From awhite@essential.org Wed Dec 11 22:32:15 2002 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2999829B0F for ; Wed, 11 Dec 2002 22:32:15 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id F2BE2258 for ; Wed, 11 Dec 2002 22:32:14 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3DF80867.C0AB421D@essential.org> Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 22:54:15 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: TAKE ACTION! Don't Let Formula 1 Sabotage Turkey's Tobacco Ad Ban content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ***************************************************************** TAKE ACTION! Don't Let Formula 1 Sabotage Turkey's Tobacco Ad Ban ***************************************************************** Dear Global "Tobacco-Activists"! Formula One receives $350 million in tobacco industry sponsorship each year. Yesterday, Formula One and Big Tobacco, were dealt a major defeat when Belgium decided not to exempt Formula One from its tobacco advertising ban. But other countries' hard-fought tobacco control laws are in jeopardy. Formula One recently chose to hold races in Instanbul, Turkey in 2005. Under Turkey's strong tobacco advertising ban, tobacco sponsorship of Formula One teams would be illegal. In September, however, Max Mosely (President of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) sent a letter to Essential Action stating, "We would not attempt to hold a Formula One race in a country where [tobacco sponsorship] is not allowed." We understand this statement to mean that Formula One intends to sabotage Turkey's advertising ban, by seeking an exemption -- as it has aggressively done elsewhere. PLEASE TAKE THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS: We've made it real easy for you. Just click on below links, fill out your name and contact information and hit "send." Feel free to modify the text of the letters, by adding personalized comments. 1. Send a fax to Turkish Prime Minister Mr. Abdullah Gul urging him to protect Turkey's tobacco ad ban from Formula One! http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=turkey0212 2. Send a fax to Mr. Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One Owner urging him to publicly confirm that Formula One races in Turkey will be tobacco sponsorship - free! http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=turkey0828b 3. Send a fax to Mr. Max Mosely, President, Federation Internationale de l'Automobile to follow up on his letter to Essential Action http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=turkey0828a Please send us copies of any responses you receive! For more information about this campaign go to: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/tr0208/ On behalf of the Turkish National Committee on Tobacco and Health, we thank you for participating! Anna White Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue Dec 17 20:02:09 2002 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id ABA1529B7B for ; Tue, 17 Dec 2002 20:02:09 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 897B9C1 for ; Tue, 17 Dec 2002 20:02:08 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3DFFCE46.6E37E1DD@essential.org> Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 20:24:22 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: TAKE ACTION: Killing customers is NOT respectable (East Africa) content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: **************************************************************** TAKE ACTION: Killing customers is NOT respectable (East Africa) **************************************************************** Dear Global "Tobacco-Activists"! Each year, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Nation Media Group list the top ten "Most Respected Companies and Most Respected CEOs" in East Africa. In December 2002, they reported that Tanzania Cigarette Company* ranked 6th and its CEO ranked 3rd as, respectively, the "Most Respected Company" and "Most Respected CEO." Phillip Karugaba of TEAN (Uganda) calls on people around the world to set the record straight: companies that make money off of products that kill people when used as intended deserve no more respect than serial killers! The inclusion of Tanzania Cigarette Company in the "Top 10" list condones corporate murder for profit. To send a quick letter-to-the-editor to newspapers that reported on the "Top 10" list, go to: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=tanzania Note: Letters should be short, hard-hitting, and original. * Tanzania Cigarette Company has a joint venture with Japan Tobacco International. ---------------- Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Mon Dec 23 19:44:20 2002 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B605529B19 for ; Mon, 23 Dec 2002 19:44:20 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7ADD024B for ; Mon, 23 Dec 2002 19:44:20 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3E07B324.43215579@essential.org> Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2002 20:06:44 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: 6 letters re: Tanzania Cig Co printed in East African content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Global "Tobacco-Activists," Thanks to all who sent short letters to the editor regarding the inclusion of Tanzania Cigarettes Company in the top ten "most respected companies" list, sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Nation Media Group. Philip Karugaba (Uganda) is pleased to announce that first six letters sent were published in today's The East African (weekly publication of the Nation Group)! * Shane Kawenata Bradbrook, ATAK - Maori Smokefree Coalition (NEW ZEALAND) * Dr. Manoj Fernando, Sumithrayo Drug Demand Reduction Programme (SRI LANKA) * Ken Dahlgren, Reality Check (USA) * Joanne B. Koldare, NYC Coalition For A Smoke Free City (USA) * Samantha Mellema, Reality Check (USA) * Glynn Washington (USA) To read the letters, go to: http://www.nationaudio.com/News/EastAfrican/current/Opinion/index.html The letters are also online at: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/ug0212/letters.html Phillip and his colleagues have taken the extra step of forwarding the letters to journalists in other papers, and will let us know if further media coverage comes of it. In the meantime, keep those letters coming. To write a short letter, go to: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=tanzania #### Update on Turkey letter campaign As of Dec 23, an impressive 197 faxes had been sent the Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, urging him to protect Turkey's tobacco ad ban from Formula. Meanwhile, 214 and 182 faxes have been sent, respectively, to Formula One owner Bernie Ecclestone and FIA President Max Mosley. More faxes are needed! If you have not yet participated, please do by clicking on the following links: Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=turkey0212 Formula One owner Bernie Ecclestone. Click on: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=turkey0828b FIA President Max Mosley http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=turkey0828a Elif Dagli (Turkey) will keep us posted re: any further developments on this issue. Thanks for your participation! Anna White Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Thu Jan 16 19:19:49 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 55CD129B19 for ; Thu, 16 Jan 2003 19:19:49 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 12A4B257 for ; Thu, 16 Jan 2003 19:19:49 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3E27518F.654383C9@essential.org> Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 19:42:55 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: URGENT ACTION: Submit questions for WHO DG videoconference by 17:00 GMT, Fri 1/17! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Global "Tobacco-Activists", As many of you may already know, Dr. Gro Harlem Bruntland, Director General of the World Health Organization -- who has been credited with pushing global tobacco control to the forefront of WHO's agenda -- will be stepping down from this position later this year. Eight candidates are currently vying for the WHO Director General position. Oddly and somewhat worrisomely, there has been virtually no public discussion of the candidates' views on tobacco control. Next week, the WHO Executive Board will meet to nominate a single candidate for approval by vote of all the WHO's 192 member states at its assembly in May 2003. This Sunday (19 January 2003), the eight WHO Director General candidates will participate in a two-hour question and answer session open to the public and linked across the world via video and teleconferencing. This is one of the last chances we have to pose questions to the candidates re: their visions for WHO's future leadership in the area of tobacco control! WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE EVERYONE RECEIVING THIS EMAIL TO SUBMIT TOBACCO-RELATED QUESTIONS FOR SUNDAY'S VIDEO CONFERENCE! You may submit questions by sending an email to by 17:00 GMT on Friday, 17 January. In particular, we encourage you to ask questions related to the candidates': * tobacco control experience * views on the tobacco industry and its campaigns (e.g. bogus "youth smoking prevention" programs, "stakeholder dialogues" etc) * vision for WHO's continued leadership in the area of global tobacco control (e.g. funding, TFI staffing) * plans for preventing tobacco industry influence over WHO programs and agenda WHO projects that tobacco will kill 10+ million people annually by the year 2030. It is vital that the new WHO Director General is a committed tobacco control advocate, willing to stand up to the global tobacco industry. For more information about the videoconference, as well as background on the WHO Director General search, please see below. Let's find out which candidate is most enthusiastic about taking on the global Merchants of Death! Anna Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco BACKGROUND INFORMATION The Lancet: Ongoing dialogue about WHO Director General candidates http://www.thelancet.com/journal/vol361/iss9352/who_director_general_election VIDEOCONFERENCE INFORMATION Date: Sunday 19 January 2003 Times: 15:00 GENEVA 19.30 MUMBAI 14:00 LONDON 01:00 OKINAWA 09:00 WASHINGTON DC 17:00 ADDIS ABABA 16:00 DURBAN 12:00 BRAZIL To register to attend one of the live sites around the world (Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Japan, South Africa, and the USA), please contact: events@ihn.info #### PRESS RELEASE Civil society organisations sponsor first-ever public dialogue with candidates for Director General of the World Health Organization Candidates for the top post in world health - the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) - will participate on Sunday 19 January 2003 in a two-hour question and answer session open to the public and linked across the world via video and teleconferencing. A broad coalition involving more than 300 civil society organisations have linked up to co-sponsor the event which will take place from 14.00 to 16.00 GMT. Funded by the UK-based Exchange programme and the Geneva-based NGO (non-governmental organisation) Forum for Health, it is being organised by the Interactive Health Network's World Health Channel. 'This is a unique opportunity for health ministers, civil society organisations and others with an interest in health to ask candidates to address publicly the critical issues in global health today', said Andrew Chetley, Director of Exchange - a networking and learning programme that promotes effective health communication. The videoconference will be broadcast on the Internet - log into http://www.ihn.info to either listen (low bandwidth) or view (high bandwidth) the event. A facility on the website will enable people to e-mail questions directly to the event in Geneva. Questions can also be e-mailed in advance to events@ihn.info before 17.00 GMT on Friday, 17 January. The videoconference will also be broadcast globally via the WorldSpace satellite system - a unique technology that allows access to areas of the world with no internet access or telecommunications infrastructure and will be rebroadcast throughout Brazil by Canal Saude. The candidates will be asked a series of questions from audiences in Geneva and around the world. International links will include the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine and the Medical Research Council in South Africa, the World Bank Institute and the George Washington University in the USA, Canal Saude (Health Channel) in Brazil, and health experts in Ethiopia, India, Japan and Sweden. The eight candidates vying for the post of WHO Director General are (in alphabetical order): * Awa Marie Coll-Seck, Health Minister of Senegal. She is a medical professor and former policy director at UNAIDS * Julio Frenk, Health Minister of Mexico and a public health expert centrally involved in developing a tool for measuring the global burden of disease * Karam Karam, former Health Minister of Lebanon. * Jong Wook Lee, doctor from South Korea, head of WHO's programme to stop tuberculosis. * Pascoal Manuel Mocumbi, Prime Minister and former Health Minister of Mozambique * Peter Piot, head of UNAIDS, a Belgian epidemiologist and microbiologist who was one of the doctors who helped isolate the Ebola virus. * Ismail Sallam, professor of cardiac surgery who was until recently Egypt's Minster of Health and Population. * Joseph Williams, medical doctor, parliamentarian and former Prime Minister of the Cook Islands. The WHO Executive Board meets the week following the debate. The Board will nominate a single candidate for approval by vote of all the WHO's 192 member states at its assembly in May 2003. -ends- For further information, please contact: Andrew Chetley, Exchange, +44 20 7539 1591 chetley.a@healthlink.org.uk Dr. Harry McConnell, Interactive Health Network harry@ihn.info From awhite@essential.org Fri Jan 17 11:59:51 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C3F2729B43 for ; Fri, 17 Jan 2003 11:59:51 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 22641259 for ; Fri, 17 Jan 2003 11:59:49 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3E283BEB.38F0B199@essential.org> Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 12:22:51 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Open letter to WHO Exec Board & WHO DG candidates -- John Seffrin, UICC content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Global "Tobacco-Activists", Today, the Lancet published an open letter to the WHO Executive Board and WHO Director General candidates from John Seffrin, President of the International Agency Against Cancer. The letter poses several key questions related to tobacco control. You may want to use it as a guide to frame your own questions to the candidates. #### Open letter to WHO Executive Board and candidates for Director General (Published in the Jan 18, 2003 issue of The Lancet http://www.thelancet.com/) Sir--Tobacco use is projected to kill more than 10 million people annually by 2025, and 70% of those deaths are expected to occur in low-income countries. Between now and then, more than 150 million people will die from tobacco use--more than all deaths attributed to AIDS, automobile accidents, maternal mortality, homicide, and suicide combined. In recent years, WHO has provided exemplary leadership in seeking to arrest the global tobacco pandemic. It has established the Tobacco Free Initiative and started negotiations on a landmark international treaty: the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. I write to you on behalf of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) and allied public-health advocates in support of maintaining and strengthening this global leadership in tobacco control. We urge the WHO Executive Committee and all prospective candidates for Director General to address and seriously consider the following. Currently, tobacco causes 7% of all deaths in the world, but a far smaller proportion of WHO's budget is allocated to the promotion of tobacco control policies and programmes that have proven highly effective in preventing tobacco prevalence. Should not WHO's core budget allocations at least reflect the proportionate death toll from tobacco and the high potential for effectively stemming that escalating toll? Should not intramural funding for tobacco control be increased? Should there not also be increased staffing for WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative? Gro Harlem Bruntland has used her position as Director General to initiate the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and to propel tobacco control to the forefront of WHO's agenda as well as to gain worldwide media and political focus on the importance of tobacco control. Should not the new Director General place a high priority on advocating and supporting ratification and implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control through comprehensive national tobacco control laws and programmes? In 2000, a WHO Committee of Experts concluded that "tobacco companies have operated for many years with the deliberate purpose of subverting the efforts of WHO to control tobacco use. The attempted subversion has been elaborate, well-financed, sophisticated and usually invisible." This committee's recommendations included: protecting the integrity of WHO's decision-making process by requiring disclosure of affiliations between tobacco companies and WHO employees, World Health Assembly delegates, and non-governmental organisations; and protecting the public from future tobaccoindustry misconduct by requiring WHO to monitor tobacco industry activity and issuing regular public reports on its findings to ensure tobacco company misconduct does not remain hidden. What steps should the Director General take to ensure that these and other recommendations of the Committee of Experts are implemented? The Millennium Development Goals have set important targets for public health advances in numerous areas, but not for non-communicable diseases. What measures should the Director General apply to assess global success or failure in stemming the tobacco epidemic? What targets should the Director General set for WHO's tobacco control programmes and interventions? On behalf of the UICC's 290 member organisations throughout the world, I respectfully request the attention of the Executive Committee and of each of the candidates for Director General to these critical questions. There is no single set of issues that you are likely to address that has greater potential for reducing pain, misery, and death throughout the world. John R Seffrin International Union Against Cancer, Geneva, Switzerland (e-mail:john.seffrin@cancer.org) --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Wed Jan 29 12:33:56 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E89E929B39 for ; Wed, 29 Jan 2003 12:33:56 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3A3C7272 for ; Wed, 29 Jan 2003 12:33:03 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3E3815C8.73FB3A10@essential.org> Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 12:56:24 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: TAKE ACTION: Tell U.S. and Germany to stop blocking a strong FCTC! content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Global "Tobacco Activists", The last round of Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) negotiations is coming up shortly. The U.S. and Germany are both blocking a strong FCTC. Below are 3 quick and easy ways you can take action: 1. Send a fax to the U.S. Delegation to the FCTC (San Francisco Tobacco Free Coalition 2. Sign a petition to the German Chancellor Gerhard Schr=F6der (German Coalition against Smoking) 3. Participate TODAY in national call-in to DHHS Secretary Tommy Thompson (Infact) #### KENNETH BERNARD: STOP GLOBAL TOBACCO! It's a lot easier to sell cigarettes around the world when you have the U.S. government on your team. Tell the U.S. Government to support the Tobacco Control Treaty and stop spreading cigarette deaths around the world! Send a free fax to Assistant Surgeon General Kenneth Bernard, chairman of the U.S. delegation to the FCTC: http://www.StopGlobalTobacco.org If you want to take an additional action, print out and send a postcard that features a photo President Bush, aka "The Marlboro Man", tipping his cowboy hat. For more information: Alyonik Hrushow, San Francisco Tobacco Free Project Director #### GERHARD SCHRODER: STOP GERMANY'S BLOCKING POSITION Germany is one of the countries blocking an effective treaty. Please join the German Coalition against Smoking in signing an online letter to Chancellor Gerhard Schr=F6der at http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Dde-eng calling on Chancellor Schr=F6der (with a cc to the head of the German FCTC-delegation) to finally end the blocking position of the German government in the upcoming last round of negotiations towards the FCTC from mid-February onwards. The list of signatures will be handed over at a demonstration against the tobacco politics of our government, planned for the 12th of February in front of the office of Chancellor Schr=F6der in Berlin. We need as many signatures as possible - so please hand this on to your friends and colleagues - as many as possible. Thanks for your support in this effort! Kind regards - for the German coalition against smoking: Annette Bornh=E4user or give her a call at 202-547-0953 --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Fri Mar 7 16:52:40 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E044A29B71 for ; Fri, 7 Mar 2003 16:52:40 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 37642263 for ; Fri, 7 Mar 2003 16:52:35 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3E691A68.63C7B4B@essential.org> Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2003 17:17:13 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: TAKE ACTION: Strengthen warning labels in Uganda! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Global "TobaccoActivists", Phillip Karugaba of The Environmental Action Network reports that the Uganda National Bureau of Standards has published new standards for cigarette health warning labels in Uganda. If no objection is received within the next 60 days the standards are to be recommended to the Minister of Trade & Industry for adoption. Unfortunately, the new standards are extremely weak. They prescribe a new warning label "HEALTH WARNING: CIGARETTE SMOKING IS HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH", in English and Swahili, and in small font. The warning does not mention any specific health problems, nor does it mandate a specific size, color, or placement of the warning -- not to mention the inclusion of hard-hitting graphic images (particularly vital for people who are not literate). Instead, Ugandan tobacco control advocates are urging their country to adopt strong Canadian/Brazilian-style health warnings*. TAKE ACTION: Send an email to the Executive Director of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards! Go to: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=uganda A sample letter is provided, that we encourage you to modify. If you are not an Ugandan citizen, you might briefly describe who you are and why you are motivated to write. And if applicable, you might cite a relevant study or personal story re: the effectiveness of Canada/Brazil-style warnings * Brazil's warning labels: http://www.smokefreeair.org/ses/Brazil_Warnings.jpg Canada's warning labels: http://www.nsra-adnf.ca/english/warnexamples.html Thanks for participating! --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Fri Mar 14 16:27:13 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1AADE29B63 for ; Fri, 14 Mar 2003 16:27:13 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BDFAB199 for ; Fri, 14 Mar 2003 16:27:12 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3E724EE8.548EB562@essential.org> Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 16:51:36 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: TAKE ACTION! Warner Bros films used to peddle death in Nigeria content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ************************************************************** Take Action! Warner Bros films used to peddle death in Nigeria ************************************************************** Dear Global "Tobacco Activists", Late last year, British American Tobacco launched a huge promotional campaign in Nigeria for its Rothmans brand. The theme of the campaign was "Experience It" and the main feature: blockbuster Hollywood films. Free lit cigarettes and brand paraphanelia were handed out at events. The double message: Experience Hollywood...Experience Smoking. For more detailed information about this outrageous promotional campaign and Essential Action's correspondence with Warner Bros about it, see below. We are calling on Warner Bros to fully disclose its business relationship with BAT, take concrete steps to prevent future use of its films to peddle death abroad, and compensate Nigerian tobacco control advocates for the harm done to their efforts. TAKE ACTION: Send a free fax to Barry M. Meyer, Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=batnigeria Thanks for participating and forwarding this alert on to your friends, family, and colleagues! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action ##### BACKGROUND http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/ng0303/ Late last year, Adeola Akinremi of Journalists Advocacy for Safe Environment and Tobacco Eradication (Nigeria) brought BAT's "Experience It" cinema tour to Essential Action's attention. To read all about the scandalous promotional campaign, click on the links below (VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!) Short report on BAT's "Experience It" cinema tour by Adeola Akinremi, JASETE http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/ng0303/report.html Hollywood Comes to Town in a Dome http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/ng0303/thisdayonline.html An Experience Worth a Deal http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/ng0303/allafrica.html Upon further investigation, we discovered that all the films featured - Collateral Damage, Showtime, Ocean's Eleven, Romeo Must Die, & Matrix - were Warner Bros films. So we contacted Warner Bros to find out if the studio had given BAT permission to use the films. We were told that the films must have been "pirated". Pressing Warner Bros further on the issue resulted in a call from their lawyer informing us that they would be ending all correspondence, so as not to hurt their "legal position." Read Essential Action's correspondence with Warner Bros: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/ng0303/correspondence.html So we contacted the LA Times, and on March 5, an article came out on the promotional campaign. In it, Warner Bros claims not to have given BAT permission to use the films for a cinema tour in Nigeria. However, the article also notes that BAT bought the rights to screen the films last spring from Warner Nu Metro in South Africa, which raises the question: what DID BAT have the rights to use the films for, if not the Rothmans "Experience It" tour? Presumably, BAT was not getting the films merely to hold "a Warner Bros film night" for its employees! Read the LA Times article: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/ng0303/latimes.html Essential Action made another effort to contact Warner Bros following the LA Times story release, but so far no one has responded to our specific questions and requests. We're hoping that a few hundred letters from around the world will change that! LETTER CAMPAIGN CO-SPONSORED BY: * Journalists Advocacy for Safe Environment and Tobacco Eradication, NIGERIA * People Against Drug Dependence & Ignorance, NIGERIA * Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria, NIGERIA * Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control/Essential Action, USA * Reality Check, USA --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue Apr 1 17:00:18 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9E94C29B37 for ; Tue, 1 Apr 2003 17:00:18 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 69E67C1 for ; Tue, 1 Apr 2003 17:00:17 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3E8A11E3.301B3936@essential.org> Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2003 17:25:40 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: U.S. must not derail FCTC! content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: AN ACTION ALERT FROM INFACT... US unilateralism is threatening to destroy the world=92s first public health treaty. Please take a few minutes to help stop the Bush Administration from undermining this historic treaty. More than 170 countries recently stood up to the Bush Administration and supported a strong final text for the world's first public health treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). This treaty will help reverse a tobacco epidemic that kills 4.9 million people a year. It will help curb aggressive marketing and political influence peddling by a deadly industry that is targeting poor, undeveloped countries as a new source of profits. Philip Morris (Altria) and big tobacco have a powerful ally in the Bush Administration, which has waged a campaign of sabotage to undermine and weaken the treaty. The next major hurdle is the adoption of the treaty by the World Health Assembly in May. Philip Morris and the Bush Administration will fight one more time to destroy this historic treaty. Already, the Bush Administration has indicated that it will attempt to bully the countries who have agreed on this text and, instead of signing the Convention, will seek to reopen it in order to weaken and destroy it. ****************** TAKE ACTION TODAY! ****************** 1. Call Bill Steiger, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Health for International Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services (and George Bush Senior's godson) who has been a leader in the Bush Administration's attempt to derail this treaty. Call Bill Steiger at 202-690-6174 and tell him: * 170 countries have agreed on the final draft FCTC. The Bush Administration must not bully them into reopening treaty negotiations. * US based Philip Morris is the global leader in addicting children to its deadly product. The Bush Administration must stop doing its dirty work. * The FCTC will protect the lives and health of millions around the world. The Bush Administration must not stand in the way of its adoption! If you cannot reach Dr. Steiger directly =97 leave the same message on his voice mail, or ask the person you speak with to pass it on to him. 2. Send a letter to the editor to your local newspaper(s) to help raise public awareness of US unilateralism threatening to destroy the world=92s first public health treaty. A sample letter is provided below. 3. Call Alison at Infact Campaign Headquarters at 800-688-8797 to report on your phone call, or if you have any questions. ------------------------------------------------------------------- SAMPLE LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Don=92t Let US Unilateralism Destroy the World=92s First Public Health Treaty To the Editor: At a time of darkness on the international landscape, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. More than 170 countries have united around the first global public health treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The FCTC will set broad limits on how giant tobacco corporations like Philip Morris (Altria) can operate worldwide. Among its groundbreaking measures, the FCTC will include a ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. Aggressive promotional tactics like the Marlboro Man have driven the global profits of tobacco transnationals. When this treaty becomes international law, it will significantly reduce Big Tobacco=92s ability to spread addiction, disease and death around the world. Tobacco now claims 4.9 million lives every year, and is quickly becoming the world=92s leading cause of death. Developing countries =97 which have been targeted as =93expansion markets=94 by the tobacco giants =97 have led the way toward this landmark agreement. The FCTC is scheduled to be adopted in May by the World Health Assembly. Now in the 11th hour, the Bush administration has indicated its intent to stop the FCTC from being adopted as is. With almost unanimous world support for this treaty, it is inexcusable for the US to continue to do Philip Morris=92s dirty work and try to derail the FCTC=92s adoption. With US unilateralism fueling anger around the world, the Bush administration must be stopped from destroying the world=92s first public health treaty. Name Four Easy Steps To Getting Your Letter Printed! 1. Use/modify this sample letter. 2. Mail, e-mail or hand deliver it to the Letters Editor of your local newspaper(s). 3. Follow-up with a phone call or e-mail to make sure they=92re going to print your letter. 4. Send us your letter =96=96 before and after it=92s printed! ---------------------------------------- Stacey Folsom, Infact National Organizer 46 Plympton Street. Boston, MA 02130 617-695-2525 - p 617-695-2626 - f www.infact.org From awhite@essential.org Thu Apr 3 18:19:04 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id CC6AD29B64 for ; Thu, 3 Apr 2003 18:19:04 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A58C6C0 for ; Thu, 3 Apr 2003 18:19:04 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3E8CC75F.70633483@essential.org> Date: Thu, 03 Apr 2003 18:44:31 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: TAKE ACTION: Stop the Bush Administration from Destroying the FCTC! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ******************************************************************* TAKE ACTION: Stop the Bush Administration from Destroying the FCTC! ******************************************************************* More than 170 countries recently stood up to the Bush Administration by supporting a strong final draft of the world's first public health treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). This treaty will begin to reverse the tobacco epidemic that claims 4.9 million lives a year and set broad limits on how the deadly tobacco industry can operate worldwide. The next major hurdle in the FCTC process is the adoption of the treaty by the World Health Assembly in May where Philip Morris and the Bush Administration will fight one more time to destroy this historic treaty. Already, the Bush Administration has indicated that it will attempt to bully the countries who have agreed on this text to reopen the debate. As we lead up to the adoption of the FCTC by the World Health Assembly this May, the Bush Administration is using back door channels to derail it. For more information, go to: http://www.infact.org/ TAKE ACTION: Send an email to Dr. Bill Steiger, Special Assistant to the Secretary of International Affairs for the Department of Health and Human Services! Click on: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=stopbush Email campaign sponsored by: Infact From awhite@essential.org Tue Apr 8 15:54:31 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 29EF429B0F for ; Tue, 8 Apr 2003 15:54:31 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 87305249 for ; Tue, 8 Apr 2003 15:54:29 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3E932891.C35153B6@essential.org> Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2003 15:52:50 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: "Youth Smoking Prevention" TV campaign by JTI in Romania content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: *** please forward widely *** Dear Global "Tobacco-Activists", The Romanian National Television has launched an "anti-smoking" campaign on one of its channels, TVR2. The aim of this campaign is presumably teenage smoking prevention, but the video clips broadcasted on TVR2 are delivered by Japan Tobacco International - Romania ! TAKE ACTION! Cornel Radu, of Aer Pur Romania invites you to send a letter to Romanian Television - TVR2, urging them to CUT THEIR TIES WITH THE JTI Romania! Just click on: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=tvr What JTI Romania has to say about the new collaboration with TVR2... ROMANIAN NATIONAL TELEVISION SECOND CHANNEL & JTI ALLIED AGAINST JUVENILE SMOKING National television develops on its second channel, TVR2, an antismoking campaign, the aim of this campaign being teenagers smoking prevention. The video clips broadcasted on TVR2 are delivered by JTI Romania. The answer of Gilda Lazar, Corporate Affairs Director, JTI Romania at the question regarding the involvement of a tobacco producer in a antismoking campaign was: " We do not want teenagers to smoke! Juvenile smoking it is a problem that concerns all of us. As producers and distributors of tobacco products, we consider it is our duty to help the society in its effort to stop that phenomena". Another campaign for teenagers smoking prevention took place last year known as "Action YSP" (Youth Smoking Prevention) and was supported together with another 20 companies. "We invest in teenagers smoking prevention campaigns all around the world. In 2001 and 2002 took place two campaigns on MTV television. Our quite recent initiative is the adapting of 2002 MTV campaign for TVR2, which is developing an independent program of teenagers smoking prevention" completed Gilda Lazar. The teenagers' reactions to 2001 campaign were positive, this fact being confirmed by independent evaluation study realized at the end of the campaign. The basic idea of these campaigns is to promote an environment were teenagers are less tempted to smoke, offering to them models of no smoker teenagers, identifying themselves with them. --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Thu Apr 17 11:52:33 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1969929B0F for ; Thu, 17 Apr 2003 11:52:33 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E7D7D256 for ; Thu, 17 Apr 2003 11:52:09 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3E9ECD55.D32C088F@essential.org> Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 11:50:45 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: New Tobacco Company, Licensed to Kill Inc., Rival for Altria content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Global "Tobacco-Activists", To learn more about Licensed to Kill, Inc, read our press release below. We encourage you to send out your own press release denouncing this new company and the Commonwealth of Virginia for allowing it to exist! And feel free to send us additional text that spoofs aspects of the global tobacco industry. We will consider it for inclusion in the company's website: http://www.licensedtokill.biz Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action #### New Tobacco Company, Licensed to Kill Inc., Rival for Altria U.S. Newswire 17 Apr 8:40 New Tobacco Company, Licensed to Kill Inc., Incorporated in Va.; Aims to 'Kill 4.9M Worldwide Annually'; New Rival for Altria To: National Desk Contact: Anna White of Essential Action, 202-387-8030 RICHMOND, Va., April 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by Essential Action: Today, Licensed to Kill, Inc, the world's newest multinational tobacco company, publicly announced its incorporation with the launch of the company's website: http://www.licensedtokill.biz. Licensed to Kill, Inc., was officially incorporated in the state of Virginia on March 19, 2003. The company's purpose, as stated in its articles of incorporation, is "the manufacture and marketing of tobacco products in a way that each year kills over 400,000 Americans and 4.5 million other persons worldwide." The name "Licensed to Kill" derives from the Latin words 'licere' and 'caedere,' meaning 'permission to kill.' The name connotes an enterprise that is fully authorized by the state to aim for peak performance and constant improvement in killing for profit. The new company is banking on its brutal honesty to spare itself from the multitude of lawsuits currently plaguing other companies within the industry. Many of these lawsuits have centered on the tobacco industry's long history of lies and deception about the deadly nature of the business. Licensed to Kill, Inc. thanks the Commonwealth of Virginia's State Corporation Commission for granting it permission to exist, noting that the societal restrictions on serial killing luckily do not apply to corporations. View a certified copy of Licensed to Kill, Inc.'s articles of incorporation at: http://www.licensedtokill.biz/articles.pdf. For more information about Licensed to Kill, Inc., including its line of products, visit our website at: http://www.licensedtokill.biz. --- EDITORS: Licensed to Kill, Inc. was incorporated on March 19, 2003, as a project of Essential Action, a corporate accountability group based in Washington, DC. Licensed to Kill, Inc. was launched to draw attention to the assistance state governments give to the formation and operation of tobacco companies, and to the nature of the industry behind the global epidemic of tobacco-related death and disease, which currently kills 4.9 million people worldwide annually. For more information: http://www.licensedtokill.biz/critics.html. http://www.usnewswire.com -0- /U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ 04/17 08:40 Copyright 2003, U.S. Newswire From awhite@essential.org Thu Apr 17 21:25:42 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BC6DF29B0F for ; Thu, 17 Apr 2003 21:25:42 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5B65225F for ; Thu, 17 Apr 2003 21:25:42 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3E9F53C2.7CADA729@essential.org> Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 21:24:18 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Tell Germany to Stop Blocking the FCTC! