Statement: Gigi Kellett, Big Tobacco blocks treaty progress toward saving lives

By Gigi Kellett, Corporate Accountability International Campaign Director, Challenging Big Tobacco

For Immediate Release:
October 4, 2010

Contact:
Christina Rossi, 617-447-2540

Good afternoon. Thank you all for joining us on the call today. I am Gigi Kellett, Director of Corporate Accountability International’s Campaign Challenging Big Tobacco.

Today marks the global release of a new report that outlines actions countries are taking to root out tobacco industry interference in public policy. The report also exposes how the industry continues to undermine public health and spread misinformation.

With me here today are: Yul Francisco Dorado, Corporate Accountability International’s Latin America Campaigns Director calling from Bogota, Colombia. Yul will discuss how Philip Morris International is attempting to make an example of Uruguay by suing the country over its strong new warning labels on cigarette packs. Philip Jakpor with Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria is calling in from Lagos, Nigeria and will share examples of British American Tobacco's latest tactics to hook young customers on its deadly product. Bobby Ramakant with Asha Parivar is calling from Lucknow, India and he will share with us examples of what countries in Asia are doing to root out tobacco industry interference.

Tobacco addiction remains the leading preventable cause of death globally – an epidemic driven by a handful of global corporations such as Philip Morris International. More than 170 nations have unified behind the global tobacco treaty – formally known as the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control – protecting 87 percent of the world’s people from the deadly epidemic.

We know that full implementation of this treaty will save hundreds of millions of lives over the next twenty years. But Big Tobacco is intent on blocking and frustrating efforts to enforce the treaty. Today tobacco industry interference in public health policy poses the single greatest threat to implementation of this groundbreaking and lifesaving treaty.

Philip Morris International (PMI), British American Tobacco (BAT) and Japan Tobacco (JT) have built empires based on sacrificing the health and well-being of millions of people, and continue to use their political influence to weaken, delay and defeat tobacco control legislation around the world. History shows that when the tobacco industry shapes public policy, the results are disastrous.

The good news is that Parties now have the tools to safeguard public health. The unanimous adoption of a set of guidelines in 2008, make it explicit that there is a fundamental conflict between tobacco industry interests and public health policy and that governments should protect public health policies from the tobacco industry.

Though the treaty makes it clear there is no place for the tobacco industry when it comes to policymaking on tobacco control, an egregious example of the industry’s efforts to block the treaty’s lifesaving measures is in Uruguay. This year Uruguay is hosting the implementation and enforcement meeting for the treaty – and Philip Morris is attempting to make an example of Uruguay by suing over its strong new warning labels on cigarette packs.

Big Tobacco first tried to bully the global community out of advancing this treaty. Now it’s attempting to bully countries out of enforcing it. Still, our findings in this report indicate that the industry’s resolve to defy the law is matched only by civil society’s resolve to end industry intimidation.

The global community will not let such intimidation prevail. In dozens of countries, civil society is mobilizing to show its solidarity with Uruguay and to contest tobacco industry interference in their own countries. The effort is part of the 10th International Week of Resistance to Tobacco Transnationals and is dubbed Clearing the Way to Uruguay. Actions will culminate in a gathering of people from across the globe in Punta del Este in November, calling on Big Tobacco to butt out of health policy and spare the lives of millions worldwide.

Thank you.

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