the industry claims to have changed its ways, it continues to use sophisticated methods to undermine meaningful legislation."

Thailand helped to set the pace for strong enforcement of the global tobacco treaty when the government closed the point-of-sale loophole in its tobacco advertising ban in 2005, and then rigorously enforced the policy change. Thai officials have evidence that Philip Morris/Altria continued paying 7-Eleven convenience stores to put up special displays in designated locations even after the loophole was closed. Health officials remained vigilant and succeeded in having the ads removed.

Members of the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnational (NATT) are urging governments to include specific measures to guard against tobacco industry interference in the protocols and guidelines that emerge from COP2. Decisions made in Bangkok will guide effective implementation of the treaty at the global and national levels, and help Parties overcome tobacco industry opposition.

"In Kenya, our government was successful in issuing a ban on public smoking and requiring larger health warnings on cigarette packets, but BAT's subsidiary complained the rules were untenable on the grounds that they were not consulted. Then the tobacco giant sued the government in an attempt to prevent the regulations from taking effect," says Emma Wanyonyi of Consumers Information Network, a member of NATT in Kenya. "We need stronger, more explicit measures to ensure that our public health policies and their implementation are protected from tobacco industry interference."
NATT members have documented cases of Philip Morris/Altria and British American Tobacco interfering in treaty ratification and implementation across the globe. However, NGOs and health officials remain optimistic about the treaty's enforcement and implementation.

"More than 145 countries, including over 80% of the world's population, have committed to the obligations of the global tobacco treaty," says Gallage Punyawardana Alvis of the Swarna Hansa Foundation, a NATT member from Sri Lanka. "We are confident that the second Conference of the Parties will set up structures to fulfill these commitments, without interference from the tobacco industry or countries that have not ratified the treaty."

Published in:

2 July 2007: Asian Tribune: http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/6364

3 July 2007: The Seoul Times: http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=5471

Tobacco curbs: India leads alternative crop plan

Tobacco curbs: India leads alternative crop plan

Rediff Business News
4 July 2007

Today -- two days before the 148 nations' meet on global tobacco treaty comes to an end in Bangkok -- India demonstrated leadership on behalf of countries in South-East Asian Region to integrate agricultural diversification and alternative crops to tobacco in the comprehensive tobacco control as FCTC proposes. Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is the first global corporate accountability and public health treaty in the world.

The 2000 report of the World Health Organization Committee of Experts on Tobacco Industry Documents reveals transnational tobacco corporations' strategy to make prominent use of the International Tobacco Growers Association. The report continues, "ITGA claims to represent the interests of local farmers. The [tobacco corporations'] documents, however, indicate that tobacco companies have funded the organization and directed its work. Through their persistent outreach to officials from developing countries, these companies gradually built a support within UN agencies and structures, most notably the World Health Assembly and Food and Agriculture Organization."

Though transnational tobacco corporations like Philip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco use sophisticated public relations machinery to claim that tobacco-related agriculture creates jobs and boosts economic development, the facts speak otherwise.

Transnational tobacco corporations have created a supply system that exploits farmers while assuring growth in corporate profits. In February 2007, the Ad-hoc Study Group on Agricultural Diversification and Crop Alternatives to Tobacco of FCTC held its first session in Brazil.
Tobacco industry attempts to interfere in agricultural diversification:

Transnational tobacco corporations have supported and sustained a production system that has undermined human health and stifled human development. Therefore, in keeping with WHA Resolution 54.18 and FCTC Article 5.3, these corporations should not be at the table discussing alternatives to tobacco production.

Acting as a mouthpiece for the tobacco industry, ITGA and its country chapters have spread misinformation and attempted to influence tobacco growers in countries such as Brazil , Argentina , India , South Africa , Zimbabwe, Malawi and Kenya as a strategy to slow down or block ratification and implementation of the FCTC. The chief executive of ITGA spoke on behalf of eight government and non-governmental organizations at the public hearing on agricultural diversification and alternative crops to tobacco held in Brazil in February 2007, claiming to represent governments and farmers, while neglecting to reveal ITGA's connection to the tobacco transnationals.

Tobacco corporations' involvement in Brazilian tobacco control policy is especially troubling. Brazil's sectoral chamber for the tobacco production chain includes representatives from Souza Cruz (British American Tobacco's Brazilian subsidiary), the association of Brazilian tobacco growers (an arm of the International Tobacco Growers Association with its own well established ties to BAT), and Brazil's ministry of agriculture, among others. The chamber provides a direct forum for tobacco industry representatives to meet formally with members of government about tobacco control policy, in violation of Article 5.3 of the FCTC. As the world's second-largest producer of tobacco, Brazil provides a powerful case study on the dangers of creating space for the tobacco industry in deliberations about tobacco control.