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Global "Tobacco-Activists", Please participate in this important petition campaign sponsored by the Framework Convention Alliance: Continued German government opposition to the FCTC is having very damaging effects. Unless there is a change in the German position, this resistance may prevent the rest of the EU Member States, as well as the accession countries, from ratifying the FCTC. The Framework Convention Alliance is asking everyone to take a minute to fill out an online petition addressed to the German Ministry of Health asking them to reverse course. The petition is on the web at: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=fctc_de Please take a moment and sign it! --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Thu May 1 15:29:02 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3D60029BA1 for ; Thu, 1 May 2003 15:29:02 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EB62197 for ; Thu, 1 May 2003 15:28:08 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3EB17500.580BE19B@essential.org> Date: Thu, 01 May 2003 15:26:56 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Licensed to Kill, Inc Lauds U.S. Effort to Undermine Global Tobacco Treaty x-plaintext: Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: -- [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ] Dear Global "Tobacco-Activists", Please find Licensed to Kill's latest press release below. To sign up for future company press releases, event announcements, and statements go to: http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/licensed-to-kill (or send an email to with the word "update" in the subject field) Please help us spread the word about our Licensed to Kill email list to your colleagues, friends, and family. And don't forget: creative submissions are always welcome! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco Note: Licensed to Kill, Inc is a project of Essential Action. Check out: http://www.licensedtokill.biz ### FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 1, 2003 Contact: Corrie Prutspin, Senior VP of Corporate Communications tobacco@licensedtokill.biz LICENSED TO KILL, INC LAUDS U.S. EFFORT TO UNDERMINE GLOBAL TOBACCO TREATY Washington, DC =96 Licensed to Kill, Inc, the world=92s newest multinationa= l tobacco company, lauded the Bush Administration today for its admirable, last-ditch effort to gut an international treaty aimed at controlling the worldwide proliferation of tobacco products and the associated epidemic of tobacco-related death and disease. On Monday, U.S. Ambassador Kevin Moley met with the director general of the World Health Organization in Geneva, on behalf of the Bush administration and its corporate constituents, to argue in favor of allowing signatories to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to disregard parts of the treaty they don=92t like. In particular, the U.S. and its tobacco industry allies are opposed to a global ban on tobacco advertising and a requirement that health warnings take up a third of cigarette packs. =93A ban on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship would eliminate one of our industry's most effective avenues for hooking kids and young adults to our addictive product line,=94 said Licensed to Kill CEO, Rich Fromdeth, =93It=92s heartening to have a president who stands up for the Big Guys, however unpopular or detrimental to public health it may be. Truthfully, we couldn't have a better administration representing our global business interests.=94 Licensed to Kill was officially incorporated in the state of Virginia on March 19, 2003. The company's purpose, as stated in its articles of incorporation, is "the manufacture and marketing of tobacco products in a way that each year kills over 400,000 Americans and 4.5 million other persons worldwide." The company has billed itself as an =93honest=94 tobacco company -- one tha= t does not seek to cover up the deadly nature of its business -- in the hopes of avoiding the plethora of lawsuits facing its competitors. The company=92s frank candor extends to its line of cigarettes, which include =93Global Massacre,=94 =93Genocide=94, =93WOMD," and =93Throat Hole.=94 Licensed to Kill, Inc fears that if the current draft text of the global health treaty is adopted by the World Health Assembly later this month, the company's ambitious plans for global expansion will be thwarted. =93It is absolutely vital that the U.S. not let global public health zealots sabotage our efforts to have a toothless treaty text adopted,=94 said company Director Gray Vastone, =93A strong treaty would force us to scuttle our corporate dream of a =93Global Massacre=94, =93WOMD=94, and =93= Morgue=94 in the mouth of every child, woman, and man around the world. A weak treaty, on the other hand, would protect our right to peddle our deadly products wherever and however we please.=94 =93We live in dangerous times, when a small number of radical public health nuts are intent on squelching our freedom to continue making a killing around the world. It is time to nip public health fundamentalism in the bud or our industry will forever be in peril,=94 said Fromdeth, =93The U.S. is just the right country to do that.=94 ### Note: Licensed to Kill, Inc is a strong believer in democracy, as in "government of, by, and for corporations." For more information about Licensed to Kill's plans for global expansion and commitment to corporate citizenship go to: http://www.licensedtokill.biz -- From awhite@essential.org Mon May 5 20:15:07 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 46D1629B19 for ; Mon, 5 May 2003 20:15:07 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9C567122 for ; Mon, 5 May 2003 20:14:57 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3EB6FE4C.E57AB031@essential.org> Date: Mon, 05 May 2003 20:14:05 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: FCTC Update & Urgent Action Alert content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Global "Tobacco Activists", Please find a very important action alert from Ross Hammond below. We encourage all of you to take action. The strength of the FCTC is at stake! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action #### Dear Colleagues: We are writing to update you on the status of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and to urge you to take action to protect this historic public health agreement. With less than three weeks to go before the final draft is to be considered at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, it is vital that the public health community makes its voice heard. We are asking you to write to your Minister of Health & Foreign Affairs, urging them to take stand at the Assembly in favor of a strong FCTC and against attempts to weaken it. This e-mail contains information on the following: 1. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ATTEMPTING TO DERAIL FCTC 2. SAMPLE LETTER TO MINISTERS OF HEALTH & FOREIGN AFFAIRS -- PLEASE SEND! 3. ARGUMENTS AGAINST RESERVATIONS 4. TELL THE UNITED STATES AND GERMANY TO STOP BLOCKING THE FCTC -- SIGN THE ONLINE PETITIONS 5. FCTC TEXT AND SUMMARY AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET ****************************************** 1. UNITED STATES ATTEMPTING TO DERAIL FCTC On the front page of the Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle this morning were stories detailing attempts by the United States to derail the FCTC. Earlier this week the U.S. government sent a diplomatic note to all member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) asking them to support the deletion of the "no reservations" clause in the draft FCTC, which would effectively render the treaty meaningless. The U.S. Administration's attempts to reopen the negotiations in order to weaken the FCTC has drawn sharp criticism from the Democratic leadership in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as from public health groups. A letter from Senator Tom Daschle and Representative Nancy Pelosi to the Bush Administration can be found at: http://democraticleader.house.gov/media/releases/20030428-05-442757.asp The text of the U.S. diplomatic note can be found at: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/pressoffice/release633/convention.pdf A letter from Congressman Henry Waxman to the Bush Administration can be found at: http://www.house.gov/reform/min/pdfs/pdf_inves/pdf_tobacco_global_april_29_= let.pdf The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids issued the following statement today: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/Script/DisplayPressRelease.php3?Display=3D63= 3 The text of the Washington Post article is at the end of this e-mail. 2. SAMPLE LETTER TO MINISTERS OF HEALTH & FOREIGN AFFAIRS -- PLEASE SEND! With less than three weeks before the World Health Assembly, it is critical that people contact their Ministers of Health and Foreign Affairs. Please ask them to reject attempts to reopen the negotiations on the FCTC on issues which have been settled after over three years of negotiations. Instead, they should use the opportunity presented by the World Health Assembly to announce their support for implementing the strongest measures contemplated the Convention. ASH-UK sent the following letter to the UK Minister of Health. We are urging everybody to adapt this letter and send it to their Health and Foreign Affairs Ministers as soon as possible. After sending, please follow up to see if it is possible to arrange a meeting with them or their representatives. SAMPLE LETTER TO THE MINISTER OF HEALTH Dear Minister, We are writing to you a little less than three weeks before the World Health Assembly in Geneva (19-28 May) is expected to formally adopt the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). We believe that the FCTC contains the basis for the global response needed to curb the tobacco epidemic that, if unchecked, could kill one billion people this century. The success of the FCTC will largely depend on the ability and the political will of the Parties to implement the strongest tobacco control measures envisaged in the draft Convention. However, as you may know, a small number of countries are seeking to weaken the treaty by attempting to reopen the negotiations and delete the 'no reservations' clause. We are writing to urge you to oppose this effort, and instead use the opportunity granted by the World Health Assembly to send a powerful signal to the world and to the tobacco industry that the protection of public health is paramount. Accordingly, we would like to request that you use your vote at the World Health Assembly to oppose any effort to reopen the negotiations. We would also ask that you speak out during the debate in favor of a strong FCTC, and declare that our country: * will endeavour to become a party to the FCTC before the 57th World Health Assembly in May 2004; * intends to act in accordance with FCTC Article 13.2, and start without delay procedures to undertake a comprehensive ban on all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; * shall apply the most stringent measures envisaged in FCTC Article 11, including ensuring that health warnings are of a size not less than 50% of the principal display areas, and eliminating the use of the misleading terms "low tar", "light", "ultra-light", "mild" and others, and * will ban smoking in public places, public transport and indoor workplaces. We look forward to working with you in a constructive manner, before and during the World Health Assembly. We look forward to your feedback with regard to the approach proposed above. Yours sincerely, 3. ARGUMENTS AGAINST HAVING RESERVATIONS IN THE FCTC One of the key demands of the United States (as well as Germany, the Dominican Republic and small handful of countries) is the deletion of the 'no-reservations' clause. The issue of reservations (i.e. the ability of a state to agree to a treaty while unilaterally "opting out" of obligations that it finds objectionable) was discussed during the negotiation process. While most nations supported a "no reservations" clause in the treaty, the United States consistently argued that reservations should be allowed. Here are three key arguments against the U.S. proposal: It is inappropriate. This contentious issue should not be reopened after it has been fully debated and settled by the parties over the course of nearly 3 and half years of negotiations. It is risky. Reopening the treaty, and doing so on a major issue, could trigger a debate that cannot be resolved at the WHA. It also could lead other nations to request reconsideration of other issues that they feel strongly about. This could jeopardize the entire treaty. It is harmful. Allowing reservations undermines the modest obligations included in the FCTC and makes the treaty, in effect, a policy menu. The tobacco industry will work hard to convince nations that it is easier to "reserve" than to improve tobacco control policies. Health groups will need to counter the industry on a country-by-country basis. 4. TELL THE UNITED STATES AND GERMANY TO STOP BLOCKING THE FCTC -- SIGN THE ONLINE PETITIONS Please sign the following online petitions to the U.S. and German governments asking them to stop trying to undermine the FCTC. To send a letter to the Bush Administration, go to: http://tfk.grassroots.com/TobaccoTreatyNow/TakeAction/ To send a letter to the German government, go to: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Dfctc_de 5. FCTC TEXT AND SUMMARY AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET The full text of the draft FCTC is available on the internet at: http://www.who.int/gb/fctc/PDF/inb6/einb65.pdf The Framework Convention Alliance has produced a short (3-page) summary of the FCTC text. It can be found at: http://www.fctc.org Please let us know if there is any more information we can provide you and please let us know if you have any success with your government. Thank you. Ross Hammond (on behalf of the Framework Convention Alliance) http://www.fctc.org ------------------------------------------------ U.S. Seeks to Alter Anti-Tobacco Treaty 'Reservations' Clause Sought as Way Out of Some Provisions By Marc Kaufman Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, April 30, 2003; Page A01 The United States told the World Health Organization this week that it is unlikely to sign the first treaty to curtail tobacco use worldwide unless the 171 nations that hammered out its language agree to a clause that would allow governments to opt out of any provision they find objectionable. The Bush administration says it needs the "reservations" clause to ensure that the United States could disregard treaty requirements it considered constitutionally questionable. But anti-tobacco activists and foreign diplomats say the demand is an attempt to water down the treaty to benefit tobacco companies or to unravel the agreement entirely. The draft of the treaty, which calls for nations to adopt a wide range of tobacco-control initiatives, was overwhelmingly approved at a Geneva conference in March. Since then, only the United States and the Dominican Republic have objected, WHO officials said. "It is the intent of the United States to sign the [treaty] and to press for its ratification by our Senate," said the letter, delivered Monday to WHO Director General Gro Harlem Bruntland and to health and foreign ministers worldwide. "However, as noted in our statement at the final negotiating session, our ability to sign and ratify the [treaty] is undermined by the current prohibition on reservations." While the treaty would change the way many nations regulate tobacco, it would do little to change American tobacco control practices or policies. Provisions such as global restrictions on advertising, however, would have a potentially great impact on American tobacco companies that increasingly make their profits from cigarette sales abroad. In Monday's letter, the United States asked for support in changing the language before the treaty is officially adopted at a World Health Assembly meeting May 19. WHO officials and delegates to the negotiations said they do not expect the language to be renegotiated at that meeting, and doubt that a consensus to include a "reservations" clause can be reached informally beforehand. During more than three years of negotiations, U.S. officials have tried to have the clause added. "I think it is impossible to reach a consensus, and this could easily be the end of the entire tobacco convention," said Belgian negotiator Luk Joossens. "If you open one article, it will encourage other nations to open articles they don't like. And if the reservations are included, then crucial aspects of the entire effort will be weakened. There is a lot of anger in so many countries about this American action." The goal of the treaty, which would be the first successfully negotiated under the auspices of WHO, is to significantly reduce cigarette smoking worldwide. It includes a ban on tobacco advertising except where a ban would violate national laws, it encourages nations to raise tobacco taxes to discourage smoking, and it calls for specific steps to control tobacco use, such as requiring that health warnings on cigarette packages take up 30 to 50 percent of the display area. The treaty also includes tobacco-control programs that require considerable funding. The United States has been the largest donor to that effort, and some delegates said they believed the United States was using the threat of cutting off its funding to persuade delegates to vote for its positions. In recent years, the United States has balked at or pulled out of a series of major international agreements -- including the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, the International Criminal Court and Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. William Pierce, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said the primary concern of U.S. negotiators is that parts of the treaty could prove to be unconstitutional by interfering, for instance, with tobacco companies' free speech rights. In addition, he said, the treaty calls on Congress to approve policy changes it might not accept -- such as changing the size of warning labels. "A lot of our problem has to do with the broadness of the treaty," Pierce said. "Broadness and vagueness are something our court system oftentimes takes a dim view of. Since we are signing on to a treaty with other nations, they could bring this up and use this vagueness in a way that, in this country, would not be constitutional." Pierce said no formal decision has been made on what the United States will do if the "reservation" clause is not adopted. If the United States does not sign the agreement, its representatives cannot take part in meetings that will follow to refine and implement the treaty. He said this would be a problem in at least one issue that the United States is keenly interested in -- cigarette smuggling and the connection between illicit cigarette sales and terrorist groups. Tobacco-control activists say that the United States has already won a number of concessions over constitutional concerns and that U.S. officials appear to be acting now for other reasons. "This looks like an American effort to blow up the treaty, or to neutralize it for the benefit of Philip Morris and other cigarette makers," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Myers said many smaller nations have voiced concern that tobacco companies will pressure them to opt out of specific provisions -- such as the advertising ban -- if the reservations clause is added. "Basically, allowing reservations would let the tobacco companies go back to these smaller nations and renegotiate the treaty," he said. Even before the Bush administration's letter was released, Democrats had sought to make a political issue of the tobacco negotiations. In a letter to President Bush sent Friday, Senate Democratic leader Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) applauded him for his public statements that tobacco use is the greatest health issue facing the nation, but said the delegation in Geneva negotiated in a different spirit. "In contrast to these public statements, your Administration went to great lengths to weaken many important provisions of the treaty," they wrote. "In addition to advancing weak language, the U.S. delegation also inappropriately pressured other nations to adopt U.S. positions." WHO officials sought to put the best face on the dispute. "We appear to have 95 [percent] to 98 percent of nations happy with the text, and two that want to have changes," said Derek Yach, who has led the WHO effort. "I think we have to be quite pleased with that." =A9 2003 The Washington Post Company *************************** Ross Hammond, Consultant 242 Edna Street San Francisco, CA 94112-1807 USA Tel. 1-415-452-9322 Fax. 1-415-680-2364 http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/campaign/global/ From awhite@essential.org Fri May 23 01:25:10 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E948629B37 for ; Fri, 23 May 2003 01:25:09 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 320C6266 for ; Fri, 23 May 2003 01:24:09 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3ECDB13C.231EE48D@essential.org> Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 01:27:24 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: A fashionable way to support global tobacco control efforts... content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Global "Tobacco-Activists", As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. This is certainly true when it comes to monitoring the tobacco industry's marketing and promotional efforts around the world. We would like to step up our efforts to document what the industry is up to abroad, by distributing used cameras to tobacco control advocates in low-income countries. Our goal is to distribute the first batch of used cameras to international colleagues attending the 12th World Conference on Tobacco or Health (August 3-8, 2003), along with film, tips for taking effective photos, and some money for processing. Not only will these photos enhance our international colleagues' advocacy efforts at home, they will directly benefit our efforts in the U.S. to expose the tobacco industry for what it really is. Some photos really "say it all"... Free cigarette distribution to young women (Romania) http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/ro/winstonlightup.jpg Marlboro baby clothes (Senegal) http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/sn/Marlbaby.jpg Benson & Hedges concert (India) http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/in/b&hconcert.jpg We need to collect more photos like these! Towards that end, Essential Action is launching a fundraiser to cover the costs of purchasing and distributing photographic equipment to tobacco control groups abroad. For just $20, we'll send you a super-fashionable "Revoke the License to Kill" t-shirt. Check it out: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/LtK030423/rc293.jpg http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/LtK030423/rc_187.jpg We think you'll agree that this t-shirt is perfect attire for tobacco control conferences and rallies, a great gift for friends and colleagues, and ideal for mischievous fun (e.g. freaking out tobacco industry lobbyists at public hearings!). It's simple: the more t-shirts you purchase, the more used cameras we will be able to distribute, and the better we'll be able to monitor what the tobacco industry is up to around the world. Extra bonus: every time you wear the t-shirt you'll be a walking counter-advertisement! We are currently taking orders for t-shirts (see order form below). So that we know how many t-shirts to have made, we would appreciate it if you sent us your completed order forms and checks to us no later than JUNE 20, 2003. Please spread the word about this fundraiser! *********************************************** "REVOKE THE LICENSE TO KILL" T-SHIRT ORDER FORM *********************************************** A fashionable way to support tobacco control efforts abroad and help monitor Big Tobacco's global expansion! Please print, fill out, and mail this form with a check for the appropriate amount. Size Quantity Subtotal XL _____ L _____ M _____ S _____ Total # _____ x $20 = ______ -------------------------------- Additional donation $______ (entire amount will go to support global monitoring of industry) -------------------------------- Shipping & Handling Total # of Shipping t-shirts Cost* _____ x $_____ = $______ * RATES # of shirts cost per shirt 1 - 5 $2.50 6 - 10 $2.00 11 < $1.50 -------------------------------- GRAND TOTAL: $______ -------------------------------- SHIPPING ADDRESS Name: ______________________ Address: ______________________ City: ______________________ State: ______________________ Zip Code: ______________________ Email: ______________________ Tel: ______________________ Please make checks payable to: ESSENTIAL INFORMATION Order form and checks should be sent to: Attn: Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 NOTES: 1) All money received -- minus the actual costs of t-shirts, shipping, and handling -- will go towards the distribution of tobacco industry monitoring tool kits (camera, film, & processing cost) to tobacco control advocates in low-income countries. 2) We anticipate sending out the t-shirts by mid-July. ******************************************************** THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING GLOBAL TOBACCO CONTROL EFFORTS! ******************************************************** From awhite@essential.org Wed Jul 16 23:24:48 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0B4CD29B8E for ; Wed, 16 Jul 2003 23:24:48 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9B8D4C0 for ; Wed, 16 Jul 2003 23:24:46 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3F161834.B4984212@essential.org> Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 23:29:56 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Categorize Tobacco as a 'Drug' in NIGERIA content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ******************************************************* Take Action: Categorize Tobacco as a 'Drug' in NIGERIA! ******************************************************* Dear Global "Tobacco-Activists", In commemoration of the International Day Against Substance Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, People Against Drug Dependence & Ignorance (PADDI) has launched an advocacy campaign to encourage the Nigerian government to officially classify tobacco as a 'drug'. The campaign is focused on the Director General of the Nigerian National Agency for Food, Drug Administration & Control (NAFDAC) -- the Nigerian equivalent of the American FDA. According to PADDI, "NAFDAC has recorded successes in tackling the scourge of adultrated and fake drugs in the Nigerian market. NAFDAC has also succeeded in regulating the availability and dispensation of drugs in Nigeria. PADDI believes that NAFDAC should now extend its successes and expertise to regulate the consumption of 'nicotine delivery devices' - otherwise known as cigarettes. By officially categorizing tobacco as a 'drug', its sale, consumption and marketing would be curtailed and monitored." TAKE ACTION! Click on the link below to send a letter to NAFDAC's Director General (letter is prewritten, but we encourage you to take a minute or two to personalize it) http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=nigeria Recently Eze Eluchie, PADDI's Executive Director was on a one hour national television program, ISSUES on Minaj Broadcasting International (MBI). The topic was on treating tobacco as a drug. Read more of PADDI's public statements on this issue: Press Release on International Day Against Drug Abuse & Illicit Trafficking - PADDI Nigeria (Address delivered by PADDI at a Media-NGO-Civil Society roundtable discussion) http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/ng0307/press.html Letter from PADDI to NAFDAC re: classifying tobacco as a 'drug' http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/ng0307/letter.html Additional information on this topic will be added to Essential Action's website, as it becomes available: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/ng0307/ Thank you in advance for supporting tobacco control efforts in Nigeria! --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Mon Jul 28 22:39:50 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 47B2729B66 for ; Mon, 28 Jul 2003 22:39:50 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0001293 for ; Mon, 28 Jul 2003 22:39:49 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3F25DFBD.167A1695@essential.org> Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 22:45:18 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Stop Criminal Investigation of Tobacco Control Advocate! (RUSSIA) content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ****************************************** TAKE ACTION: Stop Criminal Investigation Against Leader of "For a Tobacco-Free Ryazan" ****************************************** Dear Global "Tobacco-Activists", Tatiana Andreeva of ADIC-Ukraine has brought an urgent matter to our attention. In the city of Ryazan (Russian Federation), a group called "For a Tobacco-Free Ryazan" was launched earlier this year. The group recently addressed the executives of local advertising agencies and invited them to stop advertising tobacco. In response, the executives have accused the leader of the group, Mr. Yuriy Zelenkevich, of threatening their business, and have launched a criminal investigation against him. A local lawyer believes the investigation's real purpose is to pressure the new group into stopping its campaign. TAKE ACTION: ADIC-Ukraine and Essential Action have set up an online email campaign targeting the Ryazan city administration, oblast administration, city council, and regional parliament. Please click on the link below and write a few sentences urging them to put an end to the criminal investigation! http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=ryazan Talking points to guide you: * The criminal investigation against Mr. Yuriy Zelenkevish should be stopped immediately! * The activities of "For a Tobacco-Free Ryazan" have international support * Tobacco advertising is a tool used to spread the tobacco epidemic * Tobacco advertising is already banned in many countries around the world, and a recent international health treaty mandates a total ban * This issue should be addressed at the level of local/national authorities and parliament -- not through the criminal justice system! * A sentence or two about your organization or personal interest in tobacco control For more information about about "For a Tobacco-Free Ryazan" go to: http://contact.tobinfo.org/2003/07/ryazan/ Let us show Ryazan officials that Mr. Zelenkevish has the strong support of people around the world! --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Fri Sep 5 17:06:14 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2A1ED29B40 for ; Fri, 5 Sep 2003 17:06:14 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3049E96 for ; Fri, 5 Sep 2003 17:06:13 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3F58FC52.75374756@essential.org> Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 17:12:50 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Ban Tobacco Ads at Shanghai Formula 1 Race! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ******************************************************** Take Action: Ban Tobacco Ads at Shanghai Formula 1 Race! ******************************************************** Dear Global "Tobacco-Activists", This is a very important issue, with implications not only for other countries that are fighting tobacco industry sponsorship of Formula 1 races in their countries, but for public health in all countries that air Formula 1 races on television. We urge you to: 1) Take a moment to click on the link below, fill in your name, and hit "Send my letter!" (letter is pre-written). 2) Forward this alert to your local tobacco control email lists, colleagues, family, and friends. http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=shanghai Brief background: The World Health Organisation has called for a worldwide ban on tobacco sponsorship to be introduced in international law by 2006, which has the backing of Formula 1 racing's governing body, the International Motoring Federation (FIA). As many governments have already banned tobacco promotion, events are no longer possible in western countries*, and F1 racing is currently planned for Shanghai and Bahrain. Many are concerned that tobacco advertising would be beamed throughout China and worldwide on television from the races if tobacco advertising is allowed. The event will take place, but there is a window of opportunity for damage limitation. For more info, click on the link above. Thanks for taking action! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Thu Sep 18 11:51:58 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2182629B0F for ; Thu, 18 Sep 2003 11:51:58 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E033A8E for ; Thu, 18 Sep 2003 11:51:57 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3F69D63F.EB4B0BE8@essential.org> Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 11:58:56 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: TAKE ACTION: Stop BAT -- Declare All African Games Tobacco-Free content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Global "Tobacco-Activists", The 8th All African Games is scheduled to be held in Abuja, Nigeria from October 4th to 18th. The game will draw 6,000 athletes from 53 African countries, who will compete in 22 sports. The games will be a huge media event, covered by 1,500 journalists. Big businesses are already jostling for sponsorship space not only during the sports events, but also ancillary social and cultural events. Till now there is no concrete evidence that the British American Tobacco (BAT), the biggest tobacco company in the country, has secured any sponsorship deal with the game organizers. However, BAT is said to be making plans to distribute free branded materials like T- Shirts, Face caps or possibly cigarettes during the social and cultural events. The organizers have also not come out publicly to declare the event tobacco-free. TAKE ACTION: Akinbode Oluwafemi of ERA/FoE (Nigeria) appeals to colleagues worldwide to take a few seconds to click on the link below and send a pre-written letter demanding that the games be declared tobacco-free. http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=africagames Thanks for taking action! --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Thu Sep 18 12:39:24 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AF90829B0F for ; Thu, 18 Sep 2003 12:39:24 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7D80E8E for ; Thu, 18 Sep 2003 12:39:24 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3F69E15F.BC67399@essential.org> Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 12:46:23 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Get tobacco out of Formula One! