[Intl-tobacco] ALA Action Alert on FCTC

[Robert Weissman]

Below is an American Lung Association Action Alert with further
background information on the FCTC, including: 1) Talking points. 2)
History of FCTC. 3) The need for a global treaty. 4)Definitions of
terms. 5) ALA Recommendations. 6) Further resources.

ACTION ALERT 2-2001
Legislative Network
Tobacco

TO:         Constituent and Affiliate Executive Directors, Government
Relations Staff
FROM:       Cassandra Welch
SUBJECT:    Framework Convention on Tobacco Control - Comments to U.S.
Delegation
DATE:       February 14, 2001

BACKGROUND

The U.S. negotiating delegation to the Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control is preparing for the 2nd Intergovernmental Negotiating Body
(INB) session and is seeking comments from the public on the draft
elements of the treaty.  The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is
first-ever international treaty on tobacco control initiated by the
World Health Organization

In order to solicit comments the delegation led by representatives of
the Department of Health and Human Services is holding a public hearing
in San Francisco, CA on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
(FCTC) on March 8, 2001.  In addition DHHS is accepting written comments
on FCTC until March 15, 2001.

The Chairman of the INB has recently released a draft text of the FCTC.
The U.S. delegation is specifically requesting feedback on the
Chairman's text. A copy of the text can be found at
http://www.who.int/wha-1998/Tobacco/INB2/anglaisINB2.htm.

The American Lung Association has many concerns with the Chairman's
draft text. The provisions regarding advertising and product regulation
are very weak and we have concerns about the language regarding trade
issues. We will be working on very detailed comments to the U.S.
delegation on the draft text.  We also urge lung associations to submit
written comments on FCTC.  This is our first opportunity to engage the
Bush administration on a tobacco control issue and broad public support
is crucial.

Attached is a basic fact sheet on FCTC and additional talking points on
the draft text.  Please call Cassandra Welch if you have additional
questions or need more background information.

TALKING POINTS

Below are general talking points on the Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control, I encourage local lung associations to use local tobacco
control examples in their comments.  (Parties and States refer to
individual countries in the treaty making process)

Role of United States:  As a major tobacco exporter and the home base of
tobacco giant Philip Morris, the United States bears a special
responsibility for promoting effective international tobacco control
laws. Philip Morris is among the largest of corporations operating in
the U.S.  We are greatly concerned with their ability to undermine the
ability of the U.S. to take a strong position on the Framework
Convention.  We expect the U.S. government to negotiate the treaty from
a public health perspective. This is an extraordinary opportunity for
the Bush Administration to stand up to Big Tobacco and protect our
children around the world.

Ban on Advertising and Promotion:
{Chairman's draft language:  Prohibits all forms of direct and indirect
tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship targeted at persons under
the age of 18}.

ALA opposes the Chairman's draft language on advertising and promotion
because it is so weak that it will be ineffective in stopping tobacco
industry marketing to children.  The draft only prohibits
advertising/promotion and sponsorship "targeted" at children.  This
definition provides a huge loophole for the tobacco industry to simply
claim its marketing efforts are directed at adults and escape any
meaningful restrictions.  The Framework Convention should include strong
provisions banning tobacco advertising/promotion and sponsorship. Report
after report on the effects of tobacco advertising on children indicate
that tobacco advertising glamorizes and legitimizes tobacco use,
increases social and peer pressure among young people to use tobacco
products, and creates a false impression that tobacco products pose no
significant health risk. As a result, tobacco advertising and promotion
overwhelms the efforts of parents, as well as governments, to educate
youth about the health effects of tobacco.

Public Health over Profit:
{Chairman's draft language: Tobacco-control measures should not
constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination in
international trade}

ALA is very concerned about language in the Chairman's draft regarding
trade.  States would have the burden of proving that tobacco control
measures are not "arbitrary and unjustifiable".  This language could
stymie innovative tobacco control programs.

The impact on public health should be a priority consideration in
negotiating and implementing trade agreements. The FCTC should protect
the use of trade restrictions by states to protect their citizens from
tobacco industry market expansion. Further, the Convention should
prevent a states' ability to use retaliatory trade practices to expand
tobacco market. Public health not profit should be the primary concern
in trade negotiations.

Funding for Implementation:
{Chairman's draft language:  The Parties recognize that
developed-country Parties that export manufactured tobacco products, or
have branches of international tobacco companies exporting tobacco
products from third countries, have a special responsibility to provide
technical support to developing-country Parties to strengthen their
national tobacco control programmes.}

The American Lung Association believes that a global tobacco control
fund needs to be established to assist developing countries signing the
Convention to fully carry out their obligations. Such a fund should have
both bilateral and multilateral funding mechanisms as well as a
financing structure secured from a fee assessed all tobacco companies
operating in the global marketplace.

The current language in the Chairman's draft requires only a voluntary
mechanism from Parties for supporting the fund and does not allow for a
"polluter pays" mechanism aimed at the tobacco industry.

If you have any questions please contact Cassandra Welch at 202/785-3355
or cwelch@lungusadc.org.


FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON TOBACCO CONTROL

Widespread growth in tobacco use - and the resulting health problems -
around the world is a challenge and an opportunity for the global public
health community. The challenge comes in seeking global solutions for a
problem that cuts across national boundaries, cultures, societies and
socio-economic strata. The opportunity to address the problem comes
under the auspices of the World Health Organization in the form of a
first-ever international treaty on tobacco control, known as the
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

THE NEED FOR A GLOBAL TOBACCO TREATY

Disease and disability caused by tobacco use have become a global
epidemic.

