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Final Talks On Global Tobacco Treaty Set to Start Next Week Rallies in Major Cities From Coast to Coast Demonstrate Nationwide Concern Over US Position; Former Chair of US Negotiating Team, Dr. Tom Novotny, Speaks Out FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACTS: Boston --With the final round of talks on a global tobacco treaty set to begin next Monday, high-profile public health advocates, university researchers, elected officials and activists are urging the US to put public health first at rallies from Atlanta to Seattle.
Throughout the treaty talks, the US has been sharply criticized for protecting the interests of tobacco giant Philip Morris at the expense of public health. At major events in seven cities from coast to coast, activists are joining with the national corporate accountability organization Infact to express strong support for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). "We are calling on the Bush administration to stop blocking progress on the world's first public health treaty. The FCTC has the potential to reverse the global tobacco epidemic, which is claiming nearly five million lives every year. In the face of this staggering death toll, the US must put public health before the profits of Philip Morris," says Infact Executive Director Kathryn Mulvey. Five days before the start of the final round of FCTC talks, Infact is releasing Cowboy Diplomacy: How the US Undermines International Environmental, Human Rights, Disarmament and Health Agreements. The hard-hitting report finds that the US has increasingly isolated itself from the global community on issues of enormous humanitarian and environmental consequence. The release of Cowboy Diplomacy is intensifying pressure on the Bush administration regarding its position on the FCTC at a time when concerns about US unilateralism are particularly high. "Across the US people are very concerned that our government is undermining this treaty-and with good reason. 'Cowboy Diplomacy' documents the USs history of derailing international agreements on health, the environment, and human rights. With this report we are hoping to help stop history from repeating itself," says Mulvey. Dr. Novotny is calling on the Bush administration to do much more to make the FCTC strong and enforceable. Novotny, who led the US delegation through two rounds of talks, resigned from his position in August 2001. His participation in today's events sends a strong message to the current US FCTC delegation. According to Novotny, "This is a pivotal time for the US to take a leadership role on global tobacco control, and we are failing to do so. The current draft of the FCTC is too weak to serve its purpose, and the Bush administration is not offering the political support necessary to make it and our domestic programs stronger." The FCTC is scheduled to be adopted in May, and the US is one of a few wealthy countries trying to stall the treaty progress. The final round of negotiations on the FCTC will take place in Geneva, from February 17th to the 28th. The US is under increasing pressure to stop putting the profits of Philip Morris ahead of public health worldwide. In addition to today's event in San Francisco, rallies are being held in Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle, Denver, Atlanta and Washington, DC. ### 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. From the Nestlé Boycott of the 1970s and '80s to the GE Boycott of the 1980s and '90s to today's Boycott of Philip Morriss Kraft Foods, Infact organizes to win!
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