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Following is an urgent request from international public health advocates and a news article explaining how Canada (and other countries) are being blackmailed into promoting smoking via Formula One car races. Please take several minutes to sign the petitions. #### Dear tobacco control colleagues: Tobacco control advocates around the world need to stand up to global blackmail from Formula One and the tobacco industry! Please sign FOUR Globalink petitions, one to Canada, congratulating the Prime Minister for putting an end to tobacco advertising in Formula One racing, even at the cost of losing Canada's Formula One race, and three more to each of China, Bahrain and Turkey urging them to maintain their existing bans on tobacco advertising and sponsorship and prevent tobacco advertising from ever appearing on Formula One race cars in their countries. Will the simple act of adding your name and address to petitions really get tobacco advertising out of Formula One all around the world? Maybe not, but it will sure help a lot! Please take two minutes to add your name to four Globalink petitions (three if you have already signed the one to China) aimed at getting tobacco out of Formula One around the world. You can do so by going to the following four web addresses: Canada: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=canada Bahrain http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=bahrain Turkey http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=turkey China*: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=shanghai * Over two hundred tobacco control advocates have already signed this petition to the Chinese Health Minister, Madam Wu Yi. You need only sign this one if you have not already done so. It will be sent to Madam Wu Yi very soon. Thank you for your help! Neil Collishaw, Research Director Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada ncollishaw@smoke-free.ca #### Grand Prix strategy sputters in Ottawa By Drew Fagan Globe and Mail (Toronto, CA) September 16, 2003 Bernie Ecclestone may have overplayed his hand. The Liberal government's backbone stiffened yesterday in the battle over its controversial antitobacco legislation, which will ban sponsorships at high-profile events such as Montreal's Canadian Grand Prix and is to go into effect on Oct. 1. Government sources suggested yesterday the federal government is now leaning toward allowing the legislation to go into effect unchanged, even if this guarantees that the Formula One auto-racing circuit bypasses Montreal in 2004 and thereafter. The reason: Many cabinet ministers believe that Mr. Ecclestone, who runs the F1 operation almost as a private fiefdom, isn't interested in any kind of compromise. Indeed, some government officials wonder whether Mr. Ecclestone's real concern is the tobacco legislation at all. Perhaps he just doesn't want to stop in Montreal any more, they suggest, and is more interested in seeking out new venues in Europe and Asia. If that's the case, what's the point of even considering a compromise, such as a further delay of legislation that already included a multiyear phase-in period when passed in 1998? Mr. Ecclestone has fuelled his hard-line reputation with suggestions that a delay until 2005 of Canada's new law (coinciding with implementation of a similar ban by the European Union) wouldn't be sufficient. He wants a permanent exemption from Canada's legislation for his auto race. "That's simply not possible," Health Minister Anne McLellan responded yesterday, after she hailed the new law as an example of Canadian leadership in the fight against smoking. "We've been through this; we've made this clear." As recently as last weekend, pressure on Ottawa was growing quickly to find just about any way to keep the annual auto race. Proposed solutions have included a delay of the law or massive federal support for the race to compensate organizers for the loss of tobacco sponsorship. When antitobacco activists realized yesterday that Ottawa was seriously reassessing the situation, they quickly rallied, calling cabinet members and the media. Cynthia Callard, executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, argues it would not be easy for Ottawa to delay the sponsorship law again, since Canada signed an international convention this year that includes a commitment not to permit the export of tobacco advertising. F1 races, broadcast worldwide, would appear to violate that. "At some point, when you are dealing with a blackmailer, you have to say no," added Francis Thompson of the Non-Smokers Rights Association. Indeed, the word blackmail in relation to Mr. Ecclestone received wide airing yesterday on Parliament Hill. Why, MPs wonder, has Mr. Ecclestone been willing to compromise regarding antitobacco legislation in France and England but not in Canada? He may miss Montreal more than he realizes, they suggest, since the race has consistently been profitable there over its 25-year history, drawing hordes of fans from North America and Europe. Federal officials emphasize that Ottawa is continuing to seek a compromise, alongside members of the Liberal government in Quebec. A senior federal minister from Quebec was expected to provide an update at yesterday's cabinet meeting, but did not due to scheduling reasons. For the moment, attention is focused on an ad hoc task force comprising federal, provincial and private sector representatives, which is continuing to seek a compromise acceptable to all sides, including Mr. Ecclestone. One strategy has been to appeal to the race-car owners themselves to try to find non-tobacco sponsors for the Montreal race. "There is a small door open," said an aide to Justice Minister Martin Cauchon. But many wonder if it may be too little, too late, and that the odds of the race being saved are growing longer. And they hope, perhaps beyond hope, that Mr. Ecclestone may one day realize the error of his ways and seek to return to Montreal. From awhite@essential.org Fri Sep 26 14:15:33 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E1F0C29B3F for ; Fri, 26 Sep 2003 14:15:33 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BD40A91 for ; Fri, 26 Sep 2003 14:15:33 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3F7483F5.4DB47D52@essential.org> Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 14:22:45 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Update: STOP BAT, Declare 8th All African Games Tobacco-Free! content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, If you have not already participated in campaign to have the 8th All African Games be declared tobacco-free, please do! Over 245 people have sent emails so far, and the campaign is garnering significant press in Nigeria. Below is an update from Akinbode Oluwafemi (Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth), followed by some of the media coverage. To participate, just fill in your name and hit "send" at: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Dafricagames Thanks to all who have participated so far! ### Friends, We held a press briefing in Lagos yesterday on the petition on the 8th All African Games. It was a well-attended press briefing. By evening yesterday it was reported in three TV Channels, Minaj Broadcast International (MBI) Galaxy TV and Murhi International Television (MITV).This morning stories of the briefing appeared in two newspapers; This day and The Punch. Thanks to all who have signed the petition. We still need more. The newspapers reports are below. Akinbode Oluwafemi Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria. No 1 , Balogun Street , Off Awolowo Way, Ikeja Lagos 234-14932606, 234-8033039004 #### Group Wants Tobacco Free Games By Godwin Haruna This Day www.thisdayonline.com Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has initiated a move aimed at making COJA, the organisers of the All African Games tagged Abuja 2003, to declare the games tobacco-free. Addressing a press conference in Lagos yesterday, Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi, a tobacco control advocate of ERA/FoEN stated that tobacco currently kills 4.9 million people annually. Oluwafemi said his group initiated an on-line petition titled: "Stop BAT: Declare 8th All African Games Tobacco Free" last week in which over 200 groups across the globe have endorsed. He said the petition, once signed on-line at www globalink.org, goes straight to COJA secretariat in Abuja and IOC secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. "Our demands are that COJA should publicly declare the Abuja Games tobacco free in line with the practice for an international games event of its status. By so doing, COJA will be making a public declaration that it will not accept any money from the tobacco industry," Oluwafemi stated. He said COJA should come out with a tobacco free policy for the games such as prohibition of smoking in all the games' venues, outlawing the sales and free distribution of tobacco products in and around the games' venues and prohibition of the free tobacco branded products. Others, he said, include banning of smoking in all COJA vehicles and collaborating with the ministry of health, WHO and NGOs to incorporate tobacco free lifestyle activity into COJA programmes. Also speaking at the forum, ERA head of Lagos Office, Mr. Doifie Ola, urged the Federal Government to expedite action on the signing and ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). #### Group advocates tobacco-free Games Temitope Ajayi The punch, Sept 25, 2003 As Nigeria prepares to host the 8th All Africa Games, a group of non-governmental organizations has called for tobacco-free games in line with international campaign against smoking. The Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth on Wednesday at a news conference in Lagos said that the World Health Organisation and other international bodies has made it a point of duty to partner with sports ruling bodies to make sure that no tobacco company used any international sporting event s to promote cigarette smoking. Mr. Akinbode Oluwafemi who spoke on behalf of its group said its international partners had already petitioned the Executive Director of COJA, D. Amos Adamu, and the International Olympic Committee on the need for the organizers of Abuja 2003 to respect the international convention on smoking. In the letter to IOC and COJA, the group said, "There is no evidence that COJA has accepted sponsorship from tobacco industry, but we are worried about reports that the tobacco industry is planning to distribute its branded products and cigarettes during the games and other social events associated with it. "We are also concerned that COJA has not come out publicly to declare the 8th All Africa Games tobacco-free in line with the practice in international sporting events of this magnitude". Alluding to FIFA World Cup an the Olympics where smoking is prohibited because of its health implications, the group urged Adamu and the federal government to use ABUJA 2003 to promote tobacco-free lifestyle among athletes and African youths. It therefore charged COJA to ban smoking in all the games venues and COJA buses, prohibition of tobacco branded products and to collaborate with media house to ensure tobacco companies did not use the media advantage of the games to promote smoking among young people. #### ERA wants Abuja 2003 tobacco free Daily Times http://www.dailytimesofnigeria.com/DailyTimes/2003/September/26/ERAwants.as= p A call has gone to the Organising Committee for the 8th All Africa Games (COJA) to declare the Abuja 2003 tobacco free in line with the practice for an international event of this status. The call came from a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), Environmental Action Rights (ERA) during a public declaration held in Lagos on Wednesday. According to ERA=92s Tobacco Control Advocate, Akinbode Oluwafemi, intelligence report has it that a tobacco company is planning to distribute its branded products in one of the COJA=92s activities during the games, warning that if this act is allowed to sail through, Abuja 2003 would have violated the global cry of sporting community against tobacco which International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) are signatory to. #### Group wants Abuja 2003 declared tobacco-free By Bamidele Osha Daily Independent, Lagos www.dailyindependentng.com Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN ), a non-governmental organisation, has mounted a strong media campaign to prevail over COJA, the organising committee for the 8TH All Africa Games, to declare the sports fiesta =93Tobacco Free.=94 Delivering a paper titled =93Kicking out tobacco from the playground,=94 Akinbode Oluwafemi, Tobacco Control Advocate of the group argued that tobacco was a health hazard and =93tobacco kills 4.9 million people annually. It has been scientifically linked to sundry health problems. Tobacco is a major risk factor for dreadful diseases such as cancer, heart attack, hypertension and asthma. It is linked to psychological disorders, miscarriages, infertility, low birth weight and mental retardation among children.=94 Oluwafemi berated the tobacco industry for employing tendentious and misleading strategies in the marketing of a product with such devastating consequences on public health and the environment. =93The only route opened to the industry was the elevation of deception as marketing ethics. The tobacco industries have implemented their advertising campaigns to present death as life. They do this by carefully associating tobacco with the good things of life like sports, fashion and music.=94 He averred that models were shown in expressions of pure ecstasy, eulogising the pleasures to be derived from the consumption of tobacco, luring thousands of our youths into cigarette smoking daily. ERA accused the tobacco industry of using sports particularly in marketing its products, pointing specifically to the industry=92s sponsorship of sporting events and competitions. The body, in a petition to COJA and the International Olympic Committee, prayed COJA to reject the sponsorship offers from tobacco companies and their attempts to use the platform provided by the All Africa Games as an avenue for exhibiting and marketing their branded products. Doifie Ola, Programme Director, ERA, said that the tobacco companies were well aware of the dangers of their products but were resolved in their attempts to bleed individuals of appreciable wealth and health saying. The group has, therefore, promised to register a strong presence at the Abuja Games, which is billed to flag-off on October 4, 2003 primarily to sensitise the public on the destructive content and qualities of the inhalation of tobacco and its accompanying environmental hazards. =93We want COJA to prohibit smoking in all games venues, outlaw the sales and free distribution of tobacco products in and around the games venues. =93Prohibits free distribution of tobacco branded products including T-shirts, free caps, pens among others, ban smoking in all COJA vehicles and collaborates with the Federal Ministry of Health, World Health Organisation (WHO) and the NGOs to incorporate tobacco free lifestyle activity into COJA programmes. ERA however warns that it would have no choice to alert the attention of the IOC of violation of its tobacco free sports policy which may attracts sanction on the country should COJA fails to heed to its call. =93Already, we have sent a petition to COJA signed by over 2000 people as a reminder for them to make Abuja 2003 tobacco free events=94, said Akinbode. --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Fri Sep 26 15:39:03 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2958329B3F for ; Fri, 26 Sep 2003 15:39:03 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0D06191 for ; Fri, 26 Sep 2003 15:39:03 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3F749785.45462455@essential.org> Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 15:46:13 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Encourage Uganda to sign the FCTC! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Uganda's Minister of Health has in two recent speeches pledged to sign and ratify the FCTC. In the latter, he mentioned September 2003 as the date by which Uganda will have ratified the FCTC. September is drawing to a close, yet Uganda still hasn't signed the FCTC, let alone ratify it. Phillip Karugaba of The Environmental Action Network believes the Uganda's Minister of Health could use some additional encouragement from tobacco control advocates around the world. TAKE ACTION: Add your name to a petition to Uganda's Minister of Health http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=ugfctc Thanks for taking action! --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue Oct 7 11:53:44 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C023329B3D for ; Tue, 7 Oct 2003 11:53:44 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8E2AF8E for ; Tue, 7 Oct 2003 11:53:44 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3F82E34B.D8331813@essential.org> Date: Tue, 07 Oct 2003 12:01:15 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Stop JTI sponsorship of Craig David show (Malaysia) content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Please take a moment to add your name to this urgent petition (click on link below). Some background information on the issue, from ASH-UK: Craig David, one of the UK's leading R&B artists is performing in Penang, Malaysia, as part of his STYA Tour. The show in Penang is being sponsored by Japan Tobacco nternational and is going to be promoting the Salem brand of cigarettes. This despite tobacco sponsorship being banned in Malaysia. ASH and colleagues have written to Craig David asking him to either boycott the event or insist JTI pull out. So far, neither the artist nor his agent have responded to our calls. Indications at this moment are that they are reluctant to do anything (see press coverage below). Please join in our call against tobacco company sponsorship in youth culture. Please take a few minutes and sign a petition. http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=craigdavid The problem of tobacco sponsorship is widespread and affects all countries equally. Please encourage others in your region to sign up to the petition. Sincerely, Naj Dehlavi Action on Smoking and Health BBC coverage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/dorset/3163138.stm Independent coverage: http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/news/story.jsp?story=449798 ASH press release: www.ash.org.uk/html/press/031003.html --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Wed Oct 22 15:52:52 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D0C0629B78 for ; Wed, 22 Oct 2003 15:52:52 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9FF4F95 for ; Wed, 22 Oct 2003 15:52:52 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3F96E1F1.256F0AF2@essential.org> Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 16:00:49 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Support smokefree public places in Uganda! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ******************************************************* Take Action: Support smokefree public places in Uganda! ******************************************************* Dear Friends, Uganda's National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has prepared draft regulations to control smoking in public places. While the effort has generally received a lot of support, with one poll showing 93% of the public in favour, it looks as if BAT is striking back. A recent article in one of Uganda's leading daily newspapers takes a negative stance on the legislation. According to Phillip Karugaba, the newspaper has a reputation for being very pro-tobacco. Phillip would like us to write letters to the editor to set the record straight! TAKE ACTION! Click on the link to write and send a letter-to-the-editor: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=ug2 Because it is important that each letter-to-the-editor is unique we have purposely not provided a form letter. Instead, we encourage you to share firsthand experience with smokefree public places and/or to use the talking points provided by Phillip. All letters will be sent to New Vision and automatically cc'd to The Monitor, Uganda's other leading daily. Groups in U.S. states that have passed smoke-free legislation are particularly encouraged to write letters in support of NEMA's efforts to develop strong smokefree legislation. Phillip will let us know if anyone gets their name in print! TALKING POINTS * Banning smoking in public places is the responsible thing to do and Uganda is not alone in doing it (provide example) * Read the article (http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/ug0310/) & address specific misinformation in it, e.g. smokefree public places DON'T ban smoking altogether; smoking sections in bars and restaurants DON'T protect customers and workers from carcinogenic tobacco smoke pollution, etc * Why do you care about tobacco control legislation in Uganda? * According to the Uganda GYTS results, 66.9% of the youth in Arua District and 47.4% in Kampala District are exposed to secondhand smoke. 65.4% of the youth support a ban on smoking in public places * According to a survey done by TEAN, 93% of the persons surveyed supported a ban on smoking in public places * President Museveni said, on the occasion of Uganda's 41st Independence anniversary, that 1/2 of the Ministry of Health budget (Ug. Shs. 300 billion) goes to treatment of preventable diseases * In his Speech on World Health day on 7th April 2002 the Minister for Health, Hon. Brig Jim Muhwezi noted that between 1999-2001 patients for stroke and cardiovascular disease doubled while the cases of non-communicable diseases (hypertension, diabetes, asthma, cancers) increased by 12,000. NOTE: The text of the draft legislation is online at http://tean.globalink.org/NEMA%20regs.html --------------------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Wed Oct 22 16:12:22 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 94F6A29B67 for ; Wed, 22 Oct 2003 16:12:22 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D7EA897 for ; Wed, 22 Oct 2003 16:11:44 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <3F96E654.6E331DB4@essential.org> Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 16:19:32 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Thai Government should refuse Philip Morris sponsorship! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ********************************************************************* Take Action: Thai Government should refuse Philip Morris sponsorship! ********************************************************************* Dear Friends, Recently Philip Morris (Thailand) Ltd. donated 3 million Baht (about $75,000 US) for two English language teaching programs on Channel 11, a Thai Government TV channel. Philip Morris has also donated funds to other causes through a government auxiliary organization of the Interior Ministry. TAKE ACTION: Click on the link below to send a letter to Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health, urging Thai government agencies to immediately stop accepting tobacco industry sponsorship/funding! http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=thailand The letter is pre-written, so all you have to do is fill in your name and click send (though personalized comments are always welcome)! On behalf of, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Thailand, THANKS FOR TAKING ACTION! --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Mon Oct 27 18:35:05 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 02DE329B6C for ; Mon, 27 Oct 2003 18:35:05 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B611E93 for ; Mon, 27 Oct 2003 18:35:04 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3F9DAD8A.48706135@essential.org> Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 18:43:06 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Congratulate Ireland on decision to go smokefree in 2004! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ********************************************************************** Take Action: Congratulate Ireland on decision to go smokefree in 2004! ********************************************************************** Dear Friends, As you may have heard, Ireland will be going smoke-free January 26th, 2004! As of that date, smoking will be prohibited in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants. To send a note of congratulations to the Irish Minister for Health and Children, click on the link below! TAKE ACTION: http://petitions.globalink.org/view.php?code=ireland (text is provided, but personalized comments are always encouraged) Here's a chance to participate in a POSITIVE letter campaign for a change, and help maintain the resolve of Irish public health officials to continue standing up to the tobacco industry! Campaign sponsored by: ASH Ireland --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue Oct 28 10:56:23 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 48A5E29B0F for ; Tue, 28 Oct 2003 10:56:23 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 81D148C for ; Tue, 28 Oct 2003 10:56:22 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3F9E938D.3A699A4D@essential.org> Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 11:04:29 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Update on letter campaigns (Russia, Nigeria, Uganda) content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Here are some updates on various letter campaigns that GPTC has promoted over the past half year. On behalf of our colleagues in Russia, Nigeria, and Uganda, thanks for participating! #### NIGERIA: Stop BAT -- Declare All Africa Games Tobacco-Free! (September 2003) http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/gptc/2003q3/000079.html The All African Games ended on Saturday. All along we requested to meet the organisers but they never granted the request. The good news is that BAT stayed away from the games and all the social events. The campaign received overwhelming reports in the media. There were reports of the campign on tv till friday. This has futher pushed tobacco control issues in the country. We are going to concentrate more energy now on getting Nigeria to sign the FCTC. I am using this medium to thank you and everybody that responded by endorsing the petition. It was a wondefrul tool for advocacy. Olufemi Akinbode Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth - Nigeria #### 2) RUSSIA: Stop Criminal Investigation of Tobacco Control Advocate (July 2003) http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/gptc/2003q3/000070.html Thanks for your help. Our campaign was fruitful after all. Criminal investigation is stopped. When you address your network please express my gratitude for help. This example shows that international support is a real power. Tatiana Andreeva, MD, PhD Project Director ADIC-Ukraine #### 3) NIGERIA: Categorize Tobacco as a "Drug" (July 2003) http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/gptc/2003q3/000062.html The campaign so far has had an impact on the NAFDAC bureaucracy. Sequel to the commencement of the campaigns, my organization, PADDI, was invited to a meeting with the Legal Department of NAFDAC where we clarified to them the need to extend NAFDAC's regulatory activities to the tobacco industry. PADDI is now preparing a formal letter to NAFDAC supplying them with the neccessary legal backings to allow for the regulation of the tobacco industry. PADDI secured a mini-grant from the American Cancer Society (ACS) to publish a youth focused mini-magazine on tobacco related cancer. The petition is also printed in this magazine and Nigerian youths have also been petitioning NAFDAC on this same issue. We are really grateful to you for the overwhelming response to this petition which has enabled us attain this level of success so far. Eze Eluchie Executive Director People Against Drug Dependence & Ignorance (PADDI) ### 4) UGANDA: Strengthen Warning Labels in Uganda (March 2003) http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/gptc/2003q1/000033.html You may recall that Uganda National Bureau of Standards had proposed "cigarette smoking is harmful to your health," in response to which many of you signed an online petition. Following your objections, I was invited by the Minister for Industry and Technology and I made a presentation on warning labels from around the world. At the end of the presentation, the Minister directed that the Bureau reconvenes a meeting of the technical committee to review my presentation and improve the warning label. Phillip Karugaba The Environmental Action Network, Ltd Uganda --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue Nov 11 20:32:01 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6D40729B43 for ; Tue, 11 Nov 2003 20:32:01 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 52D198D for ; Tue, 11 Nov 2003 20:32:01 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3FB18F42.7D7F6D63@essential.org> Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 20:39:15 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Victory! Warner Nu Metro donates $$$ to Nigerian tobacco control efforts content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ************************************************************************ Victory! Warner Nu Metro donates $$$ to Nigerian tobacco control efforts ************************************************************************ Dear Friends, As you may recall, in March of this year we launched a fax campaign targeting Warner Bros, in response to British American Tobacco's use of five Warner Bros films to promote its Rothmans cigarette brand in Nigeria. We called upon Warner Bros CEO Barry M. Meyer to disclose further information about its South African distributor's contract with BAT, take concrete measures to ensure that something like this does not happen again, and donate any money it received from BAT to Nigerian tobacco control groups. Read more about the BAT promotion and our campaign: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/ng0303/ The very same day that the fax campaign was launched, Warner Bros' Senior VP of Corporate Communications called Essential Action and gave us an earful! Despite the company's vehement complaints, we informed them that we would not stop the campaign until our requests were met. Warner Bros later informed Essential Action that an employee of its South African distributor, Warner Nu Metro, had been fired over the matter, and that 50% of the money Warner Nu Metro had received from BAT would be donated to a Nigerian tobacco control group. On November 7, 2003, after much waiting, the money ($5000) was finally received and split among the three Nigerian tobacco control groups that were actively involved with the campaign. While $5000 is a drop in the bucket for a company like Warner Bros, it represents a significant increase in funding for our colleagues in Nigeria*, who have pledged to use it to: 1) strengthen the anti-tobacco network in Nigeria. 2) support advocacy campaigns specific to each organization. Perhaps more importantly, we trust that Warner Bros will not let something like this happen again, particularly with the company under fire in the U.S. for failing to address the problem of smoking in movies (in 2002, 59% of the company's kid-rated films contained smoking). * To put the $5000 in perspective, the annual per capita GDP of Nigeria: $896 (UNDP 2000) EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF SUCCESSFUL CROSS-BORDER COLLABORATION It was Journalists Action on Tobacco & Health that first alerted Essential Action to BAT's promotional campaign featuring Hollywood films. The Nigerian group was subsequently matched with Reality Check, New York's statewide youth empowerment program, which was in the middle of a year-long smokefree movies campaign. Reality Check provided JATH with a small grant to cover additional reporting of the BAT promotions. The information gathered by JATH served as the basis for communications with Warner Bros, press coverage in the Los Angeles Times, and the fax campaign that followed. Reality Check incorporated the fax campaign into its smokefree movie project, featuring it as an international example of the tobacco industry's use of film to promote cigarettes. In August, representatives of Reality Check and JATH had the opportunity to meet face-to-face in Helsinki at the 12th World Conference on Tobacco or Health. Check out a photo of Ken Dahlgren (RC) and Adeola Akinremi (JATH) posing in front of a poster detailing their joint campaign: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/wctoh2003/kenadeola.jpg In short, an excellent example of a cross-border collaboration that is both egalitarian and mutually beneficial (two of the things we encourage global partners to strive for)! THANKS! On behalf of our Nigerian colleagues, thanks to all of you who participated in fax campaign targeting Warner Bros. As Adeola Akinremi (JATH) put it, "Working Together Means Winning Together!" --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Thu Nov 13 18:55:06 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EE8CA29B6D for ; Thu, 13 Nov 2003 18:55:06 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C3C6999 for ; Thu, 13 Nov 2003 18:55:06 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3FB41B99.807A9CFC@essential.org> Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 19:02:33 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: TAKE ACTION -- Health Before Trade: Tobacco out of the FTAA! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ********************************************* HEALTH BEFORE TRADE: TOBACCO OUT OF THE FTAA! ********************************************* Tobacco is a product like no other, in that it kills if used as intended. On November 20-21, 2003, trade representatives of 34 countries throughout the Americas will meet in Miami, FL for the next round of negotiations on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The stated purpose of the FTAA is to increase trade and investment between these countries. But when it comes to tobacco, more trade = less health! The FTAA poses a major threat to efforts to protect the lives and lungs of people throughout the Americas from profit-hungry tobacco corporations. The best way to alleviate this threat would be to EXCLUDE TOBACCO FROM THE SCOPE OF THE FTAA ALTOGETHER. TAKE ACTION: Send a fax to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, urging him to exclude tobacco from the scope of the FTAA! http://petitions.globalink.org/view.php?code=ftaa Letter is pre-written, so all you have to do is add your name and click send! For more information on the issue of tobacco & trade: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/trade/ For information on tobacco-related events taking place in Miami next week: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/event/ftaa/ --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Mon Dec 15 14:55:55 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6DE1E29B64 for ; Mon, 15 Dec 2003 14:55:55 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4EDA289 for ; Mon, 15 Dec 2003 14:55:54 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <3FDE1407.890F18FE@essential.org> Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 15:05:28 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Urge Romania to sign & ratify the FCTC! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Please take a moment to add your name to the petition described below! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action #### Please support ROMANIA in its FCTC (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) signing and ratification efforts by sending the petition to the Romanian Minister of Health: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=fctcro Now is a good moment for this action, after almost six months of transition mandate, a new Minister of Health was appointed. The petition can also be sent by fax to: Honorable Minister of Health Dr. Ovidiu Brinzan Fax: +40 21 312 4916 Thank you again for your support. -- Mr. Cornel Radu-Loghin President Aer Pur Romania From awhite@essential.org Fri Jan 23 18:53:28 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BC1AE29B66 for ; Fri, 23 Jan 2004 18:53:28 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9EFA096 for ; Fri, 23 Jan 2004 18:53:28 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <4011B40C.FF30AF50@essential.org> Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2004 18:53:48 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Tell Utne Reader to Stop Taking Tobacco Ads! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: fyi, an action sponsored by Reality Check. Letters from around the world might help the magazine put the gravity of their decision in a global context and persuade them to reestablish their policy against running tobacco ads... ******************************************** TELL UTNE READER TO STOP TAKING TOBACCO ADS! ******************************************** Utne Reader, a progressive, independent magazine that offers a bi-monthly compilation of stories from the independent press has in their latest issue decided to include a tobacco ad (American Spirit). This is how their editor rationalized the decision: " In this issue, after much internal discussion, we are running an ad for an additive-free tobacco. I consider it a measure of my versatility that I both do yoga and occasionally smoke, and additive-free is certainly a better option. For some people, there is no such thing as a good smoking option, so we know that we may be making a controversial decision." ~ Nina Utne TAKE ACTION: Send a FREE fax to Utne Reader and urge them to reestablish their policy against running tobacco ads! http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=utne Below, please find the text of a letter sent to Utne Reader by a 15-year-old student involved in New York's Reality Check program. Let's keep them coming! #### January 16, 2004 Dear Utne Magazine, I am writing as a youth member of Reality Check. Reality Check is a youth run movement against the tobacco companies. We are non-traditional and non- preachy, we use media literacy as a way to educate our peers about the corruption and lies of Big Tobacco. I am also writing as a loyal reader of Utne Magazine. I have always relied on you for the alternative viewpoint and socially responsible business practices, which is why I was very disappointed to find a tobacco advertisement in your most recent issue. Even more disappointing was Nina Utne's unsubstantial justifications for the ad in her letter. American Spirit and other additive-free, or herbal tobacco products are certainly not a better option, as Nina Utne's statements imply. Products like these are misleading to consumers, for more information on health effects visit: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021203074357.htm. American Spirit is owned by Santa Fe Tobacco Inc., whose parent company is RJ Reynolds. RJ Reynolds and tobacco companies just like it contribute to destruction of the environment, unjust labor conditions, globalization and the global economic gap. Tobacco related illness is the leading cause of death worldwide- they are far from the model of social responsibility that you are trying to promote. American Spirit's branding of Native American images is also very offensive. Native American tradition does not encourage a regular smoking habit. The inclusion of ads like this one only further contributes to Big Tobacco's desire to addict even more people. By calling tobacco "herbal" or "additive-free" they are branding themselves as alternative, bohemian, nonconformist and just another aspect of counter culture - big tobacco is one of the most mainstream, and corporate establishments in existence. Doing yoga and smoking is not a measure of versatility as Nina Utne insists. Please do not include any advertisements for tobacco products in future issues. Thank you. Sincerely, Jenny Day From awhite@essential.org Fri Mar 5 12:39:38 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 08B2A29B8D for ; Fri, 5 Mar 2004 12:39:38 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AD49F2C for ; Fri, 5 Mar 2004 12:39:37 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <4048BBBE.74401DE3@essential.org> Date: Fri, 05 Mar 2004 12:41:18 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: US Advocates - Support FCTC content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: An FCTC action alert from the Association for Nonsmokers' Rights... #### Advocates- We encourage you to take individual action and also to send this or your own FCTC alerts to coalition partners, friends, state listserves, etc. Now is the time for mobilization on this important issue. Thanks, BF Urgent Support Needed for Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) http://www.no-smoke.org/FCTC_030404.html March 4, 2004 ANR asks all U.S. smokefree advocates to help bring pressure on the United States government to sign and ratify the FCTC treaty. Governments have only until June 29, 2004 to sign the treaty, so swift action is necessary. In May 2003, the World Health Assembly adopted the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world's first tobacco control treaty. The FCTC addresses many tobacco control issues, including the rights of nonsmokers. It requires that all parties adopt at the national level, and actively promote at other levels of government, effective measures "providing for protection from exposure to tobacco smoke in indoor workplaces, public transport, indoor public places and, as appropriate, other public places." The FCTC has now been signed by more than 95 countries and ratified by 9, but it will not take effect unless ratified by 40 countries. The United States, which was under tremendous pressure from the tobacco industry not to support the FCTC last May, did so only reluctantly, and there is, thus far, no indication of any movement by the U.S. toward signature and ratification. Some Easy Things You Can Do to Help: 1) Contact Secretary Thompson and President Bush. Send a brief note or call urging the administration to ratify the FCTC. A sample letter, if you need one, can be found on the Framework Convention Alliance website at http://fctc.org/action/encourage_sign.html or by calling ANR at 510-841-3032 for a copy. Secretary Tommy G. Thompson Department of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20201 Email: HHS.Mail@hhs.gov Toll Free: 1-877-696-6775 President Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Email: president@whitehouse.gov Phone: 202-456-1111 2) Informally "sign" the FCTC Treaty. Although only nations can formally sign or ratify the treaty, non-governmental organizations and individuals can informally "sign" the treaty as a show of support. Sign by going to http://www.fctcnow.org/ or by calling ANR at (510) 841-3032 for a copy. 3) Visit the Framework Convention Alliance website at http://www.fctc.org/ to find out more about what you can do to help encourage the U.S and other nations to sign and ratify the FCTC. For more information, please call ANR at (510) 841-3032. Please tell your friends and colleagues to take action now to support the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This is important for the future of smokefree efforts in the U.S. and around the world, and individual efforts can make a difference. Bronson Frick Associate Director Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation 2530 San Pablo Avenue, Suite J Berkeley, CA 94702 (510) 841-3032 phone (510) 841-3071 fax bronson.frick@no-smoke.org www.no-smoke.org From awhite@essential.org Wed Mar 17 19:22:46 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4E00329B43 for ; Wed, 17 Mar 2004 19:22:46 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B69138E for ; Wed, 17 Mar 2004 19:22:45 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <4058EC4C.E59CAE6C@essential.org> Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 19:24:44 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Uganda Makes All Workplaces and Public Places Smokefree! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Thanks again to all of you who sent letters to the editor to Uganda newspapers last October and November in support of smokefree workplaces and public places. Many of the letters you wrote ended up being published in Ugandan media. To view a list of people who took action, go to: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=ug2. We are pleased to announce that last week Uganda became the 6th country in the world to go smokefree! Major credit goes to Phillip Karugaba who took his country's National Environment Management Authority (equivalent of the U.S. EPA) to court for failing to protect the right of nonsmokers to smokefree air. He won the case and the judge ordered that NEMA enforce the ruling by 2004. Congratulations Phillip!!! For more information, read the article below... Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action #### Government bans public smoking By Daniel K. Kalinaki The Monitor (March 12, 2004) http://monitor.co.ug/news/news03122.php KAMPALA - Government has banned smoking in public. Water, Lands and Environment minister, Col. Kahinda Otafiire told The Monitor last night that he had ordered the ban with effect from midnight yesterday. "Yes, I have banned smoking in all public places," Col. Otafiire told The Monitor by telephone. He said that the police had received instructions on how to handle offenders. "They know what to do," Otafiire said. Without giving details, the minister revealed that people caught smoking in public will face fines and, or jail terms. The minister defined public places as "anywhere where people converge and where there are non-smokers who do not want to inhale the smoke." Asked to define such places, he named the streets, pubs, schools - even homes, he said, where there are children, among others. Otafiire said: "This thing has been around for sometime but we had to enforce it." He said the Cabinet and Parliament were behind the move. Otafiire's ministry supervises the National Environment Management Authority, which has been holding public consultations over the issue. Health officials warn that tobacco smoking - even of second hand smoke by non-smokers - causes diseases. Henry Rugamba, the Corporate and Regulatory Affairs officer at British American Tobacco (U) Ltd, the biggest tobacco firm in Uganda, said he had not yet seen any official communication on the ban. From awhite@essential.org Tue Mar 30 14:19:10 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 44A8E29B8E for ; Tue, 30 Mar 2004 14:19:10 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 73A718E for ; Tue, 30 Mar 2004 14:18:18 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <4069C882.860E6BE5@essential.org> Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 14:20:34 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Congratulate Uganda on going smokefree! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: **************************************************** Take Action: Congratulate Uganda on going smokefree! **************************************************** Dear Friends, In mid-march, the Ugandan government banned smoking in all public places, becoming the 6th country in the world to go smoke-free! The bad news is that British American Tobacco - Uganda is hatching a plan to scuttle the law. Ugandan tobacco control advocates are calling on people around the world to send letters in support of the law to Uganda newspapers. Even just a few lines would make a difference! TAKE ACTION: Write a short letter in support of Uganda's new law. Your letter will be automatically emailed to leading Ugandan newspapers. To participate, click on: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=ugsf The more countries, states/provinces, and cities around the world that go (& stay) smokefree, the easier ALL our remaining smokefree campaigns will become. Thanks for participating! --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue Mar 30 15:44:16 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from genoa.essential.org (genoa.essential.org [65.222.222.34]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 91E0A29BA5 for ; Tue, 30 Mar 2004 15:44:16 -0500 (EST) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by genoa.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 45DEFAC for ; Tue, 30 Mar 2004 15:43:21 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <4069DC6D.CA92883@essential.org> Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 15:45:33 -0500 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Victory! Utne Reader suspends tobacco adverts content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Thanks to all of you who wrote letters to Utne Reader urging the magazine to reconsider its new policy of accepting tobacco advertising. The letters made a difference. Today, the magazine announced that it has decided to suspend tobacco advertising! To send Utne Reader a message of thanks, go to: http://www.utne.com/magazine/contact.html (click on "letters to the editor") For more information about the letter campaign, go to: http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/tobacco-activist/2004/000031.html Please find below the magazine's announcement about its decision. #### March 30, 2004 Dear Reader, We appreciate your having taken the time to let us know your feelings about tobacco and tobacco advertising. The debate we've had internally prompted the recognition for a number of us around here that we are committed civil libertarians. At the same time, we deeply value the feedback we received from readers, most of whom didn't condemn us, but asked that we look more closely at the message we're sending. So, upon further reflection, we have decided to suspend tobacco advertising. We are using the questions this has raised as an opportunity to examine our advertising policies in general. Thanks for communicating with us. Sincerely, Nina Nina Utne Chair, Utne magazine 1624 Harmon Place, Suite 330 Minneapolis, MN 55403 P: 612.338.5040/F: 612.337.5560 --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Thu May 6 11:32:13 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 62AEC29B59 for ; Thu, 6 May 2004 11:32:13 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4075E5FD17 for ; Thu, 6 May 2004 11:32:13 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <409A5B50.6889ED98@essential.org> Date: Thu, 06 May 2004 11:35:44 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Tobacco, Sports & Tax Breaks Don't Mix! (GUAM) content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Please find below an urgent action alert from Guam. Participation is as easy as clicking on the link below and filling in your name and email address. The more people who participate the better chance our colleagues in Guam have of giving this dangerous Bill a final defeat. Thanks for taking a few seconds out of your busy schedules to support tobacco control efforts in Guam! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action #### Dear Friends in the international tobacco control community, Guam needs your help to convince our Honorable Senators not the override the veto on a dangerous bill---Bill 255---which proposed to give tax breaks to tobacco and alcohol companies who contribute to the construction of a sports complex. With the help of some of you who wrote to our Governor and Senators, the Bill was vetoed by Governor Felix Camacho on 04 May. The Bill is now back with the Senators, who have the option to let the veto stay, or to override the veto and make the Bill a Law. The proponent of the Bill, Senator Lou Leon Guerrero, has declared on radio, TV and the newspaper that she will work to get her colleagues to override the veto. Now is the MOST CRITICAL time to get the senators to realize that the people of Guam [and world] strongly believe "Tobacco and alcohol, and sports, do NOT mix." TAKE ACTION: Just go to http://petitions.globalink.org/view.php?code=guam , fill in your name, and hit the send button, and the petition will be sent automatically to all the senators with copies to the Governor and UOG. Then spread the word about the petition to all your e-mail friends. All it takes is a few seconds, and a few clicks of the mouse. Yes, we can all make a difference. For the children of Guam, Annette Dr. Annette M. David Tobacco Control Technical Consultant Tumon, Guam From awhite@essential.org Thu May 6 15:17:48 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 22ACF29BD3 for ; Thu, 6 May 2004 15:17:48 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 09AE45FD19 for ; Thu, 6 May 2004 15:17:47 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <409A902E.C1BA155B@essential.org> Date: Thu, 06 May 2004 15:21:18 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Urge Honduran Government to Sign FCTC! content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, An appeal from the Honduran Anti-Tobacco Alliance: I am asking for your help. My Government has not yet signed the FCTC -- for this reason, we are pressing them to do so before the 31 May deadline. Please sign the petition "Honduras, please sign the FCTC!" http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Dhondurasen Thank you for supporting us in our efforts to have Honduras sign the FCTC. With best wishes, Ms. Laura Florencia Salgado Alianza Hondure=F1a Antitabaco --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue May 11 17:50:12 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1445C29B19 for ; Tue, 11 May 2004 17:50:12 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C942F5FD05 for ; Tue, 11 May 2004 17:50:11 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <40A149C7.EF5EE8FE@essential.org> Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 17:46:48 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Urge U.S. Ratification of the FCTC! content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Yesterday, the U.S. became the 108th country to sign the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Below are some reactions from various U.S. groups (Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, American Cancer Society, & Infact), followed by a press release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As many groups note, the U.S. signature will only be meaningful if it is followed by ratification and strong implementation. Given the tobacco industry's close ties to the Bush Administration, the destructive role the U.S. took during the FCTC negotiations, and the long history of the U.S. refusing to ratify international treaties, it is appropriate that the news has been met with tempered praise and skepticism. TAKE ACTION (for U.S. citizens): 1) The American Lung Association is conducting a fax campaign to the President to urge a swift ratification of the FCTC. Participation is easy -- just click on the following link and fill in your name and address (and any personal comments you choose to add): http://lungaction.org/campaign/RATIFYFCTC2004 2) Urge your two US Senators to support FCTC ratification. Call the US Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121 #### 1) CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO FREE KIDS PRESS RELEASE (May 11, 2004) Statement of Judith P. Wilkenfeld Director, International Programs Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids U.S. Must Sign AND Ratify Tobacco Treaty WASHINGTON, DC - Late Monday, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson signed the international tobacco treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, on behalf of the United States. While we welcome U.S. signing of the treaty as a first step, it is even more important that the Administration submit the treaty to the U.S. Senate and work vigorously for its ratification. Signing the treaty without committing to its ratification would be little more than a public relations gesture because signing alone does not commit the U.S. to take any action domestically or internationally that would actually reduce tobacco use and save lives. The treaty will enter into force and become international law after 40 countries have ratified it. To date, there have been 109 signatories to the treaty (including the European Community) and 12 countries have ratified it. While the World Health Organization has set a deadline of June 29 for nations to sign the treaty, signing the treaty by itself is largely a symbolic act. Ratification is a far more important step because only ratification by a sufficient number of countries can bring the treaty into force and only ratification can obligate nations to implement its provisions. Ratification and implementation of the treaty are critical to turning the tide of the global tobacco epidemic. Tobacco use already kills more than four million people worldwide every year. If current trends continue, it will kill 10 million a year within two decades, with 70 percent of those deaths in developing nations. These nations have been the primary targets of the tobacco companies as smoking rates have slowly declined in more developed nations. The treaty gives nations powerful new tools to protect the health of their citizens from the tobacco industry's deceptions and slick marketing. It requires ratifying nations to adopt two policies proven to reduce smoking and save lives: a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, with an exception for nations with constitutional constraints, and large health warning labels that cover at least 30 percent of cigarette packs. The treaty also provides nations with a roadmap for enacting strong, science-based policies in other areas, including secondhand smoke protections, tobacco taxation, tobacco product regulation and measures to combat cigarette smuggling. Although the policies endorsed by the treaty reflect the best recommendations of the United States' own scientific experts and studies, the U.S. government consistently fought to weaken almost every provision of the treaty during negotiations and supported positions consistent with those of the tobacco industry. Delegates to the negotiations reported that the U.S. threatened to withhold monetary and technical assistance to international tobacco control efforts if its positions were not adopted. Fortunately, developing nations that are on the front lines of the tobacco epidemic stood up to these efforts, and a strong treaty was negotiated and adopted. While the U.S. last May joined other nations in unanimously agreeing to send the treaty out for ratification, it did so only after its last-ditch effort to reopen negotiations failed. By ratifying the treaty, and supporting its effective implementation domestically and internationally, the U.S. can again become a leader in protecting public health around the world. #### 2) AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY PRESS RELEASE (May 11, 2004) American Cancer Society Welcomes Decision to Sign Global Tobacco Treaty Urges U.S. to Back Signature with Action WASHINGTON -- The American Cancer Society today welcomed news that the United States has signed the World Health Organization's global tobacco control treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson signed the document for the U.S. at the United Nations in New York late Monday. "The treaty is a critical first step in defusing the world's ticking tobacco time bomb," said John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society. "Signing it is absolutely the right thing to do, but it will only be meaningful if it is backed by concrete action. The Society looks forward to working with the Administration and Congress to see that this treaty is quickly ratified and fully implemented." The Society now calls on the United States to take three specific steps to back the FCTC signing with action and demonstrate leadership in global tobacco control: =B7 Submit the treaty to the U.S. Senate and work vigorously for ratification. The Senate must ratify the FCTC by a two-thirds majority vote before the U.S. can join in the treaty. =B7 Provide more financial and technical support for low and middle income nations. This is one of the most cost-effective investments in public health for nations struggling to put effective tobacco control programs into place. Because smoking rates are declining in high-income nations, tobacco companies are now targeting low and middle income nations and the tobacco pandemic now threatens Sub-Saharan Africa, China, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and North Africa. =B7 Reform tobacco trade policy. Current trade policies promote tobacco consumption and could undermine the effort to reduce smoking rates in low and middle income nations. The FCTC embraces core elements of comprehensive tobacco control. It requires ratifying nations to eliminate all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, with a narrow exception for nations such as the United States whose constitutions may not allow a complete ban. It also requires warning labels to occupy at least 30 percent of the front and back of every pack of cigarettes; commits nations to protecting nonsmokers from tobacco smoke in indoor workplaces; urges strict regulation of tobacco product contents; and calls for higher tobacco taxes, global coordination to fight tobacco smuggling, and promotion of tobacco prevention, cessation and research programs. The World Health Organization estimates that 500 million people alive today, including 250 million children, ultimately will die premature deaths because of tobacco use. At current rates, tobacco will become the world's leading cause of premature death by 2030. In the United States, about 440,000 people die each year from tobacco related illnesses and nearly one-third of all cancers are attributable to tobacco use. The Framework Convention was adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2003. Forty nations must sign and ratify the treaty before it can take effect. As of May 10, 108 nations had signed and 12 had ratified. The American Cancer Society is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by saving lives, diminishing suffering and preventing cancer through research, education, advocacy, and service. Founded in 1913 and with national headquarters in Atlanta, the Society has 14 regional Divisions and local offices in 3,400 communities, involving millions of volunteers across the United States. For more information anytime, call 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org. #### 3) INFACT PRESS RELEASE (May 11, 2004) Bush Administration=92s Signing of Global Tobacco Treaty CALLED PUBLIC RELATIONS MANEUVER Infact Skeptical that US Will Ratify Groundbreaking Treaty, Calls on US Senate to Act Decisively on Framework Convention on Tobacco Control BOSTON =97 The Bush Administration=92s decision to sign the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is the latest in a series of public relations maneuvers to gain positive recognition while working to undermine the world=92s first public health treaty, according to Infact, a membership organization that holds abusive corporations accountable. Throughout the FCTC negotiating process, the US government consistently took positions that would dilute the treaty at the expense of people=92s lives in the US and around the world. =93Infact is not encouraged by the news that the US is signing this global tobacco treaty. Unfortunately, our government has a history of signing treaties, leveraging its power to weaken the treaties and then never ratifying them. This is a stunning PR maneuver. We are not holding our breath for the US to ratify the treaty,=94 says Infact Executive Director Kathryn Mulvey. According to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, once a country signs a treaty it is bound to uphold the spirit and intent of the agreement. The US, however, has not followed this practice with other treaties that it has signed. According to an Infact report=97Cowboy Diplomacy: How the US Undermines International Environmental, Human Rights, Disarmament and Health Agreements=97there is a clear pattern in recent history of the US negotiating down to the lowest common denominator, then failing to support environmental, human rights and other treaties. Treaties that the US has signed and not ratified include: the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Persistent Organic Pollutants Treaty. =93The US government has fought the FCTC every step of the way, even while they=92ve publicly claimed to support it,=94 says Mulvey. =93Treaties are meant to be ratified. Infact is calling on the US Senate to reverse our country=92s record on international humanitarian agreements and move to ratify the FCTC quickly. Only then will we have seen meaningful progress.=94 Senator Richard Lugar (IN) is Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, the only Congressional committee with the responsibility to review treaties. The FCTC, the world=92s first public health and corporate accountability treaty, will save millions of lives and change the way the tobacco industry operates globally with or without US involvement. Initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO), the FCTC bans tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (such as Philip Morris/Altria=92s 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 such as pharmaceuticals, oil and agribusiness. The tobacco industry is deeply concerned about the impact of the FCTC on its profits and expansion plans. At the annual meeting of tobacco giant Philip Morris/Altria last month, Chair and CEO Louis Camilleri condemned the FCTC=92s ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. =93Philip Morris/Altria has close ties a number of key players in the Bush Administration, including Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson and Senior Advisor Karl Rove. Now that the US has signed, will this Administration push for the Senate to ratify quickly during this election year? Infact will be closely monitoring our government=92s next steps,=94 concludes Mulvey. ### 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 corporation=97 like Nestle, GE and Philip Morris/Altria=97 to 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. #### 4) U.S. HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES PRESS RELEASE (May 11, 2004) U.S. Signs Tobacco Control Treaty NEW YORK, May 11 /U.S. Newswire/ -- On behalf of the United States, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) on Monday at the United Nations. The FCTC is the first-ever global public health treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO). The treaty serves as an important basis for advancing public health worldwide. It encourages other nations to establish standards similar to the ones set for tobacco prevention and control domestically in the United States. For example, the treaty contains a strong U.S.-drafted provision against tobacco smuggling, which could help prevent illicit trade in tobacco. "The United States has long been a world leader in anti- smoking efforts," Secretary Thompson said. "We have committed more resources than any other country to the research, development and evaluation of smoking control and cessation programs, both at home and abroad. President Bush and I look forward to working with the WHO and other member nations to implement this agreement." Secretary Thompson noted that the United States is making strides in reducing death and disease caused by tobacco as well as in diminishing use, especially among children. Youth smoking rates have dropped significantly in this country among minors -- from 18.9 percent in the mid-1990s to 13 percent in 2002. However, tobacco-related illness remains the leading preventable cause of death among adult Americans. The United States, with HHS as the lead agency, participated actively throughout the drafting process and negotiations to help achieve a strong and effective instrument for global tobacco control. The World Health Assembly adopted the FCTC in May 2003. The United States becomes the 108th nation to sign this treaty. The FCTC is intended to provide for basic tobacco control measures to be implemented by all parties through domestic law. The objective of the FCTC is to protect "present and future generations from devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences" of tobacco use and to reduce the prevalence of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke. The demand for and the supply of tobacco is addressed through various means, including smoking prevention and cessation, health warnings on packaging, restrictions on tobacco advertising and sponsorship in accordance with each signatory nation's domestic law and constitution, and measures to combat illicit trade. Promoting public awareness of the adverse health effects of tobacco use is also a key element of the treaty. Parties must support measures to protect against exposure to tobacco smoke in public venues, and prohibit cigarette sales to minors. The FCTC is designed to reduce the demand for and the supply of tobacco, and promoting public awareness of the adverse health effects of tobacco use is a key element of the treat. Once the FCTC takes effect, treaty requires partners to: -- Promote public awareness of tobacco control and promote smoking prevention and cessation. -- Include health warnings on packaging and ensure that tobacco product packaging and labeling is not false or misleading, or could create the false impression that the product is less harmful than other tobacco products. -- Have restrictions on tobacco advertising and sponsorship in accordance with each nation's domestic law and constitution. -- Have measures to combat illicit trade to prevent tobacco smuggling, a provision drafted by the United States. -- Prohibit tobacco product sales to minors. The treaty is open for signature until June 29. The treaty will take effect after 40 nations have ratified it; nine nations have ratified the FCTC so far. The next step for the treaty in the United States is submission to the Senate, following completion of further interagency review of the treaty. --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Tel: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essentialinformation.org Tue May 25 16:40:56 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@venice.essential.org Received: from questmail.futurequest.net (questmail.futurequest.net [69.5.6.251]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with SMTP id D503629B7A for ; Tue, 25 May 2004 16:40:55 -0400 (EDT) Received: (qmail 12181 invoked by uid 12315); 25 May 2004 20:40:55 -0000 Received: from 65.27.84.222 (SquirrelMail authenticated user awhite@essentialinformation.org); by QuestMail.FutureQuest.net with HTTP; Tue, 25 May 2004 16:40:55 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <65203.65.27.84.222.1085517655.squirrel@65.27.84.222> Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 16:40:55 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Take Action: Encourage your country to sign the FCTC! From: "Anna White" To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Reply-To: awhite@essential.org User-Agent: SquirrelMail/1.4.2 X-Mailer: SquirrelMail/1.4.2 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 (Normal) Importance: Normal References: In-Reply-To: content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: NOTE: If you are based in a country outside of the U.S, that has not yet signed the FCTC, please read on! Dear Friends, If your country has not yet signed the FCTC, now's the time to take action to encourage your country to sign! Please find more information below on how to do so (from the Framework Convention Alliance). Anna Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action #### Dear Colleagues: I am writing to urge you to take immediate action to get your country to sign the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), if it has not done so already. As of today, 116 countries have signed the FCTC and 16 have ratified it (for a current list, go to http://fctc.org/sign_rat/signed.shtml). The deadline for signing the FCTC is June 29th -- less than 6 weeks from now. If your country still hasn't signed, please take some time out of your busy schedules to immediately arrange meetings with the people responsible in your government (usually Foreign Affairs and Health Ministries) for signing the FCTC. Below are some arguments that you can use when you go to meet with your government representatives. Please let me know what sort of reaction you get, and how the Framework Convention Alliance could be of assistance in your efforts to get your country to sign and ratfiy the treaty. Arguments You Can Use in Your Meetings with Government Officials -- A large number of countries signing gives weight to the FCTC, and shows the international consensus behind the conclusions and provisions in the FCTC. -- A country does not have to amend legislation in order to sign the FCTC. -- Neither the Minister of Health nor anyone else has to fly to United Nations Headquarters in New York in order to sign. Signing can be done by sending written authorization for someone in New York to sign. (This has been a concern in terms of feasibility given the deadline, and given that many small developing countries have indicated that they do not have the money for the Minister of Health to make this trip. An example of a letter of authorization can be found ite at on page 17 of this pdf file: http://www.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA57/A57_18-en.pdf http://untreaty.un.org/ola-internet/Assistance/handbook_eng/annex3.htm#a3) -- Already 115 countries have signed the FCTC, including the following countries in our region (refer to the list at http://fctc.org/sign_rat/signed.shtml). What is ourcountry waiting for? -- The number of countries that have not signed after June 29, 2004 will be very, very short. It would be an embarassment for our country to be on that list. -- Signing the FCTC costs our country nothing. There is no good reason not to sign. -- Signing does not require our country to immediately amend its legislation. Legislation would only have to be amended if we ratify. -- Even countries such as Japan, China and the United States have signed. If all of these countries can sign, so can ours. - Our country participated in the FCTC negotiations and participated in the unanimous approval by 192 member countries of WHO at the World Health Assembly on May 21, 2003. We need to follow up on this committment. -- There will be a meeting on the FCTC by the Intergovernmental Working Group in Geneva, June 21-25, 2004. Our country should sign before sending a delegation to this meeting. -- Signing has to be done at UN Headquarters in New York. Signing can be done by a country's New York-based representative to the UN. Authorization from a country's Head of State or Head of Government (e.g. President, Prime Minister, Governor General) or Minister of Foreign Affairs can be signed to give any person the authority to sign on behalf of a country; this is typically the country's Ambassador at the UN. Note: It should be mentioned that if a country does not sign by the deadline, it can still be become a Party to the FCTC through the process of accession. The effect of accession is the same as ratification: a Party is bound by FCTC obligations. But going straight to accession will simply not be possible in the short term for some countries. Signing is a valuable initial step endorsing the FCTC. From awhite@essential.org Mon Jun 7 12:43:13 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0015429B5C for ; Mon, 7 Jun 2004 12:43:12 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DCA325FD12 for ; Mon, 7 Jun 2004 12:43:12 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 06401-03-2 for ; Mon, 7 Jun 2004 12:43:11 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8E8335FD08 for ; Mon, 7 Jun 2004 12:43:11 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <40C49C2B.7E68558C@essential.org> Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 12:47:39 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Urge Peru to Ratify FCTC! X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new-20030616-p7 (Debian) at essential.org content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Peru signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in April, but has yet to ratify it. The Notabaco Center del Peru has set up an online letter campaign calling on the President of Peru's Health Commission to urge the Peruvian Parliament to ratify the FCTC. TAKE ACTION: Just click on the link below, add your name, and click "send"! http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=fctcperu Thanks for participating in this easy action! