[Intl-tobacco] IWR2004 Gets Started!

Wed, 19 May 2004 19:09:02 -0400

Dear Friends,

Please find below a message from Infact re: the 6th International Week
of Resistance to Tobacco Transnationals (this week!).

Anna
Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control
Essential Action

####

Hello!

Today we kick of the 6th International Week of Resistance to Tobacco
Transnationals! This week, organizations in more than 40 countries=97from
every region of the world=97are joining together to send one loud message
to decision makers: RATIFY AND IMPLEMENT THE FCTC NOW!

 One year after the FCTC's historic adoption, we still have much to
celebrate. Together, we are building tremendous momentum for the world's
first health and corporate accountability treaty. Once implemented the
FCTC will save millions of lives and set powerful precedents for the
regulation of other dangerous and irresponsible industries.

Please continue to share your plans, stories and exciting campaign news
with us. We will be highlighting this information in media outreach and
with key decision makers at the World Health Assembly in Geneva,
Switzerland this week.

Below is Infact and NATT's press release from Geneva. I will keep you
posted as IWR2004 gets media coverage around the world.

Onward,

Stacey

 For Immediate Release:  17 May 2004

HEALTH AND CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY ACTIVISTS AROUND WORLD CALL ON
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TO RATIFY GLOBAL TOBACCO TREATY

Sixth International Week of Resistance to Tobacco Transnationals
Demonstrates Global Momentum for Swift
Implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

GENEVA=97As health officials from 192 countries gather for the 57th World
Health Assembly, health and corporate accountability activists across
the globe are calling on political leaders to ratify the Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world=92s first health and
corporate accountability treaty. This week, public interest
organizations in more than 40 countries are participating in the sixth
International Week of Resistance to Tobacco Transnationals (IWR2004)
with public events calling for swift FCTC ratification and
implementation. As of today, 113 countries have signed and 13 have
ratified the treaty, which enters into force and becomes international
law after 40 countries sign and ratify it. Organizations around the
world are campaigning to ensure that their government is among the first
40 to ratify.

=93The FCTC is a major step forward in the movement challenging
irresponsible and dangerous corporate actions around the world. This
time last year, the countries of the World Health Assembly unanimously
adopted this treaty. With millions of lives at stake, people from
Bangladesh to Zambia and Pakistan to Peru are demanding the FCTC=92s swift
implementation as we mark its one-year anniversary,=94 says Kathryn
Mulvey, Executive Director of the US-based corporate accountability
organization Infact, who is attending the WHA in Geneva this week.

Since the start of FCTC negotiations, more than 18 million people have
died from tobacco-related illnesses. With press conferences, marches,
rallies, and nationally televised screenings of Infact=92s new film
Overcoming the Odds: A Story of the First Global Health and Corporate
Accountability Treaty, IWR2004 is being organized by the Network for
Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT).

The FCTC, initiated by the World Health Organization, bans tobacco
advertising, promotion and sponsorship (such as Philip Morris/Altria's
Marlboro Man) and protects public health policy from tobacco industry
interference. The treaty sets precedents for international regulation of
other industries that threaten health, the environment and human rights.

Giant tobacco corporations like Philip Morris/Altria, British American
Tobacco (BAT) and Japan Tobacco International (JTI) have attempted to
derail the FCTC process from its outset. Philip Morris/Altria considered
a variety of strategies including setting up its own =93NGO=94 to gain
access to negotiations. According to the corporation=92s own internal
documents, it received advice from the notorious public relations firm
Mongoven, Biscoe and Duchin that =93A comprehensive strategy to influence
the=85UN/WHO policies would be enhanced significantly by establishing an
NGO=85.=94  Documents also show Philip Morris/Altria profiled regions to
determine which countries would support the Convention.

=93As the political battles over the FCTC take place in capitals across
the globe, vigilance to Big Tobacco's dirty tricks is more important
than ever. IWR2004 is sending a powerful message to the tobacco
industry. People are rejecting its deadly practices, and business as
usual is changing quickly with the FCTC,=94 says Akinbode Oluwafemi of
Environmental Rights Action, who is organizing several IWR2004 events
this week in Nigeria.

Last week the US government=92s signing of the FCTC was met with
skepticism. According to Infact, the move appeared to be the latest in a
series of public relations maneuvers by the US to cover up its efforts
to undermine the treaty. Throughout the FCTC negotiating process, the US
government consistently took positions to weaken the treaty at the
expense of people=92s lives in the US and around the world. Infact and
other US-based public interest organizations are calling on the US
Senate to reverse the country=92s sad record on international humanitarian
agreements and move to ratify the FCTC quickly.

###

Infact is a nonpartisan membership organization that protects people by
waging and winning campaigns challenging irresponsible and dangerous
corporate actions around the world. Through bold campaigns and a
commitment to win, for over 25 years Infact has forced corporations=97like
Nestle, GE and Philip Morris/Altria=97to stop irresponsible and dangerous
actions. For more information visit www.infact.org. Infact does not
endorse, support, oppose, or otherwise advocate the election or defeat
of any political candidate or party. The Network for Accountability of
Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) includes 75 NGOs from more than 50
countries working for a strong, enforceable Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control.

Stacey Folsom
FCTC Ratification Campaign Organizer
Infact
46 Plympton Street
Boston, MA 02130
USA
+1-617-695-2525-p
+1-617-695-2626-f
www.infact.org
Ratify the FCTC!