The social and economic failures delivered by the production system engineered by transnational tobacco corporations make it incumbent upon governments to implement Article 5.3 of the FCTC fully -- which includes shielding their efforts to develop alternatives to tobacco-intensive agriculture from the transnational tobacco corporations that have a vested interest in maintaining the current failed system.

In this regard, the working group on social and economic challenges for tobacco alternatives and crop diversification noted, "the tobacco industry may have influence on regional policymakers and legislators, and on the regional agricultural policy."

Support to farmers and tobacco growing countries is vital.

Only five of the 125 tobacco exporting nations derive more than 5 per cent of their export from tobacco. These five nations are concentrated at the bottom of UNDP's 2006 Human Development Index: Uganda , Zimbabwe , United Republic of Tanzania, Malawi , and the Central African Republic . Far from being a path to prosperity, tobacco production paves the way to poverty.

Tobacco corporations, their subsidiaries and affiliates should play no role in decisions related to agricultural diversification because, as highlighted by the study group, the industry's definition of diversification differs fundamentally from that of the public health community.

It is vital that the FCTC find ways to support the farmers, agricultural workers, and communities that have grown dependent on a tobacco economy. These nations suffer development set-backs as a result of their tobacco production.

Wealthy countries that have chartered, assisted and benefited from the international expansion of tobacco transnationals bear a responsibility to make transition away from tobacco-dependent economies viable. FCTC urges developed countries to channel resources, based on specific requests, to developing countries for implementation of the convention.

FCTC should also advance proposals for debt relief for farmers tied to transnational tobacco corporations through the current financing system, and communicate clearly about phased transitions that support farmers and build their trust in tobacco control measures.

Online at: http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/jul/04tobacco.htm

Tobacco curbs: India leads alternative crop plan

Tobacco curbs: India leads alternative crop plan

Rediff Business News
4 July 2007

Today -- two days before the 148 nations' meet on global tobacco treaty comes to an end in Bangkok -- India demonstrated leadership on behalf of countries in South-East Asian Region to integrate agricultural diversification and alternative crops to tobacco in the comprehensive tobacco control as FCTC proposes. Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is the first global corporate accountability and public health treaty in the world.

The 2000 report of the World Health Organization Committee of Experts on Tobacco Industry Documents reveals transnational tobacco corporations' strategy to make prominent use of the International Tobacco Growers Association. The report continues, "ITGA claims to represent the interests of local farmers. The [tobacco corporations'] documents, however, indicate that tobacco companies have funded the organization and directed its work. Through their persistent outreach to officials from developing countries, these companies gradually built a support within UN agencies and structures, most notably the World Health Assembly and Food and Agriculture Organization."

Though transnational tobacco corporations like Philip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco use sophisticated public relations machinery to claim that tobacco-related agriculture creates jobs and boosts economic development, the facts speak otherwise.

Transnational tobacco corporations have created a supply system that exploits farmers while assuring growth in corporate profits. In February 2007, the Ad-hoc Study Group on Agricultural Diversification and Crop Alternatives to Tobacco of FCTC held its first session in Brazil.
Tobacco industry attempts to interfere in agricultural diversification:

Transnational tobacco corporations have supported and sustained a production system that has undermined human health and stifled human development. Therefore, in keeping with WHA Resolution 54.18 and FCTC Article 5.3, these corporations should not be at the table discussing alternatives to tobacco production.

Acting as a mouthpiece for the tobacco industry, ITGA and its country chapters have spread misinformation and attempted to influence tobacco growers in countries such as Brazil , Argentina , India , South Africa , Zimbabwe, Malawi and Kenya as a strategy to slow down or block ratification and implementation of the FCTC. The chief executive of ITGA spoke on behalf of eight government and non-governmental organizations at the public hearing on agricultural diversification and alternative crops to tobacco held in Brazil in February 2007, claiming to represent governments and farmers, while neglecting to reveal ITGA's connection to the tobacco transnationals.

Tobacco corporations' involvement in Brazilian tobacco control policy is especially troubling. Brazil's sectoral chamber for the tobacco production chain includes representatives from Souza Cruz (British American Tobacco's Brazilian subsidiary), the association of Brazilian tobacco growers (an arm of the International Tobacco Growers Association with its own well established ties to BAT), and Brazil's ministry of agriculture, among others. The chamber provides a direct forum for tobacco industry representatives to meet formally with members of government about tobacco control policy, in violation of Article 5.3 of the FCTC. As the world's second-largest producer of tobacco, Brazil provides a powerful case study on the dangers of creating space for the tobacco industry in deliberations about tobacco control.

The social and economic failures delivered by the production system engineered by transnational tobacco corporations make it incumbent upon governments to implement Article 5.3 of the FCTC fully -- which includes shielding their efforts to develop alternatives to tobacco-intensive agriculture from the transnational tobacco corporations that have a vested interest in maintaining the current failed system.

