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Statements of Change to Philip Morris Philip Morris/Altria Annual Shareholders' Meeting 2006 STATEMENT BY CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY INTERNATIONAL Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of Corporate Accountability International. Today we've heard first-hand accounts of your corporation's attempts to undermine implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Unfortunately, the examples from Mexico and South Africa only scratch the surface. Working with our allies in the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT), we compiled evidence of Philip Morris's interference in the FCTC into this Global Action Guide. Within a week of its release last September, this guide was downloaded almost 1,500 times--in English, Spanish and French. It is being used by NGOs and governments around the world who are campaigning for implementation and enforcement of the FCTC. The message from these world leaders is clear: we don't want you working with our ministries of health or education! Because your corporation has a fundamental conflict of interest with tobacco control policy, the FCTC explicitly forbids your involvement. Here in the U.S., you continue to claim that you support the global tobacco treaty and FDA regulation of tobacco. A recent report on National Public Radio exposed the Bush administration for dragging its heels on the ratification process. A Philip Morris/Altria spokesperson, meanwhile, seemed to favor U.S. ratification of the FCTC. Yet your corporation opposes one of the most central provisions of the treaty: the ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. And it's no wonder. According to a study this year by the American Legacy Foundation, Philip Morris/Altria makes more money--nearly $700 million--from cigarettes smoked by kids in the U.S. than all other tobacco corporations combined. This dominance can be traced to the Marlboro Man. Another recent study found that Marlboro is the most lethal consumer product ever--responsible for the deaths of more than 2.3 million Americans since 1955. More Americans have died, or will die, because of Marlboro than U.S. soldiers who have died in all foreign wars combined. And the authors project that Marlboro could kill even more people around the world in the next 50 years. You are also fighting tobacco control initiatives in the courts, and using political influence to protect your interests. An Illinois judge ruled in Philip Morris/Altria's favor in the Price class action lawsuit, after receiving campaign contributions from your corporation. Mr. Camilleri, what assessments are made of the potential risks to the corporation of complying with versus resisting the FCTC and other tobacco control policies? Specifically, when a decision is made to give a campaign contribution or draft and lobby for legislation, how are the benefits of that investment calculated?
STATEMENT BY ADVOCATE PATRICIA LAMBERT, FCTC NEGOTIATOR Good morning. My name is Patricia Lambert. I am a South African human rights and public health lawyer. In my capacity as the legal adviser to the South African Minister of Health, I participated in the negotiations on the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Since 2000, I have also been responsible, together with my South African colleagues, for the drafting and implementation of our country's strict tobacco control legislation. For the first time in the history of international treaty making, the 46 African Member States of the WHO AFRO Region stood together and spoke with a single voice during the FCTC negotiations. Supported by other developing countries from the global south and the Middle-East, and civil society groups like the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT), we called for a strong and enforceable treaty: one that includes a ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; a clear indication that issues of public health can take precedence over matters of trade; and the unequivocal exclusion of the tobacco industry from policy-making. We did this in the face of intense and formidable opposition from wealthy country governments like the United States of America, Japan and Germany, all of whom championed the cause of profit, for corporations like yours, over the health and well-being of people, including poor people who live in developing countries. But Africa and its allies triumphed in the end. It was, and continues to be, a historical and life-enhancing victory. According to your public statements, Philip Morris/Altria withdrew from South Africa in the 1980s in protest against the repressive apartheid regime. You re-entered the South African market in 2003. On a number of occasions since then, in my capacity as a government adviser, I have met with your South African executives. At each meeting, they assured my colleagues and me that Philip Morris supports tobacco control. But, as always, your actions speak more truly than your words. Despite South Africa's ban on advertising, Philip Morris continues to exploit the only loophole in the current law by blatantly displaying large numbers of posters and signs for your products at all points of sale. And, in a calculated way, most of your signs are placed at the eye-level of children, right beside displays of candy, chocolate and ice-cream. When people, including children, purchase things in these shops, their change is invariably placed on mats emblazoned with your lethal and addictive products. This year, we will close the legislative loophole and end your practice. But I can't help wondering why the lives of South Africa's children mean so little to Philip Morris/Altria that you would exploit the loophole in the first place? It strikes me as profoundly cynical that your company, quite correctly, applied economic sanctions against the apartheid regime and then returned, under the new democratic order and majority rule, to sell people liberated from political, social and economic oppression, products that could kill them. Today is my national day. All over South Africa, and at our embassies all over the world, we are celebrating 12 precious years of democracy--a democracy hard won and carefully nurtured by people like our presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki. Yet you, Mr. Camilleri, and your company continue to cast dark and forbidding shadows over our present joy by preying on our children, and therefore on our future. Mr Camilleri, please do not tell me that you know my country better than I do. When we have demonstrated such resolve on tobacco control, nationally, regionally and internationally, why are you trying to force open our markets, subvert our advertising ban and oppress our people?
STATEMENT BY MEXICAN CONGRESSMAN Good morning. My name is Megan Rising and I am an organizer with Corporate Accountability International. Today I am speaking on behalf of our ally, Congressman Miguel Toscano Velasco of Mexico, who has been outspoken in his opposition to Philip Morris/Altria's meddling in Mexican health policy. Mr. Camilleri, In your annual report, you brag about your market share gains and increased shipments to Mexico. We are a country where someone dies every 10 minutes from tobacco-related illnesses; therefore it is truly offensive and worrisome for us that you target us as an expansion market for your deadly product. Congressional leaders and people across Mexico are deeply concerned about our rates of tobacco-related illness and death. That is why we became the first country in the Americas to ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in May 2004. With the global tobacco treaty, we have a powerful tool to protect people's lives from your deadly products. Mr. Camilleri, I want to raise my voice in opposition to the voluntary agreement that Philip Morris signed with my government in June 2004 in which your corporation funds certain health programs in exchange for the government not raising tobacco taxes. The agreement was signed just 3 weeks after we ratified the global tobacco treaty. Since that time, several tobacco control regulations; including the FCTC advertising ban and tax increases, have been defeated in Congress. People across Mexico, throughout Latin America and around the world have expressed their outrage at this agreement and its impact. This tactic is not new to Big Tobacco. For years, corporations like yours have proposed voluntary regulations in many countries in order to fight effective and enforceable public health protections such as the global tobacco treaty. As you know, Article 5.3 of the treaty explicitly excludes the tobacco industry from playing any role in public health policy in countries that have ratified. Therefore, the agreement signed between your corporation and Mexico conflicts with the treaty and with Mexican law, because once the FCTC was ratified by the Mexican Senate, it became law under the National Constitution. The global tobacco treaty also requires Parties to collect and disseminate information on tobacco industry activities that have an impact on the treaty or on national policies. I want to assure you we are taking this obligation seriously and will continue to monitor and challenge your interference in Mexican health policy, including in the national and international media.
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