[Intl-tobacco] WSJ: Industry views on Framework Convention

[Robert Weissman]

Philip Morris Supports Regulation Within Range Set by Health Group

by GORDON FAIRCLOUGH  / Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
gordon.fairclough@wsj.com
;
Source: The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, Thursday, 8/31/00

NEW YORK -- Philip Morris Cos., which for years fought World Health
Organization efforts to curb smoking around the globe, said it would
support "sensible and effective" regulation of cigarettes within the
framework of an international tobacco-control treaty backed by the agency.

The maker of the top-selling Marlboro brand said it remains opposed to
measures that would raise taxes, limit free trade or ban advertising by
tobacco concerns, but it backs efforts to reduce youth smoking, improve
warning labels and expand disclosures about the ingredients in cigarettes.

In a submission filed Wednesday with the WHO in Geneva, Philip Morris took
a more conciliatory approach than its largest rival, British American
Tobacco PLC, which earlier this week said the treaty process is
"fundamentally flawed and will not achieve its objectives." The
London-based company called instead for regulation at the national level.

The WHO, the public-health arm of the United Nations, has been promoting
the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control as a way to curb
smoking-related diseases, which kill four million people a year, the
agency estimates.  Government representatives from around the world will
gather in mid-October for the start of negotiations on the treaty.

The treaty's draft language calls for reducing tobacco use through
coordinated, international cigarette-tax increases, an end to duty-free
tobacco sales, restrictions on advertising and marketing, and education
about health risks.  The draft also would regulate the contents of
cigarettes and prohibit smoking in public places.

Philip Morris said it believes the treaty process should focus on the
establishment of minimum-age laws for smoking, the prohibition of
marketing to minors, more stringent efforts to combat smuggling and the
development of standard methods to measure the ingredients in cigarettes.
The company also backs "reasonable" restrictions on smoking in public
places.

"There is a convention that we could support. We think there's common
ground,"  said David I. Greenberg, a senior vice president of Philip
Morris's international tobacco business. But, he said, "the solutions have
to be reasonable. They have to preserve the idea that grown-up people can
choose" to smoke.

Mr. Greenberg criticized draft-treaty language that says "the tobacco
industry should be held accountable for past, present and future public
health harm caused by its products world-wide." He said "fomenting
litigation as a solution to this problem is fundamentally wrong-headed."
He also said Philip Morris would oppose measures that "punish tobacco
companies and hurt our business without any benefit for consumers and
governments."

British American Tobacco, in its submission to the WHO, said it wants to
work with national governments and others to prevent youth smoking,
educate the public about the health risks of cigarettes and develop
less-risky tobacco products. "We don't really see that a
one-size-fits-all, legally binding treaty is appropriate for a consumer
product," said Michael Prideaux, a spokesman for British American Tobacco.

Japan Tobacco Inc., which bought the international tobacco operations of
R.J.  Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. last year, also criticized the WHO's
approach.  "We do not believe global regulation is the right way" to deal
with tobacco, the Tokyo company said in its submission. The company said
the draft-treaty provisions infringed on national sovereignty.

"We're clearly seeing a parting of ways among the tobacco companies," said
Derek Yach, executive director for noncommunicable diseases and mental
health at the WHO who oversees the organization's tobacco-control program.
Dr. Yach said Philip Morris's approach was "encouraging."

Relations between the WHO and multinational tobacco companies have been
extremely adversarial. In August, the WHO released a report by a panel of
investigators charging that Philip Morris and other companies "instigated
global strategies to discredit and impede" the agency and "undermined
effective tobacco-control programs around the world."