In this regard, the working group on social and economic challenges for tobacco alternatives and crop diversification noted, "the tobacco industry may have influence on regional policymakers and legislators, and on the regional agricultural policy."

Support to farmers and tobacco growing countries is vital.

Only five of the 125 tobacco exporting nations derive more than 5 per cent of their export from tobacco. These five nations are concentrated at the bottom of UNDP's 2006 Human Development Index: Uganda , Zimbabwe , United Republic of Tanzania, Malawi , and the Central African Republic . Far from being a path to prosperity, tobacco production paves the way to poverty.

Tobacco corporations, their subsidiaries and affiliates should play no role in decisions related to agricultural diversification because, as highlighted by the study group, the industry's definition of diversification differs fundamentally from that of the public health community.

It is vital that the FCTC find ways to support the farmers, agricultural workers, and communities that have grown dependent on a tobacco economy. These nations suffer development set-backs as a result of their tobacco production.

Wealthy countries that have chartered, assisted and benefited from the international expansion of tobacco transnationals bear a responsibility to make transition away from tobacco-dependent economies viable. FCTC urges developed countries to channel resources, based on specific requests, to developing countries for implementation of the convention.

FCTC should also advance proposals for debt relief for farmers tied to transnational tobacco corporations through the current financing system, and communicate clearly about phased transitions that support farmers and build their trust in tobacco control measures.

Online at: http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/jul/04tobacco.htm

Insulate FCTC from industry interference

Insulate FCTC from industry interference
Central Chronicle, India
4 July 2007
----------

Protecting FCTC (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) from tobacco industry interference is most vital. "Tobacco companies are undermining [tobacco control] legislations in many countries" said Dr Douglas Betcher, Head of Tobacco Free Initiative at World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO and its member states were undoubtedly forward-thinking in their adoption of Article 5.3 of the FCTC which obligates Parties to "protect these [public health] policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry" but they are not yet following through with explicit legislations or regulations to enforce it.

Allowing tobacco corporations to influence tobacco control policy violates both the spirit and letter of the FCTC. World Health Assembly resolution 54.18, the FCTC preamble and FCTC articles 12(e) and 20.4(c) provide governments with the support of the international community to stand up to interference from Big Tobacco.

"Big Tobacco's interference in health policy is one of the greatest threats to the treaty's implementation and enforcement. Philip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Japan Tobacco (JT) use their political influence to weaken, delay and defeat tobacco control legislation around the world," explains Corporate Accountability International's Kathryn Mulvey.

"While the industry claims to have changed its ways, it continues to use sophisticated methods to undermine meaningful legislation."

Developing countries that championed a strong, enforceable treaty throughout negotiations are expected to push for rigorous enforcement and to stand firm in their resistance to powerful tobacco industry interference.

"In Kenya, our government was successful in issuing a ban on public smoking and requiring larger health warnings on cigarette packets, but BAT's subsidiary complained the rules were untenable on the grounds that they were not consulted. Then the tobacco giant sued the government in an attempt to prevent the regulations from taking effect," says Emma Wanyonyi of Consumers Information Network, a member of NATT (Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals) in Kenya.

"Now the integrity of the treaty and the effectiveness of national tobacco control policies based on it, hinge upon the measures Parties are taking to meet their obligations under Article 5.3 of the FCTC" says Gallage Punyawardana Alvis of the Swarna Hansa Foundation, a NATT member from Sri Lanka.

NATT members are urging governments to ensure that protocols and guidelines emerging from COP-II include specific measures to guard against tobacco industry interference and reinforce Article 5.3.


Online at: http://www.centralchronicle.com/20070704/0407307.htm

Insulate FCTC from industry interference

Insulate FCTC from industry interference
Central Chronicle, India
4 July 2007
----------

Protecting FCTC (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) from tobacco industry interference is most vital. "Tobacco companies are undermining [tobacco control] legislations in many countries" said Dr Douglas Betcher, Head of Tobacco Free Initiative at World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO and its member states were undoubtedly forward-thinking in their adoption of Article 5.3 of the FCTC which obligates Parties to "protect these [public health] policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry" but they are not yet following through with explicit legislations or regulations to enforce it.

Allowing tobacco corporations to influence tobacco control policy violates both the spirit and letter of the FCTC. World Health Assembly resolution 54.18, the FCTC preamble and FCTC articles 12(e) and 20.4(c) provide governments with the support of the international community to stand up to interference from Big Tobacco.

"Big Tobacco's interference in health policy is one of the greatest threats to the treaty's implementation and enforcement. Philip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco (BAT) and Japan Tobacco (JT) use their political influence to weaken, delay and defeat tobacco control legislation around the world," explains Corporate Accountability International's Kathryn Mulvey.

