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HEALTH: Tobacco Treaty Gains Hard-Fought Ground

Isaac Baker

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 25 2005 (IPS) - Despite reports of interference from tobacco corporations and a lack of participation by the United States, supporters of a tobacco control treaty are optimistic that it will break new ground in global health.

“The total population protected by the treaty is now over four billion, more than half the world’s population,” Catherine Le Galès-Camus, WHO assistant director-general for non-communicable diseases and mental health, said in a statement.

“We are calling for more countries to join for the first Conference of the Parties, which will be decisive in shaping the future of global tobacco control.”

Earlier this month, China, the world’s largest consumer of tobacco and cigarettes, became the 89th nation to ratify the treaty.

Governments must submit treaty ratification documents at U.N. headquarters in New York by Nov. 8 if they are to take part in the U.N.’s landmark tobacco conference next year. The Conference of Parties (COP), to be held in Geneva from Feb. 6-17, 2006, will be a critical meeting where states will discuss the implementation of the world’s first global health treaty.

To date, the treaty, officially called the U.N. World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), has been signed by 168 nations and ratified by 89.

It requires parties to restrict advertising and promotion, set new tobacco labeling standards, introduce tougher clean air controls and increase tobacco taxes, among other measures.

Established last February, the treaty also requires governments to turn its provisions into national laws and tobacco regulations. For example, governments would have three years to guarantee tobacco products contain the proper health warnings and five years to establish laws banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship.

The U.N. pins the number of tobacco-related deaths at five million per year and the cost of treating tobacco-related illnesses at more than 200 billion dollars. The Framework Convention Alliance for Tobacco Control, a group representing over 200 NGOs, estimates that by 2030, tobacco-related deaths will reach 10 million per year.

With tobacco use taking such a high toll, treaty advocates say it is just what the doctor ordered. The U.N. and health advocates around the world believe stricter tobacco controls will lead to a decrease in global tobacco use and tremendous increases in global health.

One of the success stories of stricter tobacco controls is Thailand. In 1992, Thai legislators introduced sweeping tobacco advertising bans. By 2001, tobacco addiction had dropped over 20 percent.

With the implementation of the tobacco control treaty, the U.N. says it hopes these results will be replicated in many other nations.

However, while the treaty is being praised by many of the world’s governments and health organisations, it also has some powerful opponents.

Corporate Accountability International, a Boston-based advocacy group, released a report earlier this month strongly criticising transnational tobacco corporations for interfering with treaty proceedings and seeking to undermine the international community’s tobacco control efforts.

The report blasts tobacco giants like Phillip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco (BAT), and Japan Tobacco International, saying they “continue to aggressively target developing countries to expand markets for their products”, and “are renewing their efforts to derail the treaty process in countries around the world”.

Titled “Big Tobacco’s Attempts to Derail the Global Tobacco Treaty”, the report presents Nigeria and Guatemala as case studies in the interference in national health policies by tobacco corporations.

In Nigeria, a nation which has signed but not yet ratified the treaty, the report details attempts by BAT to stall tobacco regulation by influencing media coverage and intensely lobbying government officials.

The report blasts BAT for attempting to bribe journalists for favourable news coverage on the tobacco industry and for giving out the British American Tobacco Industry Reporter of the Year Award, which is bestowed upon industry-friendly journalists along with a gift of 2,200 dollars.

The report also tells of the lavish gifts BAT has given to government officials, including sports utility vehicles and pricy vacations.

“The combination of a misinformed public and easily influenced government is a proven recipe for weak, corporate-friendly relations,” the report says.

The report also criticised Phillip Morris/Altria’s interference in Guatemala during the country’s legislative proceedings on the treaty.

With the Nov. 8 ratification deadline quickly approaching, the George W. Bush administration is also coming under fire for not yet ratifying the treaty.

During the treaty proceedings, the United States opposed the treaty’s advertising ban and the exclusion of tobacco industry officials from public health policymaking decisions.

While the Bush administration has signed the treaty and does publicly support it, the administration has not yet submitted the treaty to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for ratification and shows no signs of doing so. Without ratification, the administration’s signing of the treaty is inconsequential.

“When your government signs a treaty, that’s a public statement to the rest of the world that your country intends to ratify that treaty,” Bryan Hirsch, a press officer for the Boston-based Corporate Accountability International, told IPS. “With the Bush administration, we have not seen any action following through to ratify.”

“It’s a real sad statement and a real embarrassment,” he added.