·       Worldwide approximately 1.1 billion people 15 and older smoke.
Seventy-two percent of those smokers live in developing countries, a
rate expected to rise to 85 percent by 2025.


·       The number of people worldwide who die each year from
tobacco-related disease will rise from the current 3.5 million to 10
million by the year 2025.  Each day, nearly 10,000 people die around the
world from tobacco-related illnesses.

·       Given current trends, more than 100 million people will die from
tobacco-related illness over the next 30 years, exceeding the toll from
AIDS, tuberculosis, automobile accidents, maternal mortality, homicides
and suicide combined.

·       In 1996, U.S.-based tobacco transnational Philip Morris spent
$813 million on overseas advertising and is the world's ninth largest
advertiser. Multinational cigarette companies spend millions of dollars
sponsoring sporting events around the world.

·       Philip Morris has increased its sales of cigarettes abroad by
almost 80 percent since 1990  and already makes more profit selling
cigarettes abroad than in the United States.

·       Wherever U.S. cigarettes go, smoking rates rise.  Smoking rates
in Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan rose 10 percent higher than
they would have been following the massive inflow of American cigarettes
after the U.S. Trade Representatives forced these countries to open
their markets to U.S. tobacco exports.


BACKGROUND ON THE TREATY

On May 24, 1999, the World Health Assembly (WHA), the governing body of
the World Health Organization (WHO), paved the way for multilateral
negotiations to begin on a set of rules and regulations that will govern
the global rise and spread of tobacco and tobacco products in the new
century. The 191-member WHA unanimously backed a resolution calling for
work to begin on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) - a
new legal instrument that will set standards that countries can adopt to
control tobacco advertising, prevent tobacco smuggling and promote
smoking-cessation programs, among other things.  Fifty nations pledged
their financial and political support to the process. The FCTC
represents the first time the WHO has used its constitutional mandate to
facilitate the creation of an international treaty.

According to Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, WHO's director general, "Like
the convention to ban land mines, the tobacco convention also seeks to
stop a killer," she says.

Under significant pressure from the tobacco industry and its supporters,
the WHO held for public hearings to discuss the FCTC in Geneva on
October 12-13, 2000.  More than 140 witnesses from around the world
testified. Representing the American Lung Association was Alfred Munzer,
M.D., an ALA past president. Many local Lung Associations also submitted
comments to the WHO. Positive developments at the close of the first
round of formal negotiations include:

·       Two dozen nations, from Bangladesh to Norway, called for a total
ban on all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

·       Many countries urged the inclusion of strong treaty language to
help reduce exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. The United States
has endorsed efforts to eliminate all smoking in restaurants, bars,
workplaces and other public facilities.

·       Considerable support was expressed for holding tobacco
manufacturers accountable for their actions, whether through increased
disclosure requirements or legal liability. Several countries suggested
expanding the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, or
other international tribunals, to consider whether tobacco product
manufacturers have committed crimes against humanity.

·       There was widespread sensitivity to the situation facing
developing countries whose economies depend heavily on tobacco growing.
Strikingly, even those countries acknowledged the need to strengthen
public health protections. There also was broad recognition that, even
over the long term, some tobacco-growing countries will need assistance
in making the transition to alternative crops.

A second round of formal negotiations will convene in early 2001. A
major debate is expected on issues such as advertising, with the tobacco
industry actively working to weaken the treaty. Once the FCTC and
related protocols are adopted by the World Health Assembly, they then
will have to be ratified by individual countries. If enough give their
approval, the convention and
protocols will become international law.


DEFINITIONS

A treaty is an international legal agreement concluded between
international states in written form and governed by international law.
Treaties are legally binding.

A convention (and also a framework convention) is a different name for a
treaty. A framework convention usually entails more general or limited
obligations.

A protocol is also a form of treaty and involved more specific legal
obligations. It typically supplements, clarifies, amends or qualifies an
existing international agreement, for example, a framework convention.

A resolution is an expression of common interest of numerous states in
specific areas of international cooperation. A resolution is non-binding
and does not normally entail any substantive legal commitments.

ALA RECOMMENDATIONS

As an active supporter of the FCTC, the American Lung Association is
working for a global tobacco-control treaty that will do the following:

·       Ban tobacco advertising and promotion;
·       Include strong enforcement provisions and specific obligations
for nations that sign onto the treaty;
·       Hold the tobacco industry accountable for its actions;
·       Require full disclosure of tobacco industry activities;
·       Require full disclosure of tobacco product ingredients;
·       Raise the price of tobacco products;
·       Protect people, especially children, from exposure to
environmental tobacco smoke;
·       Ban duty-free sales and imports of tobacco products;
·       Provide affordable and effective methods for smoking cessation;
·       Eliminate subsidies and government support for tobacco products;
and
·       Put public health before the tobacco industry's profits.

Importantly, tobacco companies, their subsidiaries, agents or
consultants should not serve in any official capacity in the process of
negotiating or implementing the treaty.


RESOURCES

http://www.lungusa.org  -- American Lung Association
http://www.fctc.org - Framework Convention Alliance
http://tobacco.who.int/en/fctc/primer.html  - World Health Organization,
general FCTC information
http://www.infact.org/FCTC.html -- INFACT, a national grassroots
corporate watchdog organization
http://www.tobacco.org  - resource center on tobacco and smoking issues
http://www.GLOBALink.org  - GLOBALink, the international tobacco-control

network run by the International Union Against Cancer, Geneva,
Switzerland