"While the industry claims to have changed its ways, it continues to use sophisticated methods to undermine meaningful legislation."

Developing countries that championed a strong, enforceable treaty throughout negotiations are expected to push for rigorous enforcement and to stand firm in their resistance to powerful tobacco industry interference.

"In Kenya, our government was successful in issuing a ban on public smoking and requiring larger health warnings on cigarette packets, but BAT's subsidiary complained the rules were untenable on the grounds that they were not consulted. Then the tobacco giant sued the government in an attempt to prevent the regulations from taking effect," says Emma Wanyonyi of Consumers Information Network, a member of NATT (Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals) in Kenya.

"Now the integrity of the treaty and the effectiveness of national tobacco control policies based on it, hinge upon the measures Parties are taking to meet their obligations under Article 5.3 of the FCTC" says Gallage Punyawardana Alvis of the Swarna Hansa Foundation, a NATT member from Sri Lanka.

NATT members are urging governments to ensure that protocols and guidelines emerging from COP-II include specific measures to guard against tobacco industry interference and reinforce Article 5.3.


Online at: http://www.centralchronicle.com/20070704/0407307.htm

Tobacco watch on public health policy

Monday, June 25, 2007

Tobacco watch on public health policy
Special to The Japan Times

BANGKOK — A powerful consensus is emerging among health advocates and public officials around the world that the tobacco industry should not have any influence on public health policies.

The World Health Organization's FCTC (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) enshrines this concept. The COP-II (Conference of Parties) meeting for the global tobacco treaty begins at the end of this month in Thailand.

Japan ratified the FCTC on June 8, 2004, and a Japanese governmental delegation will participate at COP-II. The FCTC was the first global public health and corporate accountability treaty, taking effect more than two years ago ( Feb. 27, 2005).

A major issue related to effective enforcement of FCTC provisions among the 147 member countries is to ensure adequate financial resources. Tobacco is the world's leading cause of preventable death, killing 5 million people per year.

Recently, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made a generous commitment of $ 125 million, which represents four times the 2006-2007 biennial budget of WHO's Tobacco-Free Initiative. Tobacco control advocates in priority countries can tap into this funding for policy, media and monitoring initiatives.

All countries benefit when the cycle of tobacco dependence is broken. Tobacco-control policies have been shown to be good for the world's economies.

The World Bank estimates that high-income countries spend up to 15 percent of their health-care budgets to treat tobacco-related illnesses. In 2002, China spent $ 3.5 billion on health-care costs attributable to tobacco. If these costs were reduced by just 20 percent, China could afford to hire more than half a million additional primary school teachers.

Wealthy countries that have chartered, assisted and benefited from the international expansion of tobacco transnationals bear a responsibility to make a viable transition away from tobacco-dependent economies. Political realities in the developing world could help speed up implementation of the treaty.

Japan paid $ 87 million in 2006 to support the WHO — more than any other nation. Yet that support represents only 10 percent of the Japanese government's share of Japan Tobacco's annual profits.

Seventy-nine percent of the world's tobacco was sourced in developing nations in the late 1990s, up from 52 percent four decades earlier. Countries that have most aggressively embraced tobacco production have not seen advances in development. Only five of the 125 tobacco-exporting nations derive more than 5 percent of their export income from tobacco.

These five nations are concentrated at the bottom of United Nations Development Program's 2006 Human Development Index: Uganda (ranked 145 of 177 nations); Zimbabwe (151 of 177), deriving nearly a third of its export income from tobacco; United Republic of Tanzania (162 of 177); Malawi (166 of 177), deriving more than half of its export income from tobacco; and the Central African Republic (172 of 177).

Far from being a path to prosperity, tobacco production paves the way to poverty. Corporate Accountability International (CAI) has played a key role as a civil society watch organization along with Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals from the first discussions of WHO's FCTC. It continues to do so, monitoring the tobacco industry and gathering evidence to protect public health.

At the forthcoming COP-II meeting in Thailand, CAI will release a report that has compiled information from civil society members across the world on the three major issues impeding FCTC implementation, and makes recommendations for effective enforcement. These three public health challenges are:

* To protect public health policy from tobacco industry influence.
* To prevent tobacco industry interference in agricultural diversification efforts — alternative crops to tobacco.
* To ensure full funding of FCTC implementation programs.

Article 5.3 of the FCTC obligates parties to "protect these (public health) policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry."

Furthermore, WHA (World Health Assembly) Resolution 54.18 states that corporations involved in the tobacco industry should not be at the table discussing alternatives to tobacco production.

It is imperative that the three concerns raised by the CAI report get the due attention they deserve.

Online at: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20070625a1.html