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Wed Jun 9 12:56:14 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DFFD329B0F for ; Wed, 9 Jun 2004 12:56:14 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C185E5FD12 for ; Wed, 9 Jun 2004 12:56:14 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 11949-02-17 for ; Wed, 9 Jun 2004 12:56:13 -0400 (EDT) Received: from essential.org (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7DA805FD08 for ; Wed, 9 Jun 2004 12:56:13 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <40C7423D.47ACAABC@essential.org> Date: Wed, 09 Jun 2004 13:00:45 -0400 From: Anna White Organization: Essential Action X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en]C-CCK-MCD NSCPCD473 (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Urge EU to ratify, Romania to sign FCTC! X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new-20030616-p7 (Debian) at essential.org content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Please take a minute out of your busy schedules to add your name to the following two *URGENT* online FCTC-related petitions. The June 29th deadline for countries to sign the FCTC is fast approaching! 1) URGE EUROPEAN UNION TO RATIFY FCTC It is extremely important that the EU ratify the FCTC immediately, because doing so will allow the EU member states to ratify, bringing us much closer to the target of 40 country ratifications needed to bring the Convention into force. Click on the link below to send an email to EU Health Commissioner David Byrne and others. http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=eufctc 2) URGE ROMANIA TO SIGN THE FCTC http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=rofctc Thanks in advance for participating. Your support of international colleagues' efforts to get their countries to sign/ratify the FCTC is greatly appreciated. --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Mon Jul 19 19:26:00 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 054EA29B37 for ; Mon, 19 Jul 2004 19:26:00 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C56295FD31 for ; Mon, 19 Jul 2004 19:25:59 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 07081-01-4 for ; Mon, 19 Jul 2004 19:25:59 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [127.0.0.1] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 950755FD05 for ; Mon, 19 Jul 2004 19:25:56 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <40FC82A9.8070909@essential.org> Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2004 19:25:45 -0700 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Action Alert Updates: Honduras, Romania, and Nigeria X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new-20030616-p10 (Debian) at essential.org content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Here are a couple updates on action alerts we have promoted in the past yea= r. Thanks again for your participation! ******************** ACTION ALERT UPDATES ******************** 1) SIGNING OF FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON TOBACCO CONTROL (FCTC) http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/tobacco-activist/2004/000037.html http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Drofctc 168 countries, including Honduras and Romania, have signed the FCTC. 24 of= these countries have also ratified it. The treaty will enter into force af= ter 16 more countries ratify it. For more information, including a complete= list of countries that have signed and ratified the FCTC, go to: http://fctc.org/sign_rat/signed.shtml 2) PADDI TAKES NAFDAC TO COURT (NIGERIA) http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Dnigeria Note from Eze Eluchie, Executive Director of People Against Drug Dependence= and Ignorance (PADDI): In furtherance of our online petition, to which some of you had already sig= ned-on, we have formally instituted an action against the National Agency f= or Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) aimed at compelling the sa= id government agency to regulate tobacco (cigarettes and other allied products) as a 'dru= g'. This matter is currently before the Federal High Court(Court No. 6), Lagos,= presided over by Justice Okeke. On the last adjourned date (July 12th 2004), our organization obtained Leav= e of Court to serve the Respondents (NAFDAC) with necessary Court processes= . The case was further adjourned to Monday, 19th July for further arguements. Note: This suit is supported by a mini-grant from the Tobacco Control Resou= rce Center of the Northeastern University School of Law We will endeavour to keep you abreast of the developments in this suit. Website: www.paddi.globalink.org --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Wed Sep 8 14:24:57 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 87F9829B4E for ; Wed, 8 Sep 2004 14:24:57 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 663D55FD09 for ; Wed, 8 Sep 2004 14:24:57 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 04448-02-2 for ; Wed, 8 Sep 2004 14:24:57 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E994B5FD05 for ; Wed, 8 Sep 2004 14:24:56 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <413F4E77.9070800@essential.org> Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2004 14:24:55 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Part in the 1st Annual Intl TOBACCO VICTIMS' MEMORIAL DAY - Sept 25, 2004 X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new-20030616-p10 (Debian) at essential.org content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Tobacco control groups in California are organizing the First Annual TOBACCO VICTIM'S MEMORIAL DAY on Saturday, September 25, 2004 to draw attention to tobacco's horrific human toll. They would very much like to make it a nationa/international event. Read on for more information about the memorial day and how your organization can get involved. Organizations that would like to take part should email event coordinator Laurie Comstock as soon as possible, to be included in planning and media outreach for the event. Best wishes, Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action ****************************************** First Annual TOBACCO VICTIMS' MEMORIAL DAY Saturday, September 25, 2004 ****************************************** IN HONOR/MEMORY OF: People who have died from tobacco-related diseases; people who are suffering or have suffered from tobacco-related illnesses; people who have lost loved ones to tobacco; and people who want to keep children from becoming the next generation of tobacco users. Also for people who want help in quitting smoking. HOW TO PARTICIPATE: There is no official guidelines for participation. Groups around the U.S. and world are encouraged to come up with their own unique ways of drawing attention to tobacco's human toll. Groups in California are planning a memorial walk, rally, and health fair at the California State Capitol. As part of the event, they will have an international moment of silence for all who have lost loved ones to tobacco-caused diseases. Participants are encouraged to wear black t-shirts and bring photos of the tobacco industry's victims. Your group may want to organize a memorial procession, a "die in" featuring people lying down on the ground around a large replica of a cigarette pack, a press conference featuring a tobacco death clock, and/or some other event that fits the theme. Some specific suggestions: 1) PHOTO DISPLAY OF TOBACCO'S VICTIMS. Photos of tobacco's victims help put faces on large abstract statistics and tell the personal story of tobacco's tragic impact on families and communities. You may want to encourage participants in your event to wear black and carry the photo of someone they know who has suffered from tobacco use. Photos could also be made into posters, a banner, and/or a press conference backdrop. In California, groups are planning a big display of vacant chairs (approx. 200) with photos attached to the chairs to draw attention to the people who might have been to the event had they not died from a tobacco-related disease. If you would like to share your loved one's photo (full page size preferable), please send a nonreturnable photo to Laurie Comstock (see mailing address below). On a separate piece of paper, share information about the person in the photo, which will also be attached to the chairs. Note: contributions from international participants may also be scanned and sent by email to . 2) INTERNATIONAL MOMENT OF SILENCE. California groups are planning a moment of silence to take place at 12:45 pm Pacific Daylight time (20:45 GMT). Groups around the world are encouraged to plan a moment of silence, as part of their events, at the same exact time or at 12:45 local time. If you would like to have a loved one recognized at the California event, send an email to Laurie Comstock with information about who you are remembering, whether it is your mother/father/sister/brother or whatever relationship (names optional), type of tobacco-caused disease and age at time of death. You can share as much or as little information as you feel comfortable sharing. Also please indicate what city, state or country you are from. 3) PRESS COVERAGE. Send out a media advisory about your event ahead of time. Note that your event is part of an international memorial day. Mention some of the specific people who will be remembered at the event and describe any visuals you plan to have (important for television coverage and newspaper photographers). Make follow up calls to key media contacts. Distribute a press release the day of the event. Make sure to mention effective actions your state/country could take to decrease tobacco's deadly toll, e.g. ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, pass smokefree workplaces legislation, increase the tobacco tax and use a portion of revenues to fund tobacco control programs, etc. Events planned around the memorial day need not be elaborate, time-consuming, or expensive to be successful. A gathering of just a few people, a simple visual that tells the story of tobacco's human toll, and some strategic media outreach could do the trick. Be sure to take photos of your event to be later displayed on a website detailing events that took place around the U.S. and world on the first annual international memorial day for tobacco victims. Note: The TOBACCO VICTIMS' MEMORIAL DAY is an annual memorial day that will take place the last Saturday of every September. For more information and/or to inform organizers of your group's participation, please contact: Laurie Comstock 9141 E. Stockton Blvd., Suite 250-317 Elk Grove, CA 95624 Email: Lauriscomstock@aol.com Tel/Fax: +1 916-686-2043 http://www.TobaccoSurvivorsUnited.org --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Wed Sep 8 15:38:11 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4C2A629B5D for ; Wed, 8 Sep 2004 15:38:11 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 373E25FD09 for ; Wed, 8 Sep 2004 15:38:11 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 06249-01-5 for ; Wed, 8 Sep 2004 15:38:10 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9D4A55FD05 for ; Wed, 8 Sep 2004 15:38:10 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <413F5FA1.6070707@essential.org> Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2004 15:38:09 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Encourage Brazil to Ratify the FCTC! X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new-20030616-p10 (Debian) at essential.org content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, The Brazilian Senate is strongly influenced by the tobacco industry. This is proving to be major obstacle to the ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in Brazil. The InterAmerican Heart Foundation has set up an online petition to encourage the Brazilian Senate to protect public health and ratify the FCTC= . TAKE ACTION: Send an email to the Brazilian Senate! Just click on http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Dbrafctc, fill in your name and country, then click "send my letter!" The letter is pre-written, so this shouldn't take you more than a few seconds to do. See below for more information about the issue, including an English translation of the petition. Please note that the deadline for adding your name is September 13, 2004. Thanks for participating! Anna Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action ************************************************* TAKE ACTION: Encourage Brazil to Ratify the FCTC! ************************************************* <><> Context: The Brazilian Senate is strongly influenced by the Tobacco Industry (especially with regards to BAT subsidies) and the ratification of Brazil is in danger or could be set back in its Schedule. It is necessary that the Brazilian Senators listen to the international community and not the tobacco industry. <>Take Action: Send an email to the Brazilian Senate (letter is pre-written) Click on: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Dbrafctc Deadline: September 13, 2004 <> Sponsored by: FUNDACION INTER AMERICANA DEL CORAZON http://www.ficnet.org/ English Translation of Letter to Brazilian Senators: Dear Mr. Legislator: The use of tobacco is a serious problem for global public health. This usage causes more deaths per year than HIV/AIDS, traffic accidents, alcohol abuse, illegal drugs, homicides and suicides together. Almost 5 million people die each year from tobacco related diseases. In addition, it provokes serious risks to the economies where the deaths occur due to the costs. The World Bank has concluded further that tobacco use complicates sustainable development of countries and recommends tobacco control as a necessary strategy for economic development in countries. In 80% of tobacco usage, smokers have begun in their adolescence, beginning early an addiction that is equally, if not more, powerful than cocaine and heroin. Until now, Brazil has been one of the leaders in the tobacco control movement at a global level. We have tobacco control legislation that serves as a model for both America and the world. Brazil has been a pioneer in diverse strategies for tobacco control worldwide. We have recently learned and are gravely concerned that the ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the World Health Organization has been defeated in the Brazilian Senate. The tobacco industry has spread information that does not fit reality, with the objective to impede the ratification process through the media channels. It is of serious concern that the Chamber of Representatives has succumbed to the tobacco industry's will. <>We would like to remind you that this convention is an international treaty designed to =93protect the current and future generations of the devastating consequences of tobacco consumption=94, and is the result of four years work of the official delegates of 192 sovereign countries and the extensive analysis of all the information and existing experience of the international community. This treaty will not make the tobacco trade disappear; it will continue producing and selling. Only in the long term would the production of tobacco be reduced. The treaty is expected to restrain the present tobacco epidemic and reduce the burden of death and disease that its consumption causes, but it will not be accompanied, in the short or medium term, with economic losses for the great majority of countries, the disappearance of tobacco cultivation, nor drastic employment reductions= . All these fears are unfounded and are used by the tobacco industry to lobby and influence governments at the moment to affect their decisions regarding tobacco control. We would like to remind you that the same industry more than 50 years ago knew that it was selling products that kill 50% of its users and that its products are extremely addictive, but decided to hide and deny this information to prevent it from hurting its revenues. They currently continue maintaining this strategy trying to take advantage of societies and the governments so that they do not take measures to control an extremely dangerous consumer product, as is tobacco products. Confronting the tobacco problem touches upon ethical issues both for its governments and its people because it focuses on the peoples=92 right to live and be healthy, the rights of children to not be manipulated to benefit adults, the rights of consumers to be sufficiently informed and the rights of workers to be employed in non contaminated work environments against the commercial rights of an industry which has demonstrated that it lacks all types of ethics. For the combined reasons, we ask that you help support the ratification of the FCTC for the control of tobacco on behalf of Brazil and prevent any more delay to the FCTC's ratification. The people of Brazil and the inhabitants of the world will thank you. We know that we can count on you. --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Fri Sep 24 17:02:25 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 538A629B57 for ; Fri, 24 Sep 2004 17:02:25 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3F8C95FD06 for ; Fri, 24 Sep 2004 17:02:25 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 08361-01-7 for ; Fri, 24 Sep 2004 17:02:25 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E49415FD05 for ; Fri, 24 Sep 2004 17:02:24 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <41548B5F.2030509@essential.org> Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 17:02:23 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Urge Ratificiation of FCTC in Malaysia and Brazil! X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new-20030616-p10 (Debian) at essential.org content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Colleagues in Malaysia and Brazil have set up online petitions in support of their countries ratifying the FCTC. Please take a moment to clink on the links below and add your name! #### 1) MALAYSIA: URGE GOVERNMENT TO PROMPTLY RATIFY THE FCTC Malaysia signed the FCTC in September 2003, but has not yet ratified it, despite the country's advancement in tobacco control measures in recent years. Neighbouring countries Singapore and Brunei have already ratified the FCTC. TAKE ACTION: Sign the petition to Malaysia's Prime Minister! Just click on the link below and add your name and country. http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=malaysia Sponsored by: Clearinghouse for Tobacco Control (C-Tob), National Poison Center http://www.prn2.usm.my/main.asp #### 2) BRAZIL: CONGRATULATE MINISTER OF HEALTH FOR HIS SUPPORT OF FCTC RATIFICATION The FCTC is stalled in the Brazilian Senate due to pressure from the tobacco growers lobby. AFUBRA, along with the industry groups Sindifumo and Abifumo, are claiming that Brazilian ratification of the FCTC will lead to a rapid decline of the tobacco-growing sector, wrecking the economy of one of the most prosperous areas of the country (the South), depriving 200,000 rural families of income, and causing a further influx of unemployed rural workers into urban areas. This unrealistic disaster scenario is getting a lot of media attention. TAKE ACTION: Sign a petition to Brazil's Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and President. The petition denounces the link between AFUBRA and the tobacco industry and supports the Health Minister's position in favor of the FCTC. Just click on the link below and add your name and country! http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=brrtz Sponsored by: Rede Tabaco Zero http://www.tabacozero.net/ --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue Oct 5 11:32:09 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E3DD529B39 for ; Tue, 5 Oct 2004 11:32:09 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id CD2475FD09 for ; Tue, 5 Oct 2004 11:32:09 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 28269-01-2 for ; Tue, 5 Oct 2004 11:32:09 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8CAFB5FD05 for ; Tue, 5 Oct 2004 11:32:09 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <4162BE79.1040101@essential.org> Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2004 11:32:09 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Tell Nigerian Media Merit Awards to Reject BAT Money! X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new-20030616-p10 (Debian) at essential.org content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ****************************************************************** Take Action: Tell Nigerian Media Merit Awards to Reject BAT Money! ****************************************************************** Dear Friends, In a bid to muzzle and suppress critical newspaper editorials and articles, British American Tobacco (BAT) Nigeria recently presented a substantial sum (in the form of an Endowment) and an Annual Prize for the Best Industrial Reporter of the Year to the Nigerian Media Merit Awards (NMMA). The NMMA has unwittingly accepted censorship by accepting this gift. TAKE ACTION: Send a letter to the Chairman and Members of the Board of Trustees of the Nigerian Media Merit Awards and ask them to reject the BAT money! Just click on the link below, fill in your name and hit "Send" (feel free to modify the letter with additional personalized comments) http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=nigerian Sponsored by: People Against Drug Dependence & Ignorance (PADDI) http://www.paddi.globalink.org/ Thanks for taking action! --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Thu Oct 14 16:00:03 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7C22729B71 for ; Thu, 14 Oct 2004 16:00:03 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 077FD5FD09 for ; Thu, 14 Oct 2004 16:00:03 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 04488-01-5 for ; Thu, 14 Oct 2004 16:00:02 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 980965FD05 for ; Thu, 14 Oct 2004 16:00:02 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <416EDAC2.4000002@essential.org> Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2004 16:00:02 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: WMU, Don't Honor Philip Morris as "Employer of the Year"! X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new-20030616-p10 (Debian) at essential.org content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: --- please forward widely! --- ********************************************************************** Take Action: WMU, Don't Honor Philip Morris as "Employer of the Year"! ********************************************************************** Dear Friends, Western Michigan University (WMU) has named Philip Morris its "Employer of the Year" for the company's recruiting efforts on campus and support of the university's career services programs. Philip Morris is scheduled to receive the honor on October 21, 2004. WMU has made a terrible mistake in choosing to honor a company that kills many more people than it employs. Our job is to pressure WMU to change its decision before this date! TAKE ACTION: 1) Send a free fax to WMU's President! Your letter will automatically cc'd by email to the Secretary of WMU's Board of Trustees, the university's spokesperson, and key WMU Career and Student Employment Service staff. Just click on the link below: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=pmhon NOTE: While a pre-written letter is provided in order to maximize participation, we strongly encourage you to submit an original letter or at least modify the pre-written letter with personalized comments. In particular, you might: * Describe who you are and why you are personally upset by WMU's horrible choice of a company to honor * Mention specific examples of irresponsible Philip Morris conduct in your state/country 2) Send a letter to the editor of a local/regional newspaper! This is a great way to amplify the pressure on the university to change its decision. There are direct links to several key newspapers on the WMU letter campaign webpage: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/wmu/ 3) Forward this action alert far and wide! Encourage your colleagues, friends, and family members to also take action. The more people who participate, the more likely the university will be to change its decision. For more information see the press release from Western Michigan University announcing their decision (below) or go to http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/wmu/ Thanks for taking action! #### Philip Morris named Employer of the Year WMU News Oct. 9, 2004 KALAMAZOO--Philip Morris USA has been named Western Michigan University's 2003-04 Employer of the Year and will receive the honor during the University's seventh annual Etiquette Dinner from 6 to 9 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 21, on campus in the Fetzer Center. Career and Student Employment Services in WMU's Division of Student Affairs has been designating the University's top employer each academic year since 1991. Recipients are chosen based on their outstanding recruiting practices as well as their high level of involvement in educational partnerships and recruiting activities that contribute to the career development and employment of WMU students and alumni. Accepting the 2003-04 award will be Todd Rogalski (Ra-GAWL-ski), unit manager for Philip Morris who earned a bachelor of business administration degree in marketing from WMU in 2000. Linda Ickes (ICK-us), associate director of CSES, notes that Philip Morris is presenting this year's Etiquette Dinner program, which includes a seminar on business etiquette for students and is followed by a group meal where students will practice their newly learned skills. "This is just one example of the many ways the company supports the career development of WMU students," Ickes says. "Philip Morris also interviews on campus, provides support for our Career Search Manual, and participates in career fairs and alumni internship panel presentations. In addition, its representatives visit campus several times each year to recruit and screen for summer interns as well as regional sales managers." Philip Morris USA is the domestic tobacco company owned by Altria Group Inc. Headquartered in Richmond, Va., it employs more than 178,000 people across the country. Rogalski and about 30 other employees are WMU alumni. Those alumni include world-class engineers and researchers; highly trained manufacturing specialists; and experts in sales, marketing, finance, communications and human resources. "Todd [Rogalski] has a passion to succeed and a communication style that is highly responsive to both people and the business tasks at hand," Ickes says. "These traits exemplify what Philip Morris looks for in its interns and prospective employees. We're proud to welcome him back to campus for the Etiquette Dinner because he can always be counted on to demonstrate professionalism to our students and help WMU strengthen its partnerships with business and industry." --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue Oct 19 16:16:04 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8814129B61 for ; Tue, 19 Oct 2004 16:16:04 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 666385FD13 for ; Tue, 19 Oct 2004 16:16:04 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 09690-02-2 for ; Tue, 19 Oct 2004 16:16:04 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E0F4F5FD05 for ; Tue, 19 Oct 2004 16:16:03 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <41757603.7020507@essential.org> Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 16:16:03 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Update re: "WMU Employer of the Year" fax campaign X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new-20030616-p10 (Debian) at essential.org content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends Thanks to all of you who have participated in the campaign to pressure West= ern Michigan University to reconsider its decision to name Philip Morris US= A its "Employer of the Year." Nearly 300 people have sent faxes to Western= Michigan University's president so far! To send a fax and/or to read the = letters that have been sent, go to: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Dpmhon If you have already sent a fax and would like to take further action, here = are a few suggestions: 1) CALL WMU'S PRESIDENT: The phone # for WMU President Judi Bailey is: 269-= 387-2351 2) SEND A LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Links to all relevant local/regional newspa= pers are available at: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/wmu/ = In particular, we recommend sending a letter to the Western Herald, WMU's s= tudent newspaper, which ran a horrible editorial supporting the award and c= alling those who oppose it "anti-smoking fascists." The email address for l= etter submissions is (Note: you should= provide your full name, email address, city, state/country) 3) PICKET OUTSIDE THE EVENT: If you or anyone you know lives in the general= vicinity of Western Michigan University and would be interested in picketi= ng outside the event this Thursday, please contact Essential Action as soon as possible. Please find below: 1) An Associated Press story on the matter. 2) The Weste= rn Herald editorial. Finally, for your reading pleasure, check out the letter that the CEO of Li= censed to Kill, Inc sent to Western Michigan University last week: http://w= ww.licensedtokill.biz/mail/wmu.html Thanks for taking action! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action Tel: +1 202-387-8030 ### Group asks Western Michigan not to honor Philip Morris as employer of year 18 October 2004 Associated Press KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) - The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids asked Western Mi= chigan University on Monday to rescind its decision to honor Philip Morris = USA Inc. as its employer of the year. The school's Career & Student Employment Services has chosen the award's re= cipient each academic year since 1991. Western Michigan announced Oct. 9 that the Virginia tobacco giant had won t= he 2003-04 award, which is to be presented Thursday during the university's= seventh annual Etiquette Dinner. "Recipients are chosen based on their outstanding recruiting practices as w= ell as their high level of involvement in educational partnerships and recr= uiting activities that contribute to the career development and employment = of WMU students and alumni," according to the Western Michigan news release= announcing this year's winner. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington group that works to preven= t children from becoming addicted to tobacco and exposed to secondhand smok= e, said the state-run university "should not honor a company whose products= cause so much death and disease in Michigan and throughout the United Stat= es." The advocacy group said Richmond, Va.-based Philip Morris, the nation's lar= gest tobacco company, often markets its products in ways that impact childr= en. "The decision to honor Philip Morris is an embarrassment to Western Michiga= n University and a slap in the face to the thousands of WMU alumni, student= s and employees who have lost family members because of the addictive and l= ethal cigarettes made by Philip Morris," the group said in a news release. A message seeking comment from Philip Morris was not immediately returned. The school's Office of University Relations referred a telephone call seeki= ng comment to Career & Student Employment Services. A message seeking comme= nt was left for Executive Director Lynn Kelly-Albertson. #### Editorial - The Western Herald WMU deserves credit for honoring Philip Morris as top employer October 18, 2004 If the Western Herald's e-mail is any indication, anti-smoking fascists fro= m across the fruited plain are fuming that Western Michigan University name= d Philip Morris its 2003-04 employer of the year. Career and Student Employment Services, a part of the Division of Student A= ffairs, has named an "employer of the year" since 1991. University officials at CSES cited several factors contributing to the toba= cco giant's accolade, including the company's on-campus employment recruiti= ng, its support of educational partnerships and its activities contributing= to the professional development of WMU students and alumni. Philip Morris = is presenting this year's etiquette dinner program, for example. Just to be clear - each year, WMU honors a major employer for its on-campus= recruiting, its educational partnerships and its support for the ongoing p= rofessional development of students and alumni. It just so happens that this year, that employer is a tobacco company. And so, predictably, the moral posturing has begun, and it seems to fall al= ong a single line of attack: No self-respecting institution ought to be see= n in public with Evil Big Tobacco. Here are the facts: Tobacco can kill people. This is not a secret. Tobacco = can be addictive. This is also not a secret. The purchase and use of tobacc= o is not illegal in Michigan, except for minors. Still no secrets. Now, here are some facts that might be secrets: There are several large and= well-financed interest groups that are opposed to tobacco use. They admini= ster Web sites like "thetruth.com" and run edgy, teen-centered advertisemen= ts about the evils of smoking. Worse, they run perilously close to libeling= tobacco companies in these ad campaigns and offer questionable assertions = cleverly disguised as fact. It's difficult to understand why smoking, of all things, has raised the ire= of activists, but it has - and in a big way. From anti-smoking ads to bann= ing smoking in bars, activists are waging war against a legal product legal= ly consumed by people who are fully aware of the effects of that consumptio= n. Apparently, some people don't have enough to do in their free time. WMU decided to honor Philip Morris for the good work the company is doing o= n behalf of WMU students. Designating Philip Morris as employer of the year= is an entirely appropriate response to the company's ongoing good citizens= hip relative to the university. Such an honor, however, does not imply that= the university agrees with or supports the particular agenda that is alleg= ed by some as a prime motivator for the tobacco industry. For more than a half-century, we've known that smoking is bad for our healt= h. We smoke anyway. Smoking will not stop because some activists demonize t= obacco companies and offer half-truths packaged as the "real truth" about E= vil Big Tobacco. Smoking will not stop because some activists try to intimi= date universities into repudiating companies that are providing legal produ= cts to citizens who are fully aware of the effects of those products. It takes courage to do the right-but-unpopular thing, and so we applaud WMU= for maintaining the integrity of the annual employer award even when there= might be negative consequences for doing so. --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5174 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue Nov 2 17:40:33 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7D7C029B45 for ; Tue, 2 Nov 2004 17:40:33 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5B9105FD2B for ; Tue, 2 Nov 2004 17:40:33 -0500 (EST) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 29219-01-6 for ; Tue, 2 Nov 2004 17:40:33 -0500 (EST) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 182B25FD29 for ; Tue, 2 Nov 2004 17:40:33 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <41880CE1.4070405@essential.org> Date: Tue, 02 Nov 2004 17:40:33 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Human Resorce Management award to CTC/BAT should be revoked! (Sri Lanka) X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new-20030616-p10 (Debian) at essential.org content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ************************************************************************* Take Action: Human Resorce Management award to CTC/BAT should be revoked! ************************************************************************* Dear Friends, Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC), a Sri Lankan subsidiary of British American Tobacco, was recently presented with the overall "Human Resource Management Award" by the Post Graduate Institute of Management and the Institute of People's Management (both semi-government bodies) for the second year in a row! CTC also received the "Most Innovative Human Resource Practices Award." CTC, which was also a corporate sponsor of the award ceremony, has subsequently used the awards to bolster its bogus "social responsibility" public relations campaign. View self-congratulatory CTC advertisements at: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/ctc/ TAKE ACTION: Participate in an international campaign to demand that organizers of the award ceremony: 1) Revoke the awards given to CTC. 2) Prohibit the company from co-sponsoring future events. 