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Statement on President's Cancer Panel Report Calling on U.S. to Ratify Global Tobacco Treaty and Curb Junk Food Marketing Megan Rising, Corporate Accountability International Senior Organizer For Immediate Release: Contacts: Boston, MA - “The report issued by the President’s Cancer Panel yesterday calls for the U.S. to ratify the global tobacco treaty and curb junk food marketing to kids, adding weight to the already broad public demand for curbing the abusive practices of the tobacco and food industries. The time has come for the President to heed the call of his top health advisors and the U.S. public and submit the global tobacco treaty to the Senate for ratification. “Formally known as the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the global tobacco treaty now protects more than 80% of the world’s population and is one of the most quickly and widely embraced treaties in the history of the United Nations. U.S. ratification of the treaty would protect current and future generations of Americans from tobacco addiction, disease and death, and once implemented, would usher in many of the policy recommendations made in the presidential report. For example, the U.S. would join 149 other nations in implementing a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship and in excluding the tobacco industry from participating in public health policymaking. “The presidential report recounts that the tobacco industry has employed creative tactics over the past half century through today to interfere in public health policy. Tobacco corporations use their tremendous economic clout in this country and around the world to attempt to weaken, delay and derail the global tobacco treaty. “The report also supports recent Congressional efforts to give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco products. FDA regulation is a much needed step toward tackling the tobacco epidemic in our country, but it is not enough. Our government must ratify the global tobacco treaty and institute FDA regulation of tobacco products, as a key way to fulfill its obligations. “The Bush Administration signed the global tobacco treaty in May 2004, but has not given the U.S. Senate an opportunity to vote on ratification. We join the President’s Cancer Panel and other public health advocates across the U.S. in urging the Bush Administration to submit the global tobacco treaty to the Senate for ratification and in calling on our Senate leaders to swiftly ratify this life-saving agreement. “Additionally, we commend the panelists for recognizing the role that the aggressive marketing of junk food by giant food and beverage corporations has had in contributing to the obesity epidemic in the U.S. and around the world. We agree with the panel's recommendations that there needs to be greater government oversight and regulation of food and beverage industry marketing in order to protect people's health – and that voluntary standards adopted by the industry are not enough. We also support the panel's far reaching recommendation that federal farm subsidies be shifted towards the production of hi-nutrient, low-calorie foods like fruits and vegetables and away from an over reliance on crops used to make calorie-dense “junk” foods. “The conflict of interests between the tobacco industry, giant food corporations and public health, and these industries’ track record of interfering with health policies, underscore the need for our government to protect public health policy from corporations' powerful commercial interests.” # # # 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. 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.
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