Corporate Accountability International Press Release -- GLOBAL TOBACCO TREATY PROMOTED AS MODEL FOR CURBING CORPORATE ABUSES AT WORLD SOCIAL FORUM IN VENEZUELA -- 25 January 2006 - Corporate Accountability International - Challenging Abuse, Protecting People - Think Outside the Bottle


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GLOBAL TOBACCO TREATY PROMOTED AS MODEL FOR CURBING CORPORATE ABUSES AT WORLD SOCIAL FORUM IN VENEZUELA
Pressure Builds for Venezuela to Complete Ratification of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

For Immediate Release:
25 January 2006

Contacts:
Yul Francisco Dorado/Corporate Accountability International in Venezuela: hotel: (58 212) 266 98 44, cell: 0 41 6 620 5617
Bryan Hirsch/Corporate Accountability International in Boston, MA, USA: +1 (617) 695-2525

CARACAS, VENEZUELA--At this year's polycentric World Social Forum in Venezuela, corporate accountability campaigners are promoting the global tobacco treaty as a model for regulating irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions. Formally known as the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first global health and corporate accountability treaty will save millions of lives and change the way the tobacco industry operates around the world. Corporate Accountability International and the Zero Tobacco Network will host workshops and participate in panels, where participants will learn more about the treaty and its precedents for reining in other abusive industries, and take action to pressure Venezuela to complete its treaty ratification.

"Venezuela has been a powerful voice in challenging the negative impacts of globalization on people in the Global South," explains Corporate Accountability International Latin America Coordinator Yul Francisco Dorado. "Venezuela must complete ratification of the global tobacco treaty and continue to champion international regulations for transnational corporations."

117 countries have ratified the global tobacco treaty, encompassing over 70% of the world's population. The global tobacco treaty has proven to be one of the most quickly embraced treaties in the history of the United Nations. Venezuela is among the shrinking minority of countries that have not ratified the treaty.

"Tobacco claims nearly 5 million lives every year," says Paula Johns of the Zero Tobacco Network. "Philip Morris/Altria and British American Tobacco have been aggressively trying to expand their markets in many Latin American countries, with terrible consequences for both the health and economic well-being of our people. It is critical that Venezuela ratify swiftly, so that we can move toward a healthier, safer future for our children. That is a strong message coming out of the World Social Forum."

The global tobacco treaty represents the first time the WHO has used its mandate to make international law; the first international law to regulate an entire industry; the first international health agreement to recognize countries' right to prioritize health over trade and commercial interests; and the first accord to protect public health policies from tobacco industry interference.

"The World Social Forum is predicated on the belief that another world is possible. The global tobacco treaty is a major victory for public health, changing the practices of a powerful industry that profits at the expense of people's health," says Natasha Herrera from the WHO Pan American Health Organization, who is scheduled to speak at Corporate Accountability International's workshop.

The global tobacco treaty bans tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (such as Philip Morris/Altria's Marlboro Man) and protects public health policy from tobacco industry interference. The treaty sets precedents for international regulation of other industries that threaten health, the environment and human rights, such as pharmaceuticals, oil, food, and water industries.

Building on its success with the global tobacco treaty, Corporate Accountability International will join with NGOs from around the world later this spring, to challenge corporations that threaten the human right to water, during counter-activities at the World Water Forum in Mexico City in March.

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Corporate Accountability International, formerly Infact, is a membership organization that protects people by waging and winning campaigns challenging irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions around the world. Through bold campaigns and a commitment to win, Corporate Accountability International and its members have scored major victories that protect people and save lives. For over 25 years, we've forced corporations--like Nestlé, General Electric and Philip Morris/Altria--to stop abusive actions. For more information visit www.stopcorporateabuse.org.