[Intl-tobacco] TFK/ALA Slam U.S. Tobacco Treaty Proposals

[Robert Weissman]

For Immediate Release
May 2, 2001
Contact: Joel Spivak/Washington 202.296.5469
Vince Willmore/Geneva 011.44.7866.463.289

U.S. Proposals Would Severely Undermine Proposed Tobacco Treaty

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and American Lung Association

Geneva, Switzerland - We are outraged at the Bush Administration’s apparent
reversal of the United States’ international tobacco policy during ongoing
negotiations in Geneva on the proposed Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control, the world’s first treaty on tobacco. The U.S. this week has
repeatedly made proposals that would weaken critical provisions of the draft
convention and severely undermine its potential to reduce the death and
disease caused by tobacco around the world. If implemented domestically in
the United States, these proposals would give the tobacco industry the weak
and ineffective approach to tobacco regulation that it seeks. These
proposals sound more like those of the tobacco industry than of a world
leader in international health.


Specifically, the United States has sought to:


1) Eliminate a provision calling on nations to prohibit the use of
dangerously deceptive terms like low tar, light and mild to market tobacco
products. Tobacco companies have used such terms to convey the impression of
reduced risk from their products despite knowing that is not the case. The
result has been to deter smokers from quitting. The U.S. supported
prohibiting tobacco industry claims only if they are clearly false,
misleading or deceptive, but not if they would otherwise harm public health.


2) Delete provisions that would prohibit tax-free and duty-free sales of
cigarettes and call for “imposition of taxes on tobacco products so as to
achieve a stable and continuous reduction in tobacco consumption.”


3) Reconsider a provision encouraging governments to protect non-smokers by
banning smoking in workplaces and public buildings.


4) Delete a provision supporting the licensing of tobacco retailers as an
effective means to enforce youth access laws, which are already in place in
many American states.


5) Weaken the overall obligations of nations to implement the provisions of
the proposed treaty.

Along with the Bush Administration’s failure to provide the necessary
funding to continue the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit against the
tobacco industry, these international proposals indicate that U.S. policy on
tobacco has taken a disturbing turn for the worse. We urge President Bush to
reconsider this course so that the United States remains a leader in
protecting our kids and fighting the tobacco epidemic.


The tobacco industry invested $8.3 million in campaign contributions during
the past election to buy a reversal in U.S. tobacco policy both domestically
and internationally. The U.S. and the world would pay a high price if that
were to happen. Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the
United States, killing more than 400,000 Americans every year. Worldwide,
about four million people die each year from tobacco-related disease, with
this figure projected to rise to about 10 million per year by 2030. We hope
these statistics speak louder than $8.3 million in influence peddling.


(The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the American Lung Association are
participating as non-governmental observers in the negotiations on the
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.)