3) Deny tobacco companies eligibility for future awards! Click on the link below to send an email to the Director of the Post Graduate Institute of Management and Council members of the Institute of Personnel Management Sri Lanka.* http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=ceylon Note: Though a pre-written letter has been provided for your convenience, original letters are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED. At very least, please modify the pre-written letter with some personalized comments: - Describe why you are personally disgusted at CTC receiving the award - Mention something bad that BAT is up to in your country, if applicable - Mention any personal ties you have to Sri Lanka * Your email will automatically be cc'd to international board members of the Asia Pacific Federation of Human Resource Management and the World Federation of Personnel Management Associations (organizations to which IPM is affiliated), and key newspapers. Thanks for taking action! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue Nov 16 13:15:42 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8AAAE29B5F for ; Tue, 16 Nov 2004 13:15:42 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 666E95FD06 for ; Tue, 16 Nov 2004 13:15:42 -0500 (EST) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 28197-02-5 for ; Tue, 16 Nov 2004 13:15:42 -0500 (EST) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 31B0C5FD05 for ; Tue, 16 Nov 2004 13:15:42 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <419A43CD.1070600@essential.org> Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 13:15:42 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Support FCTC ratification in Argentina X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new-20030616-p10 (Debian) at essential.org content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Argentina has run into difficulties ratifying the FCTC. The tobacco industry is using bogus economic arguments to lobby Parliament members against the FCTC. Civil society support is needed to push the FCTC ratification process forward. TAKE ACTION: The InterAmerican Heart Foundation has set up an online petition targeting key Parliamentarians. Please take a few seconds to click on the link below and add your name! http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=argen Thanks for participating! --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20010 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue Jan 11 14:52:32 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9C22D29B0F for ; Tue, 11 Jan 2005 14:52:32 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 828FA5FD06 for ; Tue, 11 Jan 2005 14:52:32 -0500 (EST) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 15446-03-3 for ; Tue, 11 Jan 2005 14:52:32 -0500 (EST) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4AE375FD05 for ; Tue, 11 Jan 2005 14:52:32 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <41E42E7F.6000707@essential.org> Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 14:52:31 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Stop "Emerging Tobacco Markets" Expo (Malaysia) content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: *** please forward widely *** ************************************************************ Take Action: Stop "Emerging Tobacco Markets" Expo (Malaysia) ************************************************************ In November 2005, the "Emerging Tobacco Markets" trade expo (http://www.etm2005.com/) is scheduled to take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The expo's website describes the event as a "meeting platform for all members of the Asian tobacco industry, ...including China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka" and brags that the last expo "brought together more than 8,000 executives from all fields of the international tobacco industry." The expo is organized by the TABEXPO Coalition, which consists of two companies: Tobacco Reporter (U.S.) and Tobacco Journal International (Germany). An expo that will increase death and disease in Asia is not an expo that should go on. Malaysian tobacco control advocates have launched a campaign to try and stop the expo from taking place. Please support them! TAKE ACTION: Take a few seconds to click on the link below and sign a petition to the Prime Minister of Malaysia. http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=mytc Nearly 200 people have participated already, but MANY MORE are needed! Please also pass this email alert to others and urge them to take action. Sponsors: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, USM and C-Tob, PRN http://www.usm.my/ Thanks for taking action! --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Sun Feb 20 18:11:53 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 88DC529B81 for ; Sun, 20 Feb 2005 18:11:53 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 526855FD3B for ; Sun, 20 Feb 2005 18:11:53 -0500 (EST) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 27665-05-2 for ; Sun, 20 Feb 2005 18:11:53 -0500 (EST) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 04C345FD05 for ; Sun, 20 Feb 2005 18:11:53 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <42191937.7040203@essential.org> Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2005 18:11:51 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Urge MPAA to Keep Smoking Out of Youth-Rated Movies! content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: *** please forward widely *** Dear Friends, The Smokefree Movies Action Network has launched a global petition demanding the Motion Picture Association of America to KEEP SMOKING OUT OF YOUTH-RATED MOVIES! TAKE ACTION: Please take a second to add your name to the petition at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/870523336 Full text of the petition: EIGHTY-PERCENT OF U.S. MOVIES RELEASED IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS HAVE INCLUDED SMOKING. The World Health Organization and U.S. health authorities agree that exposure to smoking in movies influences adolescents powerfully. Recent large-scale research studies indicate that this exposure recruits more than half of all new young smokers in the United States =97 390,000 adolescents annually =97 of whom about one-third will eventually die from tobacco-related disease. ON A GLOBAL SCALE, HOLLYWOOD'S CONTRIBUTION TO TOBACCO ADDICTION THREATENS A DEATH TOLL SURPASSING OTHER MAJOR CAUSES COMBINED. Tobacco is the #2 killer worldwide. Both the U.S. film industry and the U.S. tobacco industry are aggressively expanding into the emerging markets of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Global tobacco deaths, now five million each year, will double in two decades, with most of the disability and mortality in poorer nations. Between now and 2050, total deaths from tobacco-related cancer and from cardiovascular and lung diseases will reach 450 million. THE U.S. FILM INDUSTRY HAS A DOCUMENTED HISTORY OF TAKING MONEY TO DISPLAY TOBACCO PRODUCTS AND SMOKING. Paid tobacco product placement is now prohibited by legal agreement between the major tobacco companies and top law enforcement officials, yet highly-advertised U.S. cigarette brands still appear in movies worldwide; smoking in U.S. films has returned to the level of 1950; and the balance of smoking incidents continues to shift from R-rated (over 17) to PG-13 (youth-rated) motion pictures. A REASONABLE SOLUTION, RESPECTING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, IS AVAILABLE. Updating its own rating system, administered by the Motion Picture Association of America, the U.S. film industry could easily keep smoking out of future movies marketed to adolescents, cutting their exposure =97 and consequent injury =97 by at least half. Violence, strong language and sexual content are already voluntarily calibrated to achieve a coveted PG-13 rating. The toxic effect of smoking on screen should be treated at least as seriously as offensive language. THE U.S. FILM INDUSTRY KNOWS THAT SMOKING ON SCREEN KILLS IN REAL LIFE. It is incumbent upon the studios and the media conglomerates that own them to take meaningful action as swiftly as possible. I join young people, parents, community leaders and health professionals around the world petitioning Motion Picture Association of America members to adopt a smokefree policy for youth-rated films. The largest generation of young people in world history deserves no less. Thanks for taking action! Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Thu May 12 13:31:22 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8B7E729B37 for ; Thu, 12 May 2005 13:31:22 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6FCA45FD2C for ; Thu, 12 May 2005 13:31:22 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 09446-02-8 for ; Thu, 12 May 2005 13:31:22 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3C8415FD05 for ; Thu, 12 May 2005 13:31:22 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <428392EA.4050906@essential.org> Date: Thu, 12 May 2005 13:31:22 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Support a strong smokefree public places law on Guam content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ***************************************************************** TAKE ACTION: SUPPORT A STRONG SMOKEFREE PUBLIC PLACES LAW ON GUAM ***************************************************************** Dear Friends, Globalink has set up a petition campaign to support a strong smokefree publ= ic places law on Guam. Guam's Bill 16 Guam's Bill 16 proposes to strenghten= the current Clean Indoor Air Act by banning smoking in public places, inc= luding restaurants and bars. The Bill remains with the Finance Committee, w= hich has yet to schedule a date when the Bill will be put out for a vote by= the Senators. TAKE ACTION: Add your name to a petition directed to Guam's Legislature and= Senator Eddie Calvo, Chair, Finance Committee http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Dguamsfp Thanks for participating! --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Fri Jul 15 16:12:33 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2493329B58 for ; Fri, 15 Jul 2005 16:12:33 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 089245FD1A for ; Fri, 15 Jul 2005 16:12:33 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 06291-02 for ; Fri, 15 Jul 2005 16:12:32 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7A5785FD05 for ; Fri, 15 Jul 2005 16:12:32 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <42D818B0.2050902@essential.org> Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 16:12:32 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Congratulate Thailand on Tobacco Product Display Ban X-Amavis-Alert: BAD HEADER Improper folded header field made up entirely of whitespace (char 00 hex) in message header 'Subject' ^ content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ***************************************************************** Take Action: Congratulate Thailand on Tobacco Product Display Ban ***************************************************************** Dear Friends, The Thailand Health Promotion Institute has been spearheading a campaign to eliminate the display of tobacco products at point of sale. The campaign has the support of Thailand's Minister of Health, who recently announced that such displays would be banned as of September 24, 2005. However, Thai tobacco control advocates are concerned that Philip Morris, which has aggressively fought the measure, will try to thwart the ban before it goes into effect. Letters of strong support from around the world are needed! TAKE ACTION: Click on the link below to send an email to Thailand's Minister of Health. For your convenience, a pre-written letter is provided, but personalized comments are encouraged. http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=thaileader For more information about the campaign and Philip Morris's lobbying efforts against it see below. Thanks for participating! ****************************************************************************** OVERVIEW OF CAMPAIGN TO BAN POINT OF SALE TOBACCO PRODUCT DISPLAYS IN THAILAND Submitted by: Thailand Health Promotion Institute ****************************************************************************** On Dec 4, 2004 H.M. the King addressed the high-ranking politicians, government officials and well-wishers who went to the palace to wish him happy birthday. It is usually a significant annual event that every Thai citizen watches carefully on nation-wide TV. One of many problems of the nation was his concern regarding the increase of smoking among Thai youth. We tobacco control advocates were very glad that the government would have to correct this problem effectively. On December 17, the Thailand Health Promotion Institute and six other allied tobacco control groups sent a letter to the Minister of Public Health asking her to totally forbid display of tobacco products at the points of sale, since it is against our law which has been enacted since 1992. We also sent the Minister a document "Point of Sale Advertising and Promotion : Its Significance in Tobacco Control" along with the letter. The Minister ordered the Department of Disease Control (DDC) to consider and carry on appropriate actions according to our recommendation. The DDC convened meetings of legal experts who opined that point of sale display is illegal according to our law. It also organized a consultative meeting with tobacco control groups which unanimously supported the DDC to take action, notifying the retailers and setting a date that there will be no display as of 24 September 2005. In the meantime, the Thailand Health Promotion Institute commissioned a university to survey public opinion and one of the results was that 66.1% agreed that tobacco products should not be displayed at points of sale. On June 13, we held a big press conference showing the serious consequences of point of sale advertising and promotion, and the university public opinion poll results were shown by the researcher. We concluded in making a plea that everybody must help to eliminate a big factor that lures our children to be addicted to tobacco, as a token to ease our King's concern. Philip Morris and Thai Retailers Association came out to oppose our plan. In the second week of June PM sent letters to the Public Health Minister, the Chairman of the Senate Health Committee, the Director-General of the Department of Public Relation, and The Secretary General of the Consumers Protection Board, arguing that banning tobacco product displays at point of sale: 1. Is unjustified and discriminates against various manufacturers in their competitiveness; 2. Unnecessarily increases the burden on retailers; 3. Unnecessarily increases the burden on adult smokers; and that: 4. There are other measures that can be practiced, e.g. in Australia a number of each brand and sub-brands are allowed to be displayed. Finally the company asked for a consultative meeting. The ministry has not answered this letter. On June 15, the Senate Committee on Health invited for a meeting Philip Morris, Thailand Tobacco Monopoly, Thai Retailers Association, DDC, Ramathibodhi Hospital and Thailand Health Promotion Institute, where we presented the rationale and the results of the public opinion survey. On July 5, the Ministry of Public Health held a press conference announcing a ban on tobacco product displays at point of sale, effective September 24. --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Thu Sep 15 12:15:04 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A666C29B94 for ; Thu, 15 Sep 2005 12:15:04 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 81AAC5FD63 for ; Thu, 15 Sep 2005 12:15:04 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 09064-03-10 for ; Thu, 15 Sep 2005 12:15:04 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4B7AA5FD1A for ; Thu, 15 Sep 2005 12:15:04 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <43299E07.6090203@essential.org> Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 12:15:03 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Encourage Czech Republic to Ratify FCTC! content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Colleagues in the Czech Republic are facing an uphill struggle to get the FCTC ratified in their country. You can support their efforts by clicking on http://petitions.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Dczfctc and signing an online petition addressed to the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs. For more information about the situation, see the message below from Eva Kralikova. Thanks for taking action! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action ********************************************** FCTC in the Czech Republic =96 current situation ********************************************** FCTC ratification in the Czech Republic was refused by the Senate (upper chamber) on June 23, 2005 =96 missing just one voice, for example Head of the Senate, Premysl Sobotka, who is medical doctor, did not support FCTC. During discussion on this day in the Senate, Senator Jaroslav Kubera questioned whether tobacco use was detrimental to health, and others have come forward to suggest that other activities =96 such as driving cars or taking part in sport =96 were just as harmful and therefore as deserving of government intervention, or questioned the cost and benefit of tobacco control or mentioned health as a private ownership not requiring protection from the state (Senator Tomas Julinek). The Working Group for the Prevention and Treatment of Tobacco Dependence at the Czech Medical Association, member of Framework Convention Alliance, FCA, started a petition to selected Czech MPs and Senators on Globalink. It was signed by about 200 colleagues from different countries and the leading Czech TV reported about this massive campaign from abroad during main news in July. On August 19, 2005, there was a press conference in the Parliament with head of the WHO liaison office, Alena Steflova,MD, and with FCA guest, Chris Bostic: =93It is shocking that there are otherwise-intelligent people out there still questioning the health effects of tobacco use,=94 said Chris Bostic, Legal Counsel to the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA). =93We have not heard these arguments for many years, even from the tobacco industry.=94 The same evening, Chris Bostic was invited to the evening news life discussion in the Main Czech TV where he clearly supported the FCTC ratification. Local medical organizations are sending letters to the head of the Senate, as well as tobacco control experts worldwide continue to sign the petition at http://petitions.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Dczfctc. The current situation: FCTC has to pass again the Government, then the Parliament and the Senate. This process is supported strongly by the Minister of Health, Milada Emmerova,MD, who is asking her colleagues to do it as soon as possible, hopefully during next few months. Thanks all for the international support! Eva Kr=E1l=EDkov=E1, M.D. Charles University of Prague, First Faculty of Medicine, From awhite@essential.org Tue Sep 27 19:07:31 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A64C729B3D for ; Tue, 27 Sep 2005 19:07:31 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 78D665FD6A for ; Tue, 27 Sep 2005 19:07:31 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 18098-02-7 for ; Tue, 27 Sep 2005 19:07:31 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4FD475FD0E for ; Tue, 27 Sep 2005 19:07:31 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <4339D0B2.6090709@essential.org> Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 19:07:30 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Urge Romania to Ratify FCTC! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ***************************************** Take Action: Urge Romania to Ratify FCTC! ***************************************** Dear Friends, On August 31, 2005, Romania's President asked the Romanian Parliament to ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. To date, the Parliament has not done so. Aer Pur Romania has set up an online petition urging the Parliament to do so by the end of October, in order to be part of the first Conference of Parties in February 2006. TAKE ACTION: Click on the following link and add your name http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=fctc4ro Thanks for supporting tobacco control efforts in Romania, Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Wed Oct 26 17:11:42 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D6A6F29B80 for ; Wed, 26 Oct 2005 17:11:42 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BCA475FD1E for ; Wed, 26 Oct 2005 17:11:42 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 07159-02-10 for ; Wed, 26 Oct 2005 17:11:42 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 90B025FD0E for ; Wed, 26 Oct 2005 17:11:42 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <435FF10E.3060603@essential.org> Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2005 17:11:42 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Sign multiple petitions in support of ratifying the FCTC! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Countries that ratify the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control by November 8, 2005 will be able to participate in the Conference of Parties, the main governing body of the FCTC, in February 2006. Please support efforts to get more countries to ratify the FCTC by the deadline, by signing onto the following petitions: GUATEMALA: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=guatemala2 UGANDA: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=uganda2 IRELAND: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=fctcie BRAZIL (Portuguese): http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=convencao BRAZIL (English): http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=fctcbr BURKINA FASO: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=fctcbf And if your country is not among the 90+ parties to the FCTC (see http://www.fctc.org/treaty/currentsigs.php or http://www.who.int/tobacco/framework/countrylist/en/index.html ), the Framework Convention Alliance encourages you to set up an online petition ( for more info, go to: http://petition.globalink.org/index.php?what=new Thanks for taking action! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essentialinformation.org Thu Nov 3 10:01:43 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from questmail.futurequest.net (questmail.futurequest.net [69.5.6.251]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 31E2A29B19 for ; Thu, 3 Nov 2005 10:01:43 -0500 (EST) Received: (qmail 27724 invoked by uid 12315); 3 Nov 2005 15:01:42 -0000 Received: from 71.251.55.171 (SquirrelMail authenticated user awhite@essentialinformation.org) by QuestMail.FutureQuest.net with HTTP; Thu, 3 Nov 2005 10:01:42 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <50780.71.251.55.171.1131030102.squirrel@QuestMail.FutureQuest.net> Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 10:01:42 -0500 (EST) Subject: Take Action re: TMSF award to Philip Morris CEO From: "Anna White" To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org User-Agent: SquirrelMail/1.4.5 X-Mailer: SquirrelMail/1.4.5 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 (Normal) Importance: Normal content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, The Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund (TMSF), which was established to carry on U.S. Supreme Court Justice Marshall's legacy of championing equal access to higher education, has selected the Chairman and CEO of Philip Morris USA as the recipient of its 2005 Corporate Leadership Award. The award ceremony is to take place at the fund's annual gala on November 7, 2005 in NYC. BNICEH, Essential Action, the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network, and The Praxis Project have set up an online letter campaign urging TMSF to reconsider its decision to award the CEO of Philip Morris and to take measures to cut its ties to the tobacco industry. TAKE ACTION: Send a email to Dwayne Ashley, President of TMSF! While a sample letter is provided, personalized comments are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! In particular, you might cite examples of how Philip Morris targets African Americans in the U.S. and how its international affiliate targets young people around the world. To participate, click on: http://petitions.globalink.org/view.php?code=TMSF And if you or anyone you know would be interested in organizing a counter event outside the TMSF gala in New York City next Monday, contact Sangita Nayak of The Praxis Project ( or 414-412-4518/202-234-5921), who may be able to assist you with media outreach. Thanks for taking action, Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue Feb 21 20:45:47 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A390729B43 for ; Tue, 21 Feb 2006 20:45:46 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 360D55FD0E for ; Tue, 21 Feb 2006 20:45:46 -0500 (EST) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 15606-06 for ; Tue, 21 Feb 2006 20:45:46 -0500 (EST) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E55A35FD05 for ; Tue, 21 Feb 2006 20:45:45 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <43FBC249.1090208@essential.org> Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 20:45:45 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Urge WebMD to stop running Philip Morris ads content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: An action alert from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids... ******************************************** URGE WEBMD TO STOP RUNNING PHILIP MORRIS ADS ******************************************** Despite repeated contacts from public health folks urging them to stop, WebMD is continuing to run ads for Philip Morris's so-called "quit-smoking program" -- right next to articles and news reports about the American Lung Association, the National Cancer Institute, and the like. That is giving Philip Morris access to a public health forum it does not deserve, and it threatens to make Philip Morris appear to be a respected provider of information on cessation, tobacco control, and public health. If you think that WebMD, as a provider of health information, should stop running Philip Morris ads, please go to the following link, where you can send a quick letter to the CEO of WebMD urging them to stop playing into the hands of Philip Morris's public relations strategy. http://tfk.grassroots.com/Misc/webmd021606it Victoria Almquist Director, Outreach Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids 1400 I Street, N.W., Suite 1200 Washington, DC 20005 phone: 202-296-5469 fax: 202- 296-5427 email: valmquist@tobaccofreekids.org Web site: www.tobaccofreekids.org From awhite@essential.org Wed Mar 1 19:31:19 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5189829B47 for ; Wed, 1 Mar 2006 19:31:17 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3CC425FD24 for ; Wed, 1 Mar 2006 19:31:17 -0500 (EST) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 15847-01-6 for ; Wed, 1 Mar 2006 19:31:17 -0500 (EST) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 13C1D5FD1C for ; Wed, 1 Mar 2006 19:31:17 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <44063CD3.4050508@essential.org> Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2006 19:31:15 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040616 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Celebrate Uruguay Going Smokefree Today! content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Today, Uruguay became the first smoke-free country in Latin America! Urugu= ayan tobacco control advocates are promoting a positive "Million Thanks" ca= mpaign to celebrate and boost the success of the new smoke-free workplace l= aw, by thanking all the people who are going to stop smoking in indoor work= places. TAKE ACTION: Take part in the "Million Thanks" campaign by clicking on this= link and pushing =93GRACIAS=94: http://www.unmillondegracias.com.uy/ Please forward! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action #### More information: URUGUAY BEGINS SMOKEFREE FUTURE TODAY (from from Joe Cherner's email list) MONTEVIDEO (Uruguay)-- Beginning today (3/1/06), Uruguay becomes the first country in Latin America to go smokefree. Clean indoor air will be mandatory in all workplaces, including restaurants and bars. Uruguay follows the lead of Ireland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, New Zealand, Uganda, Malta, and Bhutan which have all enacted such legislation. Uruguay's president, an oncologist by profession, said, "Involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke causes premature death, as well as serious and chronic diseases. There is no safe level of exposure. The only way to protect the health of workers is to eliminate it in the workplace." Tobacco addiction kills five thousand smokers a year in Uruguay and sickens tens of thousands. Uruguay spends $180 million per year treating people sick from tobacco. There are about one million smokers in Uruguay, 70% of whom don't want to be any longer, according to data from the Department of Health. The law is also intended to help them quit. From awhite@essential.org Thu Mar 30 19:26:17 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6BD2829B61 for ; Thu, 30 Mar 2006 19:26:17 -0500 (EST) Received: from [127.0.0.1] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4F8FC1341AE for ; Thu, 30 Mar 2006 19:26:17 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <442C7728.1090000@essential.org> Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 19:26:16 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.12) Gecko/20050915 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: =?windows-1252?Q?=93Tobacco_Industry_Academy_Awards=94_=96?= =?windows-1252?Q?_NOMINATIONS_DUE_BY=3A_Friday=2C_April_28?= content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ************************************* "Tobacco Industry Academy Awards" CALL FOR NOMINATIONS Deadline: Friday, April 28 ************************************* Dear Friends, The 13th WCTOH closing plenary will feature a =93Tobacco Industry Academy Awards=94 parody, which will highlight -- in a creative and entertaining format -- real examples of what the tobacco industry has been up to around the world in recent years. Similar to Hollywood=92s annual Academy Awards, there will be various categories for =93awards=94 for which there will be 3-5 =93nominees=94 each= . These categories may include, but are not limited to: * New & Innovative Marketing Techniques * Circumvention of Tobacco Control Laws * Recruitment of =93Replacement Smokers=94 * Advertising Targeting Women * Greatest Lies in Advertising * =93Charitable=94 Giving * Government Lobbying * Tobacco Farmer Relations * Quotable Quotes by Tobacco Execs WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU: We welcome any additional suggestions you have for categories that should be considered for inclusion. More importantly, we need you to nominate examples of outrageous tobacco industry practices that have occurred (or come to light) since August 2003 that you think should be profiled during the =93Academy Awards.=94 If you don=92t know wha= t category they would fit in, that=92s fine =96 we can figure this out later. Some examples may actually inspire ideas for new categories. For each example, we will need the following information: * Brief description: * Country: * Date: * Tobacco Company Involved: * Your name, country, email, and phone: * Photos and/or video footage, if available An =93Academy Awards=94 selection committee will choose the final nominees, with an emphasis on new and/or particularly outrageous industry practices and balanced geographic distribution. Send all nominations to: awhite@essential.org* AND lazare@essential.org * If you have problems sending emails to this address, try awhite@essentialinformation.org instead Video footage and any other related materials may be sent to: Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 USA DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS: Friday, April 28 From awhite@essential.org Tue Apr 18 15:09:43 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0611E29B64 for ; Tue, 18 Apr 2006 15:09:43 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [127.0.0.1] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 44663134169 for ; Tue, 18 Apr 2006 15:09:42 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <44453972.8090304@essential.org> Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2006 15:09:38 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.12) Gecko/20050915 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Sign on to Altria breakup demands! Deadline: FRI, APRIL 21 content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Nearly 60 organizations based in over 30 countries around the world have signed on to the Altria breakup demands below, in advance of the Altria shareholder meeting next week. If your organization would like to be added to the list, please let us know by this FRIDAY, APRIL 21. Thanks! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org (or awhite@essentialinformation.org) ********************************************* GLOBAL DEMANDS OF PHILIP MORRIS INTERNATIONAL (in preparation for Altria's breakup) ********************************************* The prospect of a breakup of Altria that would split Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris International into separate companies raises significant concerns about how an independent Philip Morris International will operate. Decisions that Philip Morris International makes will have major public health ramifications: * Tobacco is a uniquely harmful product, which kills consumers when used as intended; * The World Health Organization estimates that 10 million people will die annually from tobacco-related disease by 2030, 70 percent in developing countries; * The combined Philip Morris is the world's largest tobacco multinational; * Measured by units, 80 percent of Philip Morris' sales are outside of the United States. Philip Morris International must make commitments -- in advance of a breakup -- to ensure that the separation of Philip Morris International and Philip Morris USA does not worsen the tobacco epidemic. We call on Philip Morris International and its subsidiaries to commit to: =B7 Adhere to the provisions of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, including by ending all advertising and marketing of tobacco products, and ending the use of misleading and deceptive terms such as "mild," "light" and "low." =B7 Not lobby or work -- directly or indirectly through sponsored organizations or otherwise -- on any national or subnational legislative or regulatory proposals to ratify the FCTC and/or implement the terms of the FCTC. =B7 Not lobby or work -- directly or indirectly through sponsored organizations or otherwise -- against legislation or regulation requiring 100 percent smokefree places. =B7 Not invoke provisions of any trade or investment agreement, or urge any government to invoke such provisions, to challenge any tobacco control-related law or regulation. =B7 Extend the European tobacco smuggling agreement to include every country in which they operate. ** =B7 Fully disclose all political contributions, lobbying costs, and charitable/educational donations in every country in which they operate. =B7 Fully disclose all advertising and marketing expenditures -- as the company now is required to do in the United States -- in every country in which they operate. =B7 End all sponsorship of =93youth smoking prevention programs.=94 =B7 Refrain from directly or indirectly placing tobacco products or promoting depictions of smoking in movies or other media produced anywhere in the world. *** ** This should be achieved by enacting tracking, tracing, labeling and record-keeping requirements to help law enforcement determine the source and track the path of contraband cigarettes; implementing better monitoring of its sales and distribution practices, including by tightly controlling and regulating the contractors it supplies with cigarettes, and to stop supplying them if they are found to be complicit in smuggling and vendors to ensure they are in compliance with legal requirements; and pledging not to oppose legislation establishing monetary penalties against tobacco companies if their cigarettes continue to be smuggled in large quantities. *** Philip Morris USA is prohibited from paying for product placements in movies and other media by the U.S. Master Settlement Agreement, but this does not apply to Philip Morris International. Philip Morris International states in its marketing code that it will not pay for product placement, but it does not address: indirect efforts to facilitate product placement; direct or indirect placement of unbranded tobacco products; or direct or indirect efforts to promote smoking in movies or other media. From awhite@essential.org Mon Apr 24 18:34:38 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5110629B57 for ; Mon, 24 Apr 2006 18:34:38 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [127.0.0.1] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0B34E134111 for ; Mon, 24 Apr 2006 18:34:38 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <444D5277.5070200@essential.org> Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 18:34:31 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.12) Gecko/20050915 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: REMINDER: =?windows-1252?Q?