The Global Tobacco Treaty, formerly known as The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), is the world's first public health and corporate accountability treaty. The global tobacco treaty will save millions of lives and change the way the tobacco industry operates around the world.

History of the Treaty

Status of the Treaty
See who has signed and ratified the treaty

The Global Tobacco Treaty and the U.S.

Second Conference of the Parties


The Treaty:

• Bans tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, such as the Marlboro Man;
• Protects public health policy from interference by tobacco corporations;
• Gives governments the right to prioritize the health of their citizens over trade and commercial interests; and,
• Establishes important precedents for international regulation of other industries that endanger health, the environment and human rights.

For the countries that have ratified it, the treaty has already begun to change the way tobacco corporations do business--and now that it has taken effect as international law its impact will be even more dramatic. But the tobacco industry will not give in without a fight. We are working with allies in the U.S. and internationally to ensure the treaty is enforced and to assist countries in their ratification process.

The story of the global tobacco treaty inspires hope. International tobacco corporations Philip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International sought to weaken and derail the treaty. The U.S. also sought to water down much of the document. Yet the developing world, led by a block of 46 African nations and supported by Corporate Accountability International and NATT, united to push for positions that would prevent the spread of tobacco addiction, disease and death.

"Big Tobacco and its allies in wealthy countries fought this global tobacco treaty every step of the way. Through hard work and strategic organizing we overcame tremendous odds in making the treaty a reality. Looking ahead, we will continue to work together to challenge the tobacco industry's dirty tricks."
--Akinbode Oluwafemi, Environmental Rights Action, Nigeria, a NATT member.

History of the Treaty:

The World Health Assembly (WHA) called for development of the world's first public health treaty to control the spread of tobacco addiction in 1996, and set the negotiating process in motion in 1999. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland put the global tobacco treaty on a "fast track," with the goal of adopting the treaty by May 2003. Member states overcame opposition from the tobacco transnationals and their allies to meet that challenge.

In October 1999 and March 2000, WHO and its Member States convened working groups to prepare the draft elements of the global tobacco treaty. In October 2000, an Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) began formal talks on the global tobacco treaty.

Well over 200 Nongovernmental organizations(NGOs) around the world have been active on the global tobacco treaty, including 2 public interest NGOs in official relations with WHO. The Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) was founded by Corporate Accountablity International in the summer of 1999, and is comprised of over 100 consumer, human rights, environmental, faith-based and corporate accountability organizations in more than 50 countries. The Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) was initiated in the fall of 1999, and its members include major international tobacco control and public health organizations.

Throughout the global tobacco treaty process, NGOs have provided technical assistance to government delegates, monitored and exposed tobacco industry abuses such as interference in public health policy, generated direct pressure on tobacco transnationals through tactics like Corporate Accountability International's Boycott targeting Philip Morris/Altria's Kraft Foods, increased visibility of tobacco control issues in the media, and raised public awareness of the global tobacco treaty. NGOs continue to play a vital role in the ratification and implementation of the treaty.

The INB reached agreement on the final text of the global tobacco treaty on March 1, 2003, and forwarded it to the World Health Assembly for adoption in May 2003.

The global tobacco treaty opened for signatures on June 16, 2003, and entered into force on February 27, 2005. (Click here to see the current status of the global tobacco treaty.) Many UN delegates said the treaty could not have happened without NGO support from Corporate Accountability International and NATT.

"We, as delegates, have been watching Infact (now Corporate Accountability International) with great admiration. Because they have campaigned ceaselessly to influence public opinion and policymakers' opinion. They've also acted as very efficient watchdogs of the process. To that extent Infact has been one of the most wonderful allies along with other NGOs. In helping the delegations to not only gather the requisite information, but also ensuring the pressures in favor of public health were kept up relentlessly so that ultimately all the delegations, including the doubting thomases, were moved to a position of affirmation."
--Dr. Reddy, delegate of India.

In this era of unilateralism and corporate globalization, we must expand on this triumph of international cooperation. The global tobacco treaty is a groundbreaking global regulatory instrument, setting precedents for industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, food and agribusiness, weapons, banking and finance, retail, garments, oil and chemicals. Now is the time to call on international institutions like the United Nations and World Health Organization to live up to their potential to hold corporations accountable.

The First Conference of the Parties 2006

February 2006 marked another important milestone for this groundbreaking treaty, the first Conference of the Parties, where critical decisions were made about the treaty's implementation and enforcement.

These enforcement meetings provide a regular opportunity for countries that have ratified to come together to exchange information on implementation, to make decisions regarding enforcement, and to secure the treaty's impact. The second COP is scheduled for June 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Corporate Accountability International, along with members of the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT), was at the historic first meeting of treaty ratifiers in Geneva, Switzerland organizing to ensure strong implementation and enforcement of the global tobacco treaty. We called for:

A strong secretariat that is accountable to the Conference of the Parties
Full and equitable funding to support the treaty
Public interest, non-governmental organizations to have access to the Conference of the Parties
Explicit exclusion of the tobacco industry and its affiliates from interfering in the global tobacco treaty
Decisions about the Conference of the Parties secretariat are central to the future of the global tobacco treaty and the precedents it sets for other international and corporate accountability agreements. Corporate Accountability International and our allies will be monitoring the situation closely, ensuring strong enforcement policy while exposing the tobacco industry's attempts to undermine treaty ratification and implementation around the globe.

We are continuing to build support for the treaty, while challenging the tobacco giants and pressuring the United States to submit the treaty to the Senate for ratification.

The Second Conference of the Parties 2007

The Global Tobacco Treaty and the United States

The global tobacco treaty opened for signature on June 16, 2003, and officially entered into force on February 27th, 2005. Throughout the negotiations, the United States worked to derail the treaty. Now, the United States is among a minority of nations yet to ratify it.

We must ask: Is our government truly committed to public health? Are our government officials accountable to the U.S. public?

The U.S. government's track record on international humanitarian agreements, including the life-saving global tobacco treaty, suggests an arrogant, "rules apply to others, not us" attitude. Other treaties the United States has signed but not ratified include: the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and the International Treaty to Ban Landmines.

We believe it's time for the United States to stand up, join the rest of the world in saving lives, and ratify the first global public health treaty. 

Cowboy Diplomacy - Read more.

Take Action

Download the Global Tobacco Treaty Toolkit for U.S. Activists

Urge your Senators to take a stand on the treaty 

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