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Global Protests Demand Big Tobacco Stop Interfering With Treaty For Immediate Release: Contact: BOSTON— Next week, Corporate Accountability International and its allies are launching a series of actions in 25 countries demanding tobacco transnationals stop interfering in the implementation of the global tobacco treaty (formally known as the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control). The 9th Annual International Week of Resistance to Tobacco Transnationals is a precursor to the third enforcement meeting on the treaty this November in Durban, South Africa. Countries will be considering specific guidelines on how to implement Article 5.3, including recommendations to: Action organizers are alerting governments to expected efforts by Big Tobacco to block or water down such provisions. “The tobacco industry poses the single greatest threat to people getting the health protections they need under the treaty,” says Kathy Mulvey, international policy director for Corporate Accountability International. “It is plain nonsensical—and contrary to the treaty itself—to allow these corporations that are damaging our health to sit at the table when our health policies are developed.” At next week’s events around the world, Corporate Accountability International and the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) will be releasing a report called Protecting Against Tobacco Industry Interference: The 2008 Global Tobacco Treaty Action Guide. The report provides a snapshot of tobacco industry interference in a range of countries from Nigeria to Mexico and provides activists and policy makers with tools and tactics to counter industry interference. The following is a short list of in-country actions: • In Sri Lanka, to illustrate the close ties between Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco) and many government sectors, the Swarna Hansa Foundation will be holding a press conference at Buddhist Ladies College, which is just meters from a shop refurbished by CTC, the national hospital, the capitol city town hall and the main tobacco dealer. “Corporations like Philip Morris International have a fundamental conflict of interest with public health,” says Akinbode Oluwafemi of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth–Nigeria. “While millions of people are getting sick and dying from their deadly products, these giant corporations are pulling out all the stops to undermine effective policies.” The global tobacco treaty has now been ratified by 160 countries, protecting nearly 85 percent of the world’s people. Tobacco kills 5.4 million people around the world each year. The death toll is projected to rise to eight million a year by 2030, with 80 percent of those deaths occurring in developing countries. The WHO estimates that broad implementation of the treaty could save 200 million lives by 2050. For a full schedule, news and photos of the International Week of Resistance to Tobacco Transnationals, or to download the 3rd edition of the Global Tobacco Treaty Action Guide, available in English, French and Spanish, visit: www.StopCorporateAbuse.org. ### Corporate Accountability International is a membership organization that protects people by waging and winning campaigns challenging irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions around the world. The Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) includes over 100 NGOs from more than 50 countries working for a strong, enforceable FCTC. For more information visit www.StopCorporateAbuse.org.
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