=93Tobacco_Industry_Academy_Awa?= =?windows-1252?Q?rds=94_=96_Nominations_due_by=3A_FRIDAY=2C_?= =?windows-1252?Q?APRIL_28?= content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Don't Forget to submit nominations for the "Tobacco Industry Academy Awards= ! ************************************* "Tobacco Industry Academy Awards" CALL FOR NOMINATIONS Deadline: Friday, April 28 ************************************* Dear Friends, The 13th WCTOH closing plenary will feature a =93Tobacco Industry Academy Awards=94 parody, which will highlight -- in a creative and entertaining format -- real examples of what the tobacco industry has been up to around the world in recent years. Similar to Hollywood=92s annual Academy Awards, there will be various categories for =93awards=94 for which there will be 3-5 =93nominees=94 each= . These categories may include, but are not limited to: * New & Innovative Marketing Techniques * Circumvention of Tobacco Control Laws * Recruitment of =93Replacement Smokers=94 * Advertising Targeting Women * Greatest Lies in Advertising * =93Charitable=94 Giving * Government Lobbying * Tobacco Farmer Relations * Quotable Quotes by Tobacco Execs WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU: We welcome any additional suggestions you have for categories that should be considered for inclusion. More importantly, we need you to nominate examples of outrageous tobacco industry practices that have occurred (or come to light) since August 2003 that you think should be profiled during the =93Academy Awards.=94 If you don=92t know wha= t category they would fit in, that=92s fine =96 we can figure this out later. Some examples may actually inspire ideas for new categories. For each example, we will need the following information: * Brief description: * Country: * Date: * Tobacco Company Involved: * Your name, country, email, and phone: * Photos and/or video footage, if available An =93Academy Awards=94 selection committee will choose the final nominees, with an emphasis on new and/or particularly outrageous industry practices and balanced geographic distribution. Send all nominations to: * AND * If you have problems sending emails to this address, try instead Video footage and any other related materials may be sent to: Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 USA DEADLINE FOR NOMINATIONS: Friday, April 28 From awhite@essential.org Fri May 5 22:03:17 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8C29E29B58 for ; Fri, 5 May 2006 22:03:17 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5EFAB134066 for ; Fri, 5 May 2006 22:03:17 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 21941-01-9 for ; Fri, 5 May 2006 22:03:17 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5FDD013406A for ; Fri, 5 May 2006 22:03:14 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <445C03E1.3030308@essential.org> Date: Fri, 05 May 2006 22:03:13 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.12) Gecko/20050915 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Report (Part I): Youth Advocacy Events Around 2006 Altria Shareholders Mtg content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Last week over 100 youth and adult advocates from around the U.S. and world participated in advocacy events around the 2006 Altria shareholders meeting in East Hanover, New Jersey. On April 25-26, a youth advocacy training was held in East Hanover, New Jersey and New York City, followed by a demonstration in front of Altria=E2=80=99s headquarters in New York City. The next day, a demonstrati= on was held at the entrance to the shareholder meeting, while 25 youth and adults went inside the meeting to confront CEO Louis Camilleri about the company=E2=80=99s practices around the world. For the full report, including links to photos and media coverage, read below and the email to follow! Part I: 1. April 25-26: 4th Annual Youth Advocacy Training 2. April 26: Demonstration at Altria=E2=80=99s NYC Headquarters 3. April 27: Demonstration Outside 2006 Altria Shareholders Meeting Part II (in email to follow) 1. April 27: Activism Inside the 2006 Altria Shareholders Meeting 2. Media Coverage List of groups that collaborated to organize the events: ADFY=E2=80=99s Y.E= .S Team Youth Extinguishing Tobacco (AR), Essential Action (DC), REAL (HI), Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program (MT), Dover Youth 2 Youth (NH), Reality Check (NY), FACT (WI), Rock County Youth 2 Youth (WI), Waukesha County Tobacco Free Coalition (WI), Te Reo Marama/M=C3=A4ori Smokefree Coalition (New Zealand) and more! Best wishes, Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org or awhite@essentialinformation.org ***************************************** REPORT ON 2006 ALTRIA SHAREHOLDER MEETING ***************************************** Background Altria Group, the parent company of Kraft, Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris International, the world's largest multinational tobacco company, has announced that it is considering breaking up into three separate companies in the near future. Measured by units, 80 percent of Philip Morris' sales are outside of the United States. According to the World Health Organization, tobacco kills 5 million people annually worldwide; by 2025, it will kill an estimated 10 million annually, 70 percent in developing countries. Decisions that an independent PMI makes will have major global public health ramifications. Over 100 organizations in more than 50 countries around the world calling on PMI to make commitments =E2= =80=93 in advance of a breakup =E2=80=93 to ensure that the separation of Philip M= orris International and Philip Morris USA does not worsen the tobacco epidemic. In solidarity with groups around the world, youth and adults advocates from Arkansas, California, Washington, D.C., Hawaii, Illinois, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin and New Zealand took the message to Altria's headquarters in NYC on April 26 and Altria's shareholder meeting in East Hanover, N.J. on April 27. Specifically, they called on Altria/Philip Morris to "Give the World a Break" from: =C2=B7 Tobacco advertising & misleading descriptors like "light" & "mild" =C2=B7 Lobbying on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control & against 10= 0 percent smokefree places =C2=B7 Invoking trade agreements to challenge tobacco control legislation =C2=B7 Secrecy about advertising expenditures, political contributions, & lobbying costs =C2=B7 Bogus "youth smoking prevention" programs =C2=B7 Smoking & tobacco produce placement in movies and other media For more information on the demands and the list of organizations that have signed on to them, go to: http://www.givetheworldabreak.org Check out a related visual designed by Kristi and Ken Dahlgren of Reality Check (New York): http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/altria.jpg #### 1) APRIL 25-26: 4th ANNUAL YOUTH ADVOCACY TRAINING Dover Youth 2 Youth (New Hampshire) kicked off the training with an excellent multimedia presentation detailing Philip Morris=E2=80=99 =E2=80= =9CHistory of Lies.=E2=80=9D Joel Dunnington, a longtime tobacco control activist based i= n Texas, then gave an entertaining and informative overview of the history of activism against Philip Morris, including how activists succeeded in halting Philip Morris=E2=80=99s infamous =E2=80=9CBill of Rights=E2=80=9D t= our. Next up were a series of short presentations related to =E2=80=9CWhat Phili= p Morris is Up to Around the World.=E2=80=9D Shane Bradbrook and Skye Te Rang= i Kimura (Te Reo Marama/M=C3=A4ori Smokefree Coalition, New Zealand) detailed how Philip Morris misappropriated the Maori name and culture when it launched a =E2=80=9CMaori Mix=E2=80=9D line of its L&M cigarette brand in I= srael at the end of last year. Youth with the Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program then gave a superb presentation, based on blogs, websites, and internal tobacco industry documents, on Marlboro=E2=80=99s =E2=80=9CCrazy Ranch=E2= =80=9D in Montana. Reality Check (New York) coordinators then described activism that New York youth did around Philip Morris=E2=80=99 celebration of Marlboro=E2=80= =99s 50th Anniversary last November. Nicole Sutton (REAL/Hawaii) and Anna White (Essential Action/DC) shared photos of Philip Morris promotions in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, from a delegation to South America last August. Examples submitted by advocates in Romania, India, Hong Kong, Jordan, Romania, Vietnam, & more rounded out the presentation. Check out the world tour at: http://www.philipmorrisbreakup.org/photos/worldtour/ The remainder of Tuesday=E2=80=99s training focused on advocacy skill-build= ing workshops, e.g. working with the media, making effective visuals, event coordination, developing chants, creating zines, and preparations for those going into the Altria shareholder meeting. Wednesday morning, the training continued in New York City, culminating with a large role play. Check out photos of the training: NJ: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/1/ NYC: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/2/ #### 2) APRIL 26: DEMONSTRATION AT ALTRIA=E2=80=99S NYC HEADQUARTERS The media (and police) were already waiting when youth showed up at Altria=E2=80=99s headquarters, which is adorned with the company=E2=80=99s = logo. http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/mtkp116.htm= l http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/argp051.htm= l The youth, who had decided to do a silent protest, stood in one long line with their mouths taped shut to symbolize the millions of people killed =E2=80=93 silenced =E2=80=93 by tobacco around the world each year. = Every 7 seconds, a youth would kneel to the ground to represent another person killed by tobacco. http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/mtkp103.htm= l http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/wilw037.htm= l http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/mtkp060.htm= l They also held a long =E2=80=9Chuman billboard=E2=80=9D that read =E2=80=9C= ALTRIA SPLIT =3D =E2=86=91PROFIT$ =E2=86=93GLOBAL HEALTH=E2=80=9D and displayed examples of = what Philip Morris is up to around the world. http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/wilw020.htm= l http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/argp038.htm= l Argentina: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/mtkp108.htm= l India: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/wilw039.htm= l Vietnam: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/wilw059.htm= l The human billboard was reflected in a window across the street http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/wilw031.htm= l Two youth also wore skull masks, cowboy hats, skeleton gloves, and carried inflatable globes to symbolize the Marlboro Man=E2=80=99s deadly gl= obal expansion. http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/mtkp080.htm= l Youth held signs that said =E2=80=9CAltria=E2=80=9D=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9CGive t= he World a Break!=E2=80=9D http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/mtkp066.htm= l They also handed out palmcards with information about why they were there to people passing by. The image on the palmcard was designed by a Wisconsin youth. http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/marlborolasso.jpg Near the end of the demonstration, a small group of youth tried to deliver a bunch of sarcastic =E2=80=9CHappy 50th Birthday Marlboro=E2=80=9D= cards collected by Americans for Nonsmokers Rights from youth around the country. A sampling of the inscriptions on the cards: * Happy 50th=E2=80=A6150 people died using your product during the time= I made this card! Way to Go! * Thanks Marlboro for 50 wonderful years of being unable to breathe! Here=E2=80=99s to not having 50 more! * Happy Birthday!...be fortunate you had yours=E2=80=A6=E2=80=99cuz you= r buyers won=E2=80=99t! * Happy Happy Birthday=E2=80=A6You take my breath away. * We were going to send you flowers for your birthday=E2=80=A6but we ha= d to use them for all the funerals instead. Sorry =E2=80=93 and you should= be too. * On Your Birthday, a poem: Roses are red, Violets are blue, Tobacco kills people, Thanks to you! * Happy Birthday!! Sorry I can=E2=80=99t be there to celebrate with you= =E2=80=A6but I was a life long customer. Now I=E2=80=99m 6 feet under. Thanks a lo= t L (opens up to coffin). The delivery of the cards to Altria=E2=80=99s main entrance was quickly prevented by a detective with the New York City police who informed the youth that the company would not accept any materials from them. In response, the youth led the whole group in a rousing rendition of =E2=80=9C= Happy Deathday Marlboro.=E2=80=9D The youth then decided to try and deliver the cards to the Whitney Museum of Art at Altria halfway down the block. Inside the entrance, they explained their desire to deliver the cards and the appropriateness of doing so at an art museum sponsored by Altria. The man at the door explained that the art museum has no connection to Altria=E2=80=99s headqua= rters =E2=80=93 =E2=80=9Cit=E2=80=99s just in the same building=E2=80=9D =E2=80= =93 and encouraged the youth to deliver the cards to the headquarters (where they had just been denied entrance). The group questioned the man=E2=80=99s contention that he was no= t connected to Altria, pointing out the =E2=80=9CAltria Corporate Security=E2= =80=9D pin on his shirt. http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/mtkp067.htm= l http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/mtsc004.htm= l http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/argp056.htm= l At the close of the demonstration, all the youth decided that they would like to check out the Whitney Museum of Art at Altria, which is open to the public, with their mouths still taped shut. Frightened by the prospect of dozens of silent young people invading the art museum, it was =E2=80=9Ctemporarily=E2=80=9D closed to prevent their admittance. http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/mtkp124.htm= l Youth involved with the FACT movement of Wisconsin posed in front of the Whitney Museum of Art at Altria, to which they were just denied entrance. http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/wilw027.htm= l By the end of the demonstration a whopping total of 67 police cars had surrounded the area. Initially the youth thought it was an overblown response to their peaceful demonstration, but a police officer said that it was actually a routine weekly drill. Specifically, one officer said, while chumming it up with some Altria security guards, that it was =E2=80= =9Ca show of force against terrorism=E2=80=9D -- ignoring the world=E2=80=99s bi= ggest purveyor of weapons of mass destruction in their midst. http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/mtkp011.htm= l Agence France Presse and Getty Images took many photos of the youth and Associated Press television shot footage of it and interviews with Shane and Skye for New Zealand television. There was also local newspaper coverage. http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/argp045.htm= l http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/wilw056.htm= l http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/mtkp065.htm= l Meanwhile a smoker, who spouted standard tobacco industry rhetoric, repeatedly tried to confront youth and engage the media. We think he was planted. http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/slides/argp007.htm= l Check out the AFP and Getty Images photos at: http://www.gettyimages.com (Click on "Editorial", then "News", then do search for "Altria". 12 photos should turn up) Check out more photos of the demo: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/3/ #### 3) APRIL 27: DEMONSTRATION OUTSIDE 2006 ALTRIA SHAREHOLDERS MEETING The youth rose at the crack of dawn so that they could be in position when the shareholders started arriving. They staked out the corner between the two entrances to Kraft=E2=80=99s headquarters, where the meetin= g was held, and erected a large, inflatable cigarette pack labeled =E2=80=9CGloba= l Killer.=E2=80=9D http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/4/slides/mtek100.htm= l They carried many of the same visuals from the day before, including a slightly shortened human billboard that read =E2=80=9CALTRIA SPLIT =3D =E2= =86=91PROFIT$ =E2=86=93 HEALTH.=E2=80=9D http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/4/slides/nykd010.htm= l http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/4/slides/nykd008.htm= l The participants in the chant workshop led everyone in a series of spirited chants that had everyone not only shouting, but kicking their legs and shaking their fists in synchronized cheerleader fashion! A few shareholders =E2=80=9Cflipped them the bird,=E2=80=9D but the reaction from= most cars passing by was very positive. http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/4/slides/wilw005.htm= l http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/4/slides/wilw012.htm= l Media filmed a youth wearing a skeleton Marlboro costume and holding globe http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/4/slides/mtek054.htm= l Some youth wore =E2=80=9CAltr-uistic View of the Global Teenager=E2=80=A6Re= placement Smoker=E2=80=9D t-shirts http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/4/slides/mtek083.htm= l Youth held signs at one of the entrances http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/4/slides/nykd015.htm= l A youth from Montana displays a photo of the Marlboro Crazy Ranch http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/4/slides/mtek079.htm= l A youth holds a sign =E2=80=9CEvery 7 seconds tobacco kills=E2=80=9D http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/4/slides/wilw011.htm= l Check out full set of photos at: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/4/ Note: The above photos were taken by many different people. They may be used for noncommercial purposes, as long as they are properly credited. To obtain credit information, contact and include the photo=E2=80=99s url. This report will soon be posted at http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/event/altria06/ and will be updated as groups that participated submit additional photos, media coverage, and other materials. From awhite@essential.org Fri May 5 22:04:08 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BB36529B75 for ; Fri, 5 May 2006 22:04:07 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9C861134069 for ; Fri, 5 May 2006 22:04:07 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 21848-01-8 for ; Fri, 5 May 2006 22:04:07 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2D75E134066 for ; Fri, 5 May 2006 22:04:06 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <445C0415.4040508@essential.org> Date: Fri, 05 May 2006 22:04:05 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.12) Gecko/20050915 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Report (Part II): Youth Advocacy Events Around 2006 Altria Shareholders Mtg content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: PART II: REPORT ON ADVOCACY EVENTS AROUND 2006 ALTRIA SHAREHOLDERS MEETING 1. April 27: Activism Inside the 2006 Altria Shareholders Meeting 2. Media Coverage #### 1) APRIL 27: ACTIVISM INSIDE THE 2006 ALTRIA SHAREHOLDERS MEETING About 25 youth and adults who were part of the collective group went inside the Altria shareholders meeting itself. A television crew accompanied Shane Bradbrook (Te Reo Marama/M=E4ori Smokefree, New Zealand) in the van as the group entered the site, passing by the security checkpoints staffed by company security and local police. Inside, VP Steve Parrish hovered on the sidelines while waiting for the show to begin. Behind us we heard two pro-tobacco shareholders talking. =93Did you see that big cigarette pack labeled =93Global Killer=94 as you c= ame in?=94 =93Problem is people don=92t get out of the U.S. [to understand how = big smoking is elsewhere]=94 [Relates anecdote about everyone chain smoking in the Czech Republic] =93You just have to keep your investments separate from your [conscience]=85tobacco generates massive dividends!=94 Finally the board of directors filed into the front row and then the CEO himself took to the stage. The meeting began with the usual fast-paced video collage of advertisements for the company=92s products around the world, as the voiceover said =93brands symbolizing quality, reliability=94 and images of cheese switched to cigarettes and cigarettes to mayonnaise. =93Rising across barriers of language and geography=85unforgettable brands=94 the voice intoned, =93aim to be the mos= t successful and responsible business in the world.=94 Profitable, yes. Responsible, NO! #### BUSINESS REPORT CEO Louis Camilleri then gave the business report, lauding the company for last year=92s 27.7% in shareholder return. He noted that the restructuring of the company would happen on =93[the company=92s] timeline= =94 and that it would =93not act prematurely.=94 He pointed out that Philip Morris USA is the only tobacco company supporting FDA regulation, expressed disappointment with U.S. Congress for failing to the legislation, and disclosed that in the meantime the company is exploring opportunities to grow its =93Quit Assist=94 program (a smokescreen to give the impression that the company really wants to lose its profitable customers). He also mentioned the company=92s creation of a Center for Research and Development in Richmond to address health and smoking, part of the company=92s =93societal alignment initiative=94 (aka public relation= s campaign). The CEO then detailed its international cigarette business=85European Union down 11.9%...East Europe, Mideast and Africa up 5.3%...Russia up 27%...Japan down 7.1%...otherwise Asia up 73.1% with acquisition of Indonesia=92s Sampoerna=85Latin America up 19.1% with acquisition of Coltabaco=85Like in previous years, the CEO stated the company=92s support for the FCTC in principle, then denounced certain measures, e.g. ban on advertising, increased taxes, and promotion of litigation. He also described some of the many =93youth smoking prevention=94 programs the company supports around the world, e.g. Australia=92s =9318+ It=92s the Law= =94 and Japan=92s =93[No Smoking] under 20.=94 Camilleri concluded this portion of the program by saying, =93PMI=92s growt= h potential continues to be attractive. With just a 15% share of the international market, it has plenty of room to expand both organically and through acquisitions. Given its superb brand portfolio, commitment to reducing the harm caused by tobacco and to building an increasingly agile organization, PMI is well-positioned for future growth. Read the full transcript of Camilleri=92s speech at: http://www.altria.com/download/pdf/investors_2006_AnnualShareholdersMeeting= -Remarks.pdf #### Q & A During the question and answer period that followed, about a dozen tobacco control advocates addressed the CEO. To listen to their statements and the CEO=92s responses, check out the meeting webcast (after filling out a quick registration form) at: http://www.altria.com/investors/02_15_earnings_02.asp Lauren Baisden, a youth with Wisconsin=92s FACT movement made the following statement on behalf of the youth inside and outside the meeting and the over 100 groups around the world who have signed on to a list of demands of the company (to listen go to 46:30 in above webcast): BAISDEN: Good morning, Mr. Camilleri I am Lauren Baisden with Wisconsin FACT, I am here today with 100 youth advocates from all over the world, 25 whom are in this room. Altria has signaled that it is planning to split up into three separate companies: Kraft, Philip Morris USA, and Philip Morris International. There is worldwide concern that unleashing Philip Morris International from Altria will worsen the already devastating tobacco epidemic. Mr Camilleri,as you head for a break up we call on you to give us a break from the following: Tobacco advertising and misleading descriptors like "light and mild"; lobbying on framework convention on tobacco control and against 100% smokefree places; invoking trade agreements to challenge tobacco control legislation; tobacco smuggling; secrecy about advertising expenditures, political contributions on lobbying cost; bogus youth prevention programs; and finally smoking and product placement in movies and other media. Over 100 groups in 50 countries have signed onto these demands. My question for you, Mr. Camillieri, is will you agree to these demands? CAMILLERI=92S RESPONSE: Well I won=92t agree to all of those demands. Um, you know, every year we have these discussions and I try to listen to hard and I try to understand and generally I do understand the positions. Uh frankly I=92m having difficulty intellectually understanding that an independent PMI would make matters worse. If anything it should make things better because the spotlight would shine more on PMI, so intellectually I=92m having a problem. With regards to PMI=92s policies and programs, I would really encourage you to read the PMI website. As I said earlier don=92t let your animosity of this industry and this company in particular blind your judgment and sometimes mischaracterize the facts. So thank you. Soon after, Shane Kawenata Bradbrook brought the room to full attention by starting his statement in the Maori language (to listen go to 53:15 in above webcast)=85 BRADBROOK: My name is irrelevant but my culture is not! I am Maori, a native New Zealander. I am here to represent Maori in the matter of Philip Morris International using our culture to sell tobacco products. In 2005, it came to our organisations attention that PMI was selling a product in Israel called Maori Mix under the L & M brand. Let me tell you, this product called 'Maori Mix' was an absolute affront to my people! Your company=92s misappropriation and exploitation of our culture to sell your product of death and illness to Israelis was at a minimum culturally insensitive =96 and at worst another form of oppression and abuse that indigenous peoples have faced for decades. I stand before you to hold you in absolute contempt and derision. I don't expect a weak apology or some glib rationale from you for associating our culture with Maori Mix. But I do have a message for you: The message from my culture and my people is clear: DO NOT MISREPRESENT DO NOT ASSOCIATE OUR PROUD CULTURE WITH YOUR DECEITFUL PRACTICES AND PRODUCT It's simple really, if it looks like and smells like exploitation it is exploitation! In closing, as I said I am but one representative of my people but I am surrounded by my ancestors and the good thoughts and support of thousands in my homeland. We have a well known phrase in my language: KA WHAWHAI TONU MATOU WE WILL CONTINUE THE STRUGGLE I stand here in that tradition of resistance and struggle to this affront and exploitation of my people! CAMILLERI=92S RESPONSE: Well thanks you for coming to this meeting and I fully understand your position=85Um [clears throat] to make it clear to everybody=85Yes, we made the mistake of launching a limiting addition product called Maori Mix. We regret that it was a mistake. By the time we found out about the mistake =96 to show how limited the addition it was, which was late September of =9105, we couldn=92t find the product in retail stores. That was the only time we=92ve used that product. We have written to your representatives. We have apologized, and we have confirmed that we will not be using that product anywhere in the world again. So I apologize again to you and your people. Thank you.[Shane interjects that he will take the apology back to his people, but that he won=92t accept that it was =93a mistake=94] Well, regretfully we also make mistakes. (Now if only the company would apologize for the millions of people its products have killed=85) #### SHAREHOLDER PROPOSALS During the shareholder proposals that followed four youth and adults who were part of our group had a chance to make statements. You can check out their statements at the following points in the webcast: Proposal 4: Extend New York Fire-Safe Products Globally 1:38:00: Emily Martuscello (Dover Youth 2 Youth/NH) Proposal 6: Support for Laws at All Levels Combating Use of Tobacco 2:00:15: Gustavo Torrez (Breathe California of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails/CA) 2:02:20: Serena Bonneville (FACT/WI) 2:04:28: Dana Mitchell (Dover Youth 2 Youth/NH) And for a little comic relief, check out the irate pro-tobacco shareholder from Connecticut who compared our statements to a "terrorist action" against the company (at 1:57:40 & 2:16:24 in the webcast) #### CONCLUSION OF MEETING At the end of the meeting, a video montage detailed all the wonderful charitable work that Altria is doing around the world, including disaster relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina. At this point, we unveiled a banner that said =93Altria/Philip Morris: Give the World a Break from=85=94 and held photos of some of the things that the company is up to around the world. http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/4/slides/wilw073.htm= l At the close of the meeting, a youth tried to deliver one of the =93Happy Birthday Marlboro=94 cards to the CEO, who was whisked away down the hall by security to prevent any handoff of materials. At the exit, all attendees were given bags filled with the company=92s products (no cigarettes): http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/photos/altria06/4/slides/wilw078.htm= l Altria=92s 2005 Annual Report: http://www.altria.com/investors/02_01_annualreport.asp Proxy Statement (includes Shareholder Proposals): http://www.altria.com/download/pdf/investors_AltriaGroupInc_2006_Proxy.pdf #### 2) MEDIA COVERAGE UNITED STATES Associated Press photos: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=3Dstory&u=3D/060427/480/njmd10304271827 http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=3Dstory&u=3D/060427/480/njmd10204271826 http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=3Dstory&u=3D/060427/480/njmd10104271826 Daily Record (NJ): Protesters attempt to clear air at Altria's E. Hanover meeting; Anti-smoking activists target Philip Morris owner http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=3D/20060428/COMMUNITIE= S14/604280348/1203/NEWS01 Asbury Park Press (NJ): Tobacco firm assailed from within; Anti-smoking activists protest at Altria meeting http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=3D/20060428/NEWS03/604280388/1= 007/ENT Note: Same article as above, but features different photo Daily Globe (MI): Student Tackles Big Tobacco http://www.ironwooddailyglobe.com/0502toba.htm Press release: Youth Protest Altria Annual Meeting, Warn of Altria Break-Up Dangers http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=3D64685 NEW ZEALAND ABC Online: Philip Morris apologises for using Maori name and images to sell cigarettes http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1626384.htm Note: Transcript of interview with Shane New Zealand Herald: Tobacco giant apologises to Maori http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3D2&ObjectID=3D10379513 Stuff.co.nz: Tobacco giant apologises to Maori http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3650902a10,00.html TVNZ: Tobacco giant apologises to Maori http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411368/707631 Monsters and Critics.com: Philip Morris apologizes to indigenous Maoris over cigarette brand http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/article_1159066.php/Philip_M= orris_apologizes_to_indigenous_Maoris_over_cigarette_brand Radio New Zealand: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200604280807/1448c25c Newstalk ZB & NZCity: Tobacco giant apologises to Maori http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=3D94639 http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=3D61662&c=3Dw newswire.co.nz: Maori Anti Smoking Lobby Confronts Phillip Morris http://www.newswire.co.nz/main/viewstory.aspx?storyid=3D313670&catid=3D16 TVNZ: Face off over 'Maori' brand cigarettes http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/706478 New Zealand Doctor Online: Maori Smokefree Coalition in New York to challenge tobacco giant http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/HOTP/04-06/25Apr.htm Press releases: Te Reo Marama: Statement to Altria Group From Shane Bradbrook http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0604/S00093.htm Te Reo Marama: Coalition in NY to challenge tobacco giant http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0604/S00194.htm Te Reo Marama: Taking on Multinational Tobacco Co in New York http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0604/S00178.htm INDIA Articles on the demands ran in three national Hindi newspapers (Danik Jagaran, Rashtriya Sahara and Swatantra Bharat) Source: Bobby Ramakant. AUSTRALIA AAP: Tobacco giant apologises to Maori http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Tobacco-giant-apologises-to-Maori/2006/04/= 28/1145861512530.html Ran on following websites: The Age, Ninemsn, Seven.com.au, Sydney Morning Herald: AAP: Anti-smoking lobbyists demand action http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Antismoking-lobbyists-demand action/2006/04/27/1145861442411.html Ran on following websites: Advertiser Adelaide, The Age, The Australian, Courier Mail, Daily Telegraph, Melbourne Herald Sun, News.com.au, Sunday Times.au, Sydney Morning Herald, Seven.com.au. Note: Article based on a press release distributed by ASH-Australia Thanks to: Corporate Accountability International, John O=92Hara, Emily Thompson, and many others for assisting us in getting youth into the meeting! Note: The above photos were taken by many different people. They may be used for noncommercial purposes, as long as they are properly credited. To obtain credit information, contact and include the photo=92s url. This report will soon be posted at http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/event/altria06/ and will be updated as groups that participated submit additional photos, media coverage, and other materials. From awhite@essential.org Tue Jun 6 19:40:51 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 68BD529B64 for ; Tue, 6 Jun 2006 19:40:51 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2DFE9134257 for ; Tue, 6 Jun 2006 19:40:51 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 30051-04-3 for ; Tue, 6 Jun 2006 19:40:51 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D179D134250 for ; Tue, 6 Jun 2006 19:40:50 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <44861280.3020403@essential.org> Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2006 19:40:48 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.4 (Windows/20060516) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Sign petition urging Costa Rica to approve ratification of the FCTC content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Corporate Accountability International is sponsoring a petition asking Costa Rica to approve ratification of the FCTC in the upcoming Legislative Assembly. TAKE ACTION: Sign the petition by clicking on the link and submitting your name. http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=crcmct Thanks! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org or awhite@essentialinformation.