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NGO's DENOUNCE NEW DRAFT OF TOBACCO CONTROL TREATY Leading into Final Round of Treaty Talks, New Draft Does Not Reflect Strong Positions FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACTS: GENEVA -- The US-based corporate accountability organization Infact and other members of the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) are denouncing a draft of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) released today as too weak to reverse the global tobacco epidemic. The new treaty draft produced by the Chair of the negotiating body slides backwards from the positions advocated by the great majority of countries in key areas such as tobacco promotion and prioritizing public health over trade in tobacco. "At the most recent round of treaty talks, we saw that the great majority of nations in the world are committed to an FCTC that prioritizes public health over the profits of transnational tobacco corporations. Rather than building on the progress made at the October talks, the Chair seems to have given in to the demands of a handful of wealthy nations-namely the US, Japan and Germany-in some of the treaty's most critical areas," says Kathryn Mulvey, Executive Director of Infact, a US-based corporate accountability organization and member of NATT. Throughout the negotiations, coordinated global action to curb aggressive promotion of tobacco with images like Philip Morris's Marlboro Man has been seen as integral to the FCTC. When FCTC negotiators last gathered in October 2002, the overwhelming majority were strongly in favor of a total ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Only a handful of countries where the tobacco transnationals have major interests, led by the US, Japan and Germany, opposed an ad ban. Yet today's draft is reduced to a series of suggestions that fall far short of prohibiting tobacco promotion-essentially deferring action on this urgent measure. The FCTC also has the opportunity to establish a precedent of subordinating commercial interests in a deadly product to health concerns. However, the current draft fails to take a decisive stand in prioritizing public health over trade in tobacco. At the most recent talks more than 100 countries were advocating treaty language that would prioritize public health when the FCTC comes into conflict with international trade and investment agreements. The text released today does not include any language that would prioritize health over trade. "Having analyzed the new Chair's Text of the FCTC released today, we are deeply concerned that it falls far short of measures necessary to reverse the global tobacco epidemic and hold tobacco transnationals accountable for the harms they cause to people, economies and the environment. For example, the treaty draft fails to prioritize public health over trade, and does not include the total ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship advocated by many countries-including the African and South East Asian regions, and 24 European countries," says Akinbode Oluwafemi of Environmental Rights Action, Nigeria-also a NATT member. Infact and NATT, which includes 75 consumer, human rights, environmental, faith-based, public health and corporate accountability NGOs spanning 50 countries, believe the FCTC must:
In one of the most serious examples of backsliding, the current draft calls into question the tobacco industry's responsibility for the harms its products cause. The tobacco giants are notorious for their misleading and deceptive conduct. According to Infact and NATT, the FCTC must include strong liability and compensation provisions to deter tobacco corporations from future harms and hold them accountable for their past egregious behavior. On the positive side, the Chair's draft of the FCTC includes provisions for monitoring the tobacco corporations, their affiliates and subsidiaries like Philip Morris's Kraft Foods. The text also calls for the protection of public health policy from tobacco industry interference. Philip Morris, Japan Tobacco and British American Tobacco (B.A.T) have used their influence to water down and defeat public health policy even in the wealthiest countries. Ambassador Luis Felipe de Seixas Corrêa, the Chair of the FCTC's Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, prepared today's draft. According to the World Health Organization, nearly 5 million people die every year from tobacco-related illnesses. "As we enter into the final round of treaty talks next month, Infact and NATT are calling on treaty negotiators to ask themselves whether the Marlboro Men of the transnational tobacco industry can live with this treaty. If the answer is yes, then the world is in danger of having wasted years of time and precious resources. Yielding to pressure from the US, Japan and Germany puts the interests of Philip Morris, B.A.T and Japan Tobacco before the public health of people around the world," concludes Mulvey. ### Since 1977, Infact has been exposing life-threatening abuses of transnational corporations and organizing successful grassroots campaigns to hold corporations accountable to consumers and society at large. Infact is an NGO in Official Relations with the World Health Organization (WHO). The Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) includes 75 NGOs from more than 50 countries working for a strong, enforceable Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
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