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Adoption of Global Tobacco Treaty Marks Historic Milestone in Public Health and Corporate Accountability Infact and Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals Applaud Leadership of Global South as Decisive Factor in Strong Framework Convention on Tobacco Control FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACTS: GENEVA -- The adoption of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) by the World Health Assembly (WHA) today is being hailed as a milestone in the history of corporate accountability and public health. After three years of negotiations, 192 countries agreed to the adoption of the groundbreaking treaty. With a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and measures to protect public health policy from tobacco industry interference, the FCTC will change the way tobacco giants like Philip Morris (now Altria), British American Tobacco (BAT), and Japan Tobacco International operate globally. Members of the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) are urging countries to ratify the FCTC quickly to ensure its swift entry into force. "The FCTC is a dramatic breakthrough for corporate accountability and public health. This treaty inspires hope at a time when giant corporations profit at the expense of human life and the environment across the globe," says Kathryn Mulvey, Executive Director of Infact, a US-based corporate accountability organization. From the beginning of the FCTC process, developing countries pushed for effective measures to reverse the global tobacco epidemic and hold transnational tobacco corporations accountable for their abusive practices. India, Iran, Jamaica, Palau, Senegal, South Africa and Thailand are a few countries that played key leadership roles during the FCTC negotiations. The final text of the treaty clearly prioritizes global public health over commercial interests-for example, by providing interpretive guidance in case of a conflict between tobacco control measures and trade or investment agreements. "Throughout this historic process, the developing world, led by a block of all 46 African nations, united around protecting the health of their people from the deadly expansion of giant tobacco corporations. Quite simply, this treaty has the potential to save over 10 million lives per year," says Patricia Lambert of the South African delegation. Throughout the FCTC process, there was great concern that the treaty would be weakened by the US and other wealthy countries with close ties to the tobacco industry. The negotiating texts produced by the Chair of the negotiations with assistance from the WHO Secretariat consistently failed to reflect positions taken by the large majority of countries. At the final round of talks in February and in the weeks leading up to its adoption today, the countries of Africa, Southeast Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, Pacific and Caribbean Islands stood firm. The result is a final text that falls short of what these countries pushed for by allowing exceptions to the advertising, promotion and sponsorship ban for constitutional reasons. Provisions on liability and compensation are also weaker than many countries had hoped. However, the FCTC represents a major step forward for public health and corporate accountability. "Even as NATT members celebrate the adoption of a strong, meaningful FCTC, we are looking ahead to the next steps. We urge countries to ratify the treaty as quickly as possible and bring it to life. Throughout the ongoing work we will remain vigilant to Philip Morris/Altria, BAT, and Japan Tobacco's attempts to undermine the treaty's implementation," says Muyunda Ililonga of Zambia Consumers Association. The FCTC sets a new standard for global regulation of industries whose products or practices are harmful to public health. After adopting the FCTC, the WHA is also slated to elect a new Director-General, Dr. Jong-Wook Lee. According to NATT members, a key issue facing the new Director-General will be the development and implementation of guidelines to ensure that public health remains paramount in WHO, and to insulate health policies from conflicts of interest. "We should learn from the lessons of the FCTC. This treaty must now provide impetus for other efforts to protect public health over narrow corporate interests that have great impact on people's lives, such as the proliferation and heavy marketing of unhealthy food. There should be no trade-off in this regard, as countries have demonstrated through the FCTC process that people's health must come first," concludes Bejon Misra of Consumer VOICE (India), also a NATT member. ### 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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