[Intl-tobacco] INB-3 Online News - 22/11/01

[Robert Weissman]

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  INB-3 Online News - 22/11/01
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Headlines:

FCTC/GLOBAL: WHO Seeks End To Tobacco Ads At Major Sport Events - Wall
Street Journal/AP

FCTC/GLOBAL: FIA reaffirms tobacco ban - BBC Sport
FIA commits to tobacco sponsors ban - Financial Times
FIA Wants Tobacco Sponsors Banned - Washington Post/AP
FIA reconfirms plans to ban tobacco sponsorship by end of 2006 - Ottawa Citizen/CP
FIA ruling has massive implications - NZoom.com/AAP
Motor sport to go cold turkey on tobacco ads after 2006 - ABC News (Australia)
Mosley plans to ban tobacco advertising - Sporting Life (UK)
Policy Statement on Tobacco Sponsorship and International Motor Sport - FIA
Déclaration de principe sur le parrainage par l'industrie du tabac du
sport automobile international - FIA

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Full texts and summaries:

WHO Seeks End To Tobacco Ads At Major Sport Events - Wall Street Journal/AP

Thursday, November 22, 2001

Dow Jones Newswires

GENEVA (AP)--The World Health Organization teamed up with the governing
bodies of motor racing, soccer and the Olympics to launch a tobacco-free
sports campaign Thursday in a bid to clamp down on cigarette promotion
at sporting events.

The initiative came as delegates from 191 nations opened a new round of
negotiations on an international anti-tobacco treaty, which is meant to
cut smoking through measures such as tax hikes, restrictions on
advertising and marketing, and tighter labeling controls.

"How do you package death as life, disease as health and deadly
addiction as the taste of freedom and a celebration of life?" said WHO
in a statement.

Representatives of the International Olympic Committee, the
international automobile federation FIA and soccer's governing body FIFA
were due to join WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland at a news
conference to outline the new campaign.

FIA on Wednesday reiterated its plans to ban tobacco sponsorship and
advertising from motor sport by the end of 2006. This currently exceeds
some $350 million per year, with - for instance - Marlboro financing
Ferrari, West supporting McLaren-Mercedes and Benson and Hedges backing Jordan.

The treaty is meant to stem the rise in consumption and tobacco-related disease.

It is meant to be ready by 2003. However, the negotiations are fraught
with problems. The current draft text is packed with brackets with
differing - and often opposing - policy options.

Health campaigners have accused the United States of trying to block
progress in important areas and thwarting plans for a total advertising
ban. They say that Japan is not serious about a treaty because of the
government stake in Japan Tobacco, and claim there is evidence of
backsliding even in Europe.

News link:
http://interactive.wsj.com/archive/retrieve.cgi?id=DI-CO-20011122-001953.djml
INB-3 link:
http://www.who.int/gb/fctc/inb3/inb3.html

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FIA reaffirms tobacco ban - BBC Sport

BBC Sport and other sources report: "Motorsport's world governing body
has reasserted its aim to halt tobacco advertising and sponsorship after
the 2006 season. The International Automobile Federation (FIA) issued a
statement on Wednesday that confirmed its position. The decision will
have drastic financial implications for some of the leading teams in
Formula One - Ferrari, McLaren and Jordan all have tobacco companies
amongst their sponsors... The FIA believes the total value of tobacco
sponsorship to motorsport is about $350m (£247m) per year. The policy
statement issued recognised that only co-operation between all of the
countries involved in hosting FIA events can halt tobacco sponsorship.
The statment cited France as an example of why a ban in a single country
is not effective. Tobacco advertising is banned in France, but that does
not stop pictures from FIA events in other countries that feature
tobacco sponsorship being watched on French television... This move
comes !
ahead of the launch of a 'Tobacco Free Sports' campaign with the World
Health Organisation" today.

In Canadian Press coverage, the Ottawa Citizen adds: "While a ban on
tobacco advertising would not affect FIA directly as the federation is
not commercially involved, it will have severe consequences for several
of the leading teams in Formula One and Rally, which have long been
heavily dependent on the tobacco industry. That includes Canadian driver
Jacques Villeneuve's British American Racing team, backed by British
American Tobacco which manufactures Lucky Strike... Marlboro finances
Ferrari, which won the constructors' title this season, while West
supports McLaren-Mercedes and Benson and Hedges backs Jordan. "It is
their business how they fund their cars and research," said Francesco
Longanesi, head of FIA's external relations department. "We are now
encouraging them to find other ways. We're encouraging them to do it now
or they might run into trouble on Jan. 1, 2007."" The FIA statement is
highlighted below, with English and French-language links.

News links:
FIA reaffirms tobacco ban - BBC Sport
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport/hi/english/motorsport/newsid_1668000/1668835.stm
FIA commits to tobacco sponsors ban - Financial Times
http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=011122001470
FIA Wants Tobacco Sponsors Banned - Washington Post/AP
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64870-2001Nov21.html
FIA reconfirms plans to ban tobacco sponsorship by end of 2006 - Ottawa Citizen/CP
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/story.asp?id={928683CD-6ED8-4DAC-ABEE-C25F1AB1DE6A}
FIA ruling has massive implications - NZoom.com/AAP
http://onesport.nzoom.com/sport_detail/0,1278,67902-2-21,00.html
Motor sport to go cold turkey on tobacco ads after 2006 - ABC News (Australia)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/sport/motorsport/2001/11/item20011122090852_1.htm
Mosley plans to ban tobacco advertising - Sporting Life (UK)
http://www.sportinglife.com/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=others/01/11/22/manual_083439.html

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Policy Statement on Tobacco Sponsorship and International Motor Sport - FIA

...Neither the FIA, nor its championships, receive sponsorship from the
tobacco industry. However, sponsorship by the tobacco industry of motor
sport teams and events has occurred for over thirty years... The FIA has
followed closely the widespread concern about the risks associated with
smoking and the debate about banning tobacco advertising and
sponsorship. The FIA recognise the clearly established public health
risks associated with smoking and fully respects the responsibility of
governments to establish laws curbing tobacco promotion. Our interest is
limited to encouraging the creation of a regime for the control of
tobacco sponsorship that is stable, predictable, and as widely
internationally enforceable as possible. Only a worldwide agreement to
control tobacco advertising and sponsorship will be fully effective... 

It is clear from the unanimous decision of 191 governments at the 1999
World Health Assembly of the WHO to commence negotiations on the
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that there is widespread
political agreement that tobacco advertising and sponsorship should be
banned... In conclusion the FIA acknowledges the concerns of public
health authorities about the risks of tobacco smoking. We remain willing
to support early agreement for an internationally applicable Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control. Consistent with this Convention it is our
intention to ban tobacco sponsorship from international motor sport by
the end of the 2006 season. We will seek support for this initiative
from all countries that host FIA World Championship events. We will
encourage motor sport competitors to diversify way from tobacco sponsorship.

FIA links:
Policy Statement on Tobacco Sponsorship and International Motor Sport - FIA
http://www.fia.com/PRESSE/AUTRES-A/21-11-2001.htm
Déclaration de principe sur le parrainage par l'industrie du tabac du
sport automobile international - FIA
http://www.fia.com/PRESSE/AUTRES-F/21-11-2001.htm


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Stan Shatenstein
Editor, GLOBALink Tobacco News
5492-B Trans Island
Montreal, Quebec, Canada  H3W 3A8
Tel:  (1) 514-486-1243
Fax: (1) 514-486-6894
E-mail: shatensteins@sympatico.ca
 
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