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Wed Sep 6 18:42:23 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8320BB39F for ; Wed, 6 Sep 2006 18:42:23 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5951113403A for ; Wed, 6 Sep 2006 18:42:23 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 01426-01-8 for ; Wed, 6 Sep 2006 18:42:23 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id CA10213400B for ; Wed, 6 Sep 2006 18:42:22 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <44FF4EC8.6080500@essential.org> Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2006 18:42:16 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.5 (Windows/20060719) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Participate in IWR 2006! (September 25-29) content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Please find below information about the 8th International Week of Resistance to Tobacco Transnationals (IWR2006) from Corporate Accountability International. It's coming up real soon (September 25-29). If you are interested in participating, contact Megan Rising at mrising@stopcorporateabuse.org. Best wishes, Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action #### Dear Friends, With nearly 140 ratifications to date, we have made tremendous progress toward ensuring the FCTC's life-saving impact. Now, as countries around the globe are drafting and passing tobacco control legislation to implement the global tobacco treaty, it is critical that we work together to protect public health policy from tobacco industry interference. It is time to prepare for the 8th International Week of Resistance to Tobacco Transnationals (IWR2006). During the week of September 25-29, NGOs across the globe will organize events to build global support for ratifying and swiftly implementing the global tobacco treaty. A centerpiece to IWR2006, is the Global Release of the 2nd Edition of the Global Tobacco Treaty Action Guide: Challenging Tobacco Industry Interference. The Action Guide is a tool for global tobacco control and corporate accountability communities to strengthen our collective efforts to challenge the tobacco industry=92s interference in health policy. The 1st Edition of the Action Guide was released internationally during IWR2005 and was downloaded more than 4000 times in three languages within months of its release. The enthusiastic response from people around the world was a testimony to the need for global collaboration to challenge attempts by international tobacco corporations to derail the tobacco treaty. PLEASE JOIN WITH ALLIES AROUND THE WORLD BY RELEASING THE ACTION GUIDE IN YOUR COUNTRY. URGE YOUR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY FROM TOBACCO INDUSTRY INTERFERENCE AND TO SWIFTLY IMPLEMENT THE FCTC. If your country is among the dwindling minority of countries that have not yet ratified the treaty, IWR is a great opportunity to highlight the urgent need for ratification and implementation. At this critical phase of the FCTC process, IWR2006 will reinforce the courageous work of those in Parliaments, legislatures, and government Ministries=97those on the frontlines of advancing public health policy in the face of an enormously powerful industry. If you are interested in organizing an IWR event in your country, please contact me right away by sending an email to mrising@stopcorporateabuse.org! I look forward to hearing from you! Onward, Megan Megan Rising FCTC Ratification Campaign Organizer Corporate Accountability International (formerly Infact) 46 Plympton Street Boston, MA 02118 USA +1-617-695-2525 p l +1-617-695-2626 f mrising@stopcorporateabuse.org www.stopcorporateabuse.org From awhite@essential.org Wed Sep 13 11:40:32 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 11026B39F for ; Wed, 13 Sep 2006 11:40:32 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B9B01134042 for ; Wed, 13 Sep 2006 11:40:31 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 01811-01-3 for ; Wed, 13 Sep 2006 11:40:31 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D656B134040 for ; Wed, 13 Sep 2006 11:40:30 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <45082666.3000906@essential.org> Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 11:40:22 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.5 (Windows/20060719) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Big Tobacco Violates Law in the Philippines content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: *** please forward widely *** ******************************************************** TAKE ACTION: Big Tobacco Violates Law in the Philippines ******************************************************** Dear Friends, Prominent health warnings on cigarette packs were supposed to have come into effect in the Philippines on July 1, 2006, but the tobacco industry managed to obtain a postponement. Local tobacco control advocates say the body that granted the postponement had no legal right to do so and that the law still applies and should be enforced! Tobacco companies had a whole three years to comply with the law, so the reasons they gave for needing more time are just a smokescreen. Check out photos of Big Tobacco's DOUBLE STANDARD in the Philippines at: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/philwarn/ TAKE ACTION: Click on the link below to send an email to the Philippines' Secretary of Trade & Industry and Secretary of Health (Chair & Vice Chair of the Inter-Agency Committee for Tobacco) and other government officials asking them to enforce the law. http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Dphilippines0 Letter campaign sponsored by: Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance, Philippines (http://fcap.globalink.org) & Essential Action (http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco) #### MORE BACKGROUND (by Mary Assunta, 30 August 2006) http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/philwarn/ Tobacco control in the Philippines has taken a beating as Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco and local tobacco companies flout national legislation requiring prominent pack warnings. As of 1 July 2006, all cigarette packs sold in the Philippines must carry prominent health warning occupying 30% on the bottom portion of one front panel of the pack. However the companies are collectively breaking the ruling. The tobacco companies had ample time to comply with this provision (Sect 13c) as they were given three years grace since the Tobacco Regulation Act (RA 9211) went into effect in July 2003. However Philip Morris International, BAT and JT and other companies collectively (Philippines Tobacco Institute) pushed for a postponement of the enforcement to November 2006 citing "administrative feasibility", "logistical nightmare", and "costly exercise" among their reasons. Philip Morris' Marlboro and JT's Winston and Mild Seven cigarette packs do not carry these warnings on their packs in the Philippines. This is a sheer case of double standards because Philip Morris' state-of- the-art factory in the Philippines manufacturers and exports Marlboro packs to Thailand carrying graphic warnings. Philip Morris' brands sold in Singapore also carry graphic pack warnings. In Japan all JT's cigarette packs sold to Japanese consumers carry health warnings on the front panel of their packs. The Japanese government required cigarette packs to carry prominent warnings on its packs starting November 2003 and JT carried out a phase-in exercise starting with one brand in November 2004, followed by an additional ten brands in January 2005 and all of its packs by June 2005. [http://www.jti.co.jp/JTI_E/Release/04/no24.html] In a November 2004 press statement released in Japan, JT had said: "It is a legislative requirement that tobacco products marketed in Japan be shipped with the new caution statements by the end of June, 2005. =85any newly launched JT cigarette products, the company will comply with the requirement by the due date." While JT was respectful of the law in Japan, and phased- in the changes on its packs, it did not show the same respect for the Philippines law. The flimsy excuses offered to Filipinos don't hold water as a three-year phase-in period is more than ample time. Although the tobacco companies have obtained a postponement, however the law has not been amended and still applies. In the Filipino population of about 85 million people, 50% of men and 12% of women smoke. Every hour 3 Filipinos die due to smoking related diseases. Billboard advertising is still allowed. Single sticks are freely sold on the streets. A pack of Marlboros (20 sticks) cost about US$0.60 cents. There is currently no sustained public education on smoking hazards. Tobacco companies typically fight prominent and graphic pack warnings around the world. If they are unable to stop a stringent law from being instituted then they put effort into postponement of the implementation of the law, which is clearly being demonstrated in the Philippines. --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue Sep 19 16:59:21 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 32332B3CA for ; Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:59:21 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 08457134124 for ; Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:59:21 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 20365-01-3 for ; Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:59:20 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A7121134040 for ; Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:59:20 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <45105A1F.8070707@essential.org> Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:59:11 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.7 (Windows/20060909) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Journalist, a tobacco control advocate, jailed in Niger! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: ********************************************************************* TAKE ACTION: Journalist, a tobacco control advocate, jailed in Niger! ********************************************************************* Dear Friends, Omar Keita is journalist in Niamey and a tobacco control advocate. He has been jailed (along with his publisher) since August 4, 2006, allegedly for defaming the government. Amnesty International is calling for their immediate release. Globalink Radio has set up a petition so that the international tobacco control community can express its support and solidarity. TAKE ACTION: Sign the petition! Go to: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=glkradio Thanks for taking action! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org (or awhite@essentialinformation.org) http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Tue Sep 26 17:33:35 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7819EB3F0 for ; Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:33:35 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4A8CB134122 for ; Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:33:35 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 10615-01-5 for ; Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:33:35 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C8742134006 for ; Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:33:34 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <45199CAE.5060002@essential.org> Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:33:34 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.7 (Windows/20060909) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: UPDATE: Omar Keita and Maman Abou to remain in jail - Sign new petition! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, We recently sent you an alert about Omar Keita, a journalist and tobacco control advocate who has been jailed along with his publisher since August, allegedly for defaming the government of Niger. Philippe Boucher of Globalink Radio reports that the Court of Appeal of Niamey has confirmed the first judgment: 18 months in jail! There is still a possibility that the case could go to the Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation). TAKE ACTION: People in Niger have been shocked by the decision, and the newspaper Le Republicain has launched an internet petition of its own. You can sign it by going to: http://www.republicain-niger.com/ (click on blue box to the right that says "PETITION: Liberez M. ABOU et O. KEITA SIGNEZ MAINTENANT") And if you haven't done so already, please also add your name to the Globalink petition: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=glkradio Philippe says that "expressing our solidarity was important and it is even more important now after this negative decision." Thank you for taking action! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org (or awhite@essentialinformation.org) http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco From awhite@essential.org Fri Oct 20 14:02:52 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DD239B3C8 for ; Fri, 20 Oct 2006 14:02:51 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A3D54134127 for ; Fri, 20 Oct 2006 14:02:51 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 07258-03-9 for ; Fri, 20 Oct 2006 14:02:50 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5EE69134124 for ; Fri, 20 Oct 2006 14:02:50 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <45390F43.1030706@essential.org> Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 14:02:43 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.7 (Windows/20060909) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: UPDATE: Big Tobacco Violates Law in the Philippines content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Last month, we asked you to support Filipino tobacco control advocates efforts to enforce a law requiring prominent health warnings on cigarette packs (see http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/philwarn/) The latest development is that a group of Filipino doctors have filed a criminal case against Philip Morris for violating the law. Please find below more information, courtesy of Debby Sy, and an article. Best wishes, Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action #### The following is a report of what transpired. This news item came out in the most popular evening news and most of the morning news on TV. The video footage showed a short interview with Maricar and the package of Marlboro with graphic warning (from New Zealand) juxtapose the current non-compliant Marlboro. CONCERNED FILIPINO DOCTORS FILE CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST PHILIP MORRIS! A group of concerned Filipino doctors have taken bold steps when they filed a criminal case against Philip Morris (PM) for violations of the health warning provision of R.A. 9211 (The Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003) on the morning of October 19, 2006 at the City Prosecutor Office of Makati City. The case was accepted by Assistant Prosecutor Lody Q. Tancioco. When asked about why they're filing the case, Dr. Encarnita B. Limpin said that "as concerned citizens, they are just doing their duty to report whatever wrongdoing that they have seen. They are complaining about a tobacco company's criminal act of denying Filipinos, especially Filipino children, the right to know the health hazards of smoking by not placing the health warnings on the front panel." The doctors were wondering why Philip Morris Inc, a multinational company, can comply with the health warning laws in other countries like Thailand, Singapore and Australia but could not do the same in the Philippines. And to think that in the other countries, the health warnings were stricter complete with pictorials whereas in the Philippines, what we have is a mere text health warning. Dr. Limpin said that "Philip Morris, as a multinational company, was given the privilege to do business in the country. The least that they can do is respect the laws of this country! They do not have the right to undermine the efforts of the government in protecting its citizens from the harm caused by hazardous products like cigarettes. Dr. Limpin was joined in by Dr. Norman Maghuyop of Valenzuela General Hospital, Dr. Manuel Hector Silos of Medical City, Dr. Joselito Chico of National Kidney & Transplant Institute and Dr. Jocelyn Amposta of Cavite City accompanied and supported by Tobacco Free Philippines, Philippine College of Chest Physicians, and Public Health Advocates. The purpose of the Health Warning is for the government to protect the Filipinos, especially Filipino children, the right to know the health hazards of smoking . Under Section 13-c of RA 9211 beginning July 1, 2006, the health warning shall be located on the bottom portion of one front panel of every tobacco product package and occupy not less than 30% of such front panel. The text of the warning shall appear in clearly legible type in black text on a white background with a black border and in contrast by topography, layout or color to the other printed matters on the package. The following text health warnings that shall be printed on a rotating basis are: (1) "GOVERNMENT WARNING: Cigarette Smoking is Dangerous to Your Health," (2) "GOVERNMENT WARNING: Cigarettes are Addictive," (3) "GOVERNMENT WARNING: Tobacco Smoke Can Harm Your Children," or (4) "GOVERNMENT WARNING: Smoking Kills." The group of concerned doctors is calling all citizens to do their duty by reporting a wrong doing when they see it. All citizens should find a way to remind the tobacco companies to obey the law and allow Filipinos to see what the health warnings really say ##### Doctors file criminal complaint against tobacco company http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN2006102077552.html By HANNAH L. TORREGOZA A group of doctors yesterday filed a criminal case against a leading tobacco firm for allegedly violating health provisions of the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003. Physicians affiliated with the Framework Convention of Tobacco Alliance Philippines filed the case against Philip Morris at the Makati prosecutor=92s office before proceeding to the 21st floor of the city hall to pay a courtesy call on embattled Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay who is a staunch anti-smoking campaigner. The doctors who filed the complaint were Encarnita Limpin, Joselito Chico, Norman Maghuyop, Manuel Hector-Silos, and Jocelyn Jaro-Amposta. Limpin said Philip Morris has failed to comply with the health warning provision of the tobacco regulation law or Republic Act 9211 which requires tobacco firms to post the health warning in the bottom portion of one front panel of each pack of tobacco product. They said warning should occupy not less than 30 percent of the front panel of the package and should be placed conspicuously as part of the agreement in the international treaty against tobacco, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The FCTC agreement was ratified by the Philippine government on June 6, 2005 and has set new guidelines cigarette companies are expected to comply with. But medical practitioners said Philip Morris still maintains the old format in all cigarette packages manufactured in the country where the health warning is placed at the side of each pack. "The warnings are still placed at the sides. How can they follow stricter rules in Thailand and in other countries, but not here in the country? They should be made to comply with the government=92s efforts to promote anti-smoking campaign," Limpin said during a press conference at the city hall. She said Philip Morris has no excuse not to act in accordance with the provisions of the Tobacco Regulation Act since they had three full years to prepare for it. "They are just visitors in this country and were just allowed to do business here," Limpin said. If found guilty, executives of Philip Morris could end up paying R100,000 or face one year imprisonment or both. "The least that Philip Morris can do is to obey our law," Limpin said adding that they chose to strategically file the complaint in Makati since the company holds office at the financial district. "Makati is also known for its strict implementation of its own anti-smoking ordinance and which openly campaigns against the effects of tobacco use," the group said. Binay said he is fully supporting the doctors=92 cause. From awhite@essential.org Thu Nov 30 19:42:50 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1726CB3AB for ; Thu, 30 Nov 2006 19:42:50 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 949AB134068 for ; Thu, 30 Nov 2006 19:42:49 -0500 (EST) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 13761-01 for ; Thu, 30 Nov 2006 19:42:49 -0500 (EST) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8B3D4134060 for ; Thu, 30 Nov 2006 19:42:48 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <456F7A83.9040309@essential.org> Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 19:42:43 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.8 (Windows/20061025) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: TAKE ACTION: Tell George Benson Not to Spread Tobacco Addiction in Indonesia! content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: *** please forward widely *** ***************************************************************************** TAKE ACTION: Tell George Benson Not to Spread Tobacco Addiction in Indonesia! ***************************************************************************** Dear Friends, On Monday, December 4, 2006, George Benson, a popular American jazz singer, is scheduled to perform a concert in Jakarta, Indonesia that is being sponsored by Djarum Super Mezzo, an Indonesian clove cigarette brand. Indonesian advocates and the GYAT Network invite tobacco control advocates around the world to join them in urging George Benson to take the following measures to mitigate the damage of his good name and music being used to spread tobacco addiction in Indonesia: 1) Request that the tobacco company sponsorship of the Indonesian concert be dropped. If it is not, pull out of the concert. 2) Pledge not to be sponsored by the tobacco industry in the future. 3) Take the necessary measures to ensure that his name is not associated with a tobacco company or brand in the future. TAKE ACTION: Send an email to George Benson (via his international agents)! Just click on the link below and fill in your name* http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=benson * Please take a few minutes to also add some personalized comments at the beginning of the email. Types of things you might mention: - Any ties to Indonesia, or knowledge about tobacco use there - Info re: the ulterior motives behind tobacco industry sponsorship of popular singers - If you are a fan of jazz and George Benson, in particular - If American, your concern about American musical icons promoting tobacco abroad - If a youth advocate, your age and concerns about your generation being targeted by the tobacco industry worldwide You are also encouraged to modify the subject line, to make it more likely that your email is read and not automatically deleted. Petition sponsored by: GYAT Network (www.gyatnetwork.org), a global network of youth advocates who collaborate across borders to counter the tobacco industry's targeting of their generation For more information: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/georgebenson/ --------------------------------------- Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: tobacco@essential.org From awhite@essential.org Fri Dec 1 13:32:37 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 699B5B3D4 for ; Fri, 1 Dec 2006 13:32:37 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D3C63134068 for ; Fri, 1 Dec 2006 13:32:36 -0500 (EST) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 14832-02 for ; Fri, 1 Dec 2006 13:32:36 -0500 (EST) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A386B134060 for ; Fri, 1 Dec 2006 13:32:35 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <4570753E.2090303@essential.org> Date: Fri, 01 Dec 2006 13:32:30 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.8 (Windows/20061025) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: UPDATE: Omar Keita and Maman Abou to remain in jail - Sign new petition! content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Good news! A few months ago we forwarded you an alert from GLKradio about Omar Keita, a journalist and tobacco control advocate who had been jailed along with his publisher since August, allegedly for defaming the government of Niger. Yesterday, Inoussa Saouna of SOS Tabagisme-Niger reported that the journalists were brought before the court once again earlier this week and, after a full day of testimony, they were freed! For more background on their case, see: http://blogsofbainbridge.typepad.com/glk/2006/09/296.html#more. And for an article (in French) about the journalists' recent liberation, see below. Our colleagues in Niger send thanks to the over 300 people around the world who signed the Globalink petition on the journalists' behalf. all the best, Anna Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action #### De : saouna inoussa Envoy=E9 : jeudi 30 novembre 2006 20:26 Objet : Lib=E9ration de nos amis Omar Keita et Manan Abou Chers amis, Nos amis journalistes du Niger emprisonn=E9 depuis qutre mois pour avoir denonc=E9 la corruption qui grangrene le Gouvernement du Niger viennent de retrouver la libert=E9 suite au proc=E8s en appel le 27 vovembre 2006. Merci =E0 tous pour la grande mobilisation. Voir L'article du journnal l'ev=E8nement du Niger. Condamn=E9s =E0 une peine de 18 mois sur plainte de l=92Etat du Niger et du premier ministre Hama Amadou pour diffusion de fausses nouvelles et diffamation en Ao=FBt dernier pour un article intitul=E9 =AB Hama l=E2che l=92Occident pour l=92Iran =BB, les deux journalistes du R=E9publicain dont= la peine avait =E9t=E9 confirm=E9e par la cour d=92Appel en septembre, sont en= core revenus devant la m=EAme cour le 27 novembre 2006 pour =AB =EAtre rejug=E9s= =BB. Le proc=E8s qui aura dur=E9 toute une journ=E9e a commenc=E9 par le rappel = par le pr=E9sident de la cour aux deux journalistes des faits qui leur sont reproch=E9s. R=E9pondant aux questions que lui posait le pr=E9sident, le directeur de publication du R=E9publicain, Maman Abou a d=E9clar=E9 que l=92article incrimin=E9 =E9tait l=92expression d=92une opinion dans un cont= exte qui se caract=E9risait comme par la publication de l=92audit sur les malversations des fonds du PDDE au MEBA dont son journal s=92=E9tait fait l=92=E9chos et les manifestations de la soci=E9t=E9 civile contre la vie ch= =E8re. S=92agissant pr=E9cis=E9ment du d=E9lit de diffamation Maman Abou a indiqu= =E9 que loin d=92=EAtre une invention les propos jug=E9s diffamatoires ont =E9t=E9 d=E9velopp=E9s par Hama Amadou lui m=EAme et son entourage. Assumant son r= =F4le de directeur de publication Maman Abou va une fois encore revendiquer la responsabilit=E9 des faits qui sont reproch=E9s au journaliste Oumarou Keit= a en r=E9pondant au pr=E9sident de la cour d=92appel qu=92il est l=92unique responsable de la publication de l=92article en question et non son journaliste. =AB Si je n=92avais pas donn=E9 mon accord, cet article n=92au= rait pas =E9t=E9 publi=E9 =BB, a t-il d=E9clar=E9. Ensuite suivra la plaidoirie = de quatre des cinq avocats des accus=E9s qui vont soulever des exceptions et soulever l=92incomp=E9tence du tribunal qui les a condamn=E9. Ma=EEtre Mous= sa Coulibaly b=E2tonnier de l=92ordre des avocats du Niger a d=92entr=E9 de je= u d=E9clar=E9 que le jugement qui est soumis =E0 la censure de la cour d =91a= ppel est l=92arch=E9type m=EAme de la violation de la loi en mati=E8re de proc= =E9dure. Estimant que leurs clients ont =E9t=E9 condamn=E9s selon une proc=E9dure irr=E9guli=E8re il va demander =E0 la cour d=92appel de mettre imm=E9diatem= ent fin =E0 la poursuite dont ils font l=92objet et de les relaxer. Ma=EEtre Oumaro= u Souley va lui tout simplement relever que les faits reproch=E9s aux jour- nalistes ne sont pas du tout constitu=E9s car il ne trouve rien de faux ou de diffamatoire dans l=92article =AB Hama l=E2che l=92Occident pour l=92Ira= n =BB, rappelant que les journalistes n=92ont fait que leur devoir en rapportant que Hama Amadou s=92en est effectivement pris =AB aux blancs =BB lors d=92u= n meeting de son parti. Mieux, a t-il affirm=E9 les deux journalistes qui ont r=E9v=E9l=E9 =E0 travers leurs articles des d=E9tournements de deniers = publics ont fait =AB oeuvre de salubrit=E9 publique =BB. Les arguments d=E9velopp= =E9s par Me Souley seront appuy=E9s par l=92avocat malien Me Mamoudou S. Konat=E9 qu= i a =E9loquemment d=E9montr=E9 que Maman Abou et Omarou Keita font oeuvre utile= =E0 travers leur travail de journalistes. De son c=F4t=E9 Me William Bourdon du Barreau de Paris va lui aussi relever le caract=E8re non fond=E9 des faits qui sont reproch=E9s aux deux journalistes. =AB Maman Abou et Omarou Keita n=92ont fait que r=E9v=E9ler des v=E9rit=E9s qui d=E9rangent =BB a t-il aff= irm=E9, avant de demander tout simplement leur relaxe. =AB Leurs clients ne sont pas venu =E0 la barre pour qu=E9mander leur libert=E9. Ils veulent tout simplem= ent que la loi soit appliqu=E9e =BB, n=92ont cess=E9 de marteler les avocats en r=E9action =E0 la plaidoirie de la partie civile qui estime qu=92il y=92a e= u diffamation et diffusion de fausses nouvelles et du r=E9quisitoire du procureur qui a requis =E0 la fin du proc=E8s 9 mois dont 6 avec sursis contre les accus=E9s, qui ont b=E9n=E9fici=E9 d=92une mise en libert=E9 pro= visoire. =AB C=92est dans l=92ordre normal des choses que le juge prononce notre lib=E9ration car dans le fond le dossier est vide =BB a affirm=E9 Omarou Ke= ita =E0 l=92annonce de leur mise en libert=E9 avant d=92ajouter que il y va de l=92honneur de la justice nig=E9rienne qui ces dernier temps, a =E9t=E9 =E9= corn=E9e par un certain d=92=E9v=E9nements. De son Maman Abou, a aussi reconnu l=92existence de =AB juges honn=EAtes =BB au sein la justice nig=E9rienne a= vant d=92ajouter qu=92il y a aussi des =AB brebis galeuses =BB faisant ainsi all= usion aux juges qui agissent sur injonction du gouvernement. Mais, a t-il conclu =AB c=92est un honneur pour moi d=92=EAtre all=E9 Inoussa Saouna Pr=E9sident SOS Tabagisme-Niger BP:10763 Niamey Niger Tel: (00227) 96480405 From awhite@essential.org Fri Dec 1 13:49:12 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id CD7E4B3D2 for ; Fri, 1 Dec 2006 13:49:11 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A055D16014E for ; Fri, 1 Dec 2006 13:49:11 -0500 (EST) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 15391-02-3 for ; Fri, 1 Dec 2006 13:49:11 -0500 (EST) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C875E16014D for ; Fri, 1 Dec 2006 13:49:10 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <45707921.7040507@essential.org> Date: Fri, 01 Dec 2006 13:49:05 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.8 (Windows/20061025) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Correction: UPDATE: Omar Keita and Maman Abou FREED from jail! content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Good news! A few months ago we forwarded you an alert from GLKradio about Omar Keita, a journalist and tobacco control advocate who had been jailed along with his publisher since August, allegedly for defaming the government of Niger. Yesterday, Inoussa Saouna of SOS Tabagisme-Niger reported that the journalists were brought before the court once again earlier this week and, after a full day of testimony, they were freed! For more background on their case, see: http://blogsofbainbridge.typepad.com/glk/2006/09/296.html#more. And for an article (in French) about the journalists' recent liberation, see below. Our colleagues in Niger send thanks to the over 300 people around the world who signed the Globalink petition on the journalists' behalf. all the best, Anna Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action #### De : saouna inoussa Envoy=E9 : jeudi 30 novembre 2006 20:26 Objet : Lib=E9ration de nos amis Omar Keita et Manan Abou Chers amis, Nos amis journalistes du Niger emprisonn=E9 depuis qutre mois pour avoir denonc=E9 la corruption qui grangrene le Gouvernement du Niger viennent de retrouver la libert=E9 suite au proc=E8s en appel le 27 vovembre 2006. Merci =E0 tous pour la grande mobilisation. Voir L'article du journnal l'ev=E8nement du Niger. Condamn=E9s =E0 une peine de 18 mois sur plainte de l=92Etat du Niger et du premier ministre Hama Amadou pour diffusion de fausses nouvelles et diffamation en Ao=FBt dernier pour un article intitul=E9 =AB Hama l=E2che l=92Occident pour l=92Iran =BB, les deux journalistes du R=E9publicain dont= la peine avait =E9t=E9 confirm=E9e par la cour d=92Appel en septembre, sont en= core revenus devant la m=EAme cour le 27 novembre 2006 pour =AB =EAtre rejug=E9s= =BB. Le proc=E8s qui aura dur=E9 toute une journ=E9e a commenc=E9 par le rappel = par le pr=E9sident de la cour aux deux journalistes des faits qui leur sont reproch=E9s. R=E9pondant aux questions que lui posait le pr=E9sident, le directeur de publication du R=E9publicain, Maman Abou a d=E9clar=E9 que l=92article incrimin=E9 =E9tait l=92expression d=92une opinion dans un cont= exte qui se caract=E9risait comme par la publication de l=92audit sur les malversations des fonds du PDDE au MEBA dont son journal s=92=E9tait fait l=92=E9chos et les manifestations de la soci=E9t=E9 civile contre la vie ch= =E8re. S=92agissant pr=E9cis=E9ment du d=E9lit de diffamation Maman Abou a indiqu= =E9 que loin d=92=EAtre une invention les propos jug=E9s diffamatoires ont =E9t=E9 d=E9velopp=E9s par Hama Amadou lui m=EAme et son entourage. Assumant son r= =F4le de directeur de publication Maman Abou va une fois encore revendiquer la responsabilit=E9 des faits qui sont reproch=E9s au journaliste Oumarou Keit= a en r=E9pondant au pr=E9sident de la cour d=92appel qu=92il est l=92unique responsable de la publication de l=92article en question et non son journaliste. =AB Si je n=92avais pas donn=E9 mon accord, cet article n=92au= rait pas =E9t=E9 publi=E9 =BB, a t-il d=E9clar=E9. Ensuite suivra la plaidoirie = de quatre des cinq avocats des accus=E9s qui vont soulever des exceptions et soulever l=92incomp=E9tence du tribunal qui les a condamn=E9. Ma=EEtre Mous= sa Coulibaly b=E2tonnier de l=92ordre des avocats du Niger a d=92entr=E9 de je= u d=E9clar=E9 que le jugement qui est soumis =E0 la censure de la cour d =91a= ppel est l=92arch=E9type m=EAme de la violation de la loi en mati=E8re de proc= =E9dure. Estimant que leurs clients ont =E9t=E9 condamn=E9s selon une proc=E9dure irr=E9guli=E8re il va demander =E0 la cour d=92appel de mettre imm=E9diatem= ent fin =E0 la poursuite dont ils font l=92objet et de les relaxer. Ma=EEtre Oumaro= u Souley va lui tout simplement relever que les faits reproch=E9s aux jour- nalistes ne sont pas du tout constitu=E9s car il ne trouve rien de faux ou de diffamatoire dans l=92article =AB Hama l=E2che l=92Occident pour l=92Ira= n =BB, rappelant que les journalistes n=92ont fait que leur devoir en rapportant que Hama Amadou s=92en est effectivement pris =AB aux blancs =BB lors d=92u= n meeting de son parti. Mieux, a t-il affirm=E9 les deux journalistes qui ont r=E9v=E9l=E9 =E0 travers leurs articles des d=E9tournements de deniers = publics ont fait =AB oeuvre de salubrit=E9 publique =BB. Les arguments d=E9velopp= =E9s par Me Souley seront appuy=E9s par l=92avocat malien Me Mamoudou S. Konat=E9 qu= i a =E9loquemment d=E9montr=E9 que Maman Abou et Omarou Keita font oeuvre utile= =E0 travers leur travail de journalistes. De son c=F4t=E9 Me William Bourdon du Barreau de Paris va lui aussi relever le caract=E8re non fond=E9 des faits qui sont reproch=E9s aux deux journalistes. =AB Maman Abou et Omarou Keita n=92ont fait que r=E9v=E9ler des v=E9rit=E9s qui d=E9rangent =BB a t-il aff= irm=E9, avant de demander tout simplement leur relaxe. =AB Leurs clients ne sont pas venu =E0 la barre pour qu=E9mander leur libert=E9. Ils veulent tout simplem= ent que la loi soit appliqu=E9e =BB, n=92ont cess=E9 de marteler les avocats en r=E9action =E0 la plaidoirie de la partie civile qui estime qu=92il y=92a e= u diffamation et diffusion de fausses nouvelles et du r=E9quisitoire du procureur qui a requis =E0 la fin du proc=E8s 9 mois dont 6 avec sursis contre les accus=E9s, qui ont b=E9n=E9fici=E9 d=92une mise en libert=E9 pro= visoire. =AB C=92est dans l=92ordre normal des choses que le juge prononce notre lib=E9ration car dans le fond le dossier est vide =BB a affirm=E9 Omarou Ke= ita =E0 l=92annonce de leur mise en libert=E9 avant d=92ajouter que il y va de l=92honneur de la justice nig=E9rienne qui ces dernier temps, a =E9t=E9 =E9= corn=E9e par un certain d=92=E9v=E9nements. De son Maman Abou, a aussi reconnu l=92existence de =AB juges honn=EAtes =BB au sein la justice nig=E9rienne a= vant d=92ajouter qu=92il y a aussi des =AB brebis galeuses =BB faisant ainsi all= usion aux juges qui agissent sur injonction du gouvernement. Mais, a t-il conclu =AB c=92est un honneur pour moi d=92=EAtre all=E9 Inoussa Saouna Pr=E9sident SOS Tabagisme-Niger BP:10763 Niamey Niger Tel: (00227) 96480405 From awhite@essential.org Mon Dec 4 15:57:56 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8DA59B39F for ; Mon, 4 Dec 2006 15:57:56 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 57320134056 for ; Mon, 4 Dec 2006 15:57:56 -0500 (EST) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 22462-01-2 for ; Mon, 4 Dec 2006 15:57:55 -0500 (EST) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 52DFC134043 for ; Mon, 4 Dec 2006 15:57:55 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <45748BCC.2000405@essential.org> Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2006 15:57:48 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.8 (Windows/20061025) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Update re: George Benson concert in Indonesia content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Good news! Well over 200 people around the world participated in the online petition campaign opposing tobacco industry sponsorship of George Benson's concert this evening (December 4) in Indonesia. Last Friday, Bob Zievers, the person at International Creative Management, Inc (New York) who booked the concert for George Benson, sent the following message: thank you for bringing this to our attention. i want you to know that prior to receiving your email we were not aware of a tobacco sponsorship of george benson's appearance in jakarta on monday, and george benson does not in any way endorse the use of tobacco. while it is traditional in the concert business to have sponsorship attached to almost every event, we rarely encounter tobacco sponsorships. i'm sure you are aware that nearly every concert and sports venue in this country has sponsorship attached both to the venue and the events that are produced in those venues. we try to make sure that whatever venue or event sponsorship is involved with mr. benson's appearances are strictly venue and event sponsorships and do not imply his endorsement of any product. while i haven't seen copies of the print advertising, i sincerely hope that the advertising doesn't appear to make mr. benson an endorser of tobacco as that would be a violation of the spirit of our agreement. it is, however, somewhat difficult to monitor each ad placed for an event taking place halfway around the world. we have taken steps to stop as much as can be stopped at this late date, and i can assure you that there will be no presence of tobacco sponsorship on site at george's concert on monday. we sincerely regret this unfortunate turn of events and have now learned to add extra caution in the future to prevent a reoccurence of something such as this. i again thank you for bringing this to our attention. sincerely, bob zievers. Given the positive response, we have suspended the petition campaign. We have also sent an email to Mr. Zievers emphasizing the importance of George Benson stipulating, as a condition of any future contracts, that concerts in which he performs may not be sponsored by a tobacco company or brand. We will keep you informed of any further updates on this issue. Some Indonesian colleagues may be attending the concert tonight. If so, hopefully they can verify that the tobacco sponsorship was indeed halted. Lastly, kudos to Dina Kania in Indonesia for bringing this to the attention of the GYAT Network, a global network of young tobacco control advocates launched at the 13th World Conference on Tobacco or Health this past July. One of the purposes of the network is to promote cross-border collaboration, activism and solidarity campaigns to counter the tobacco industry's targeting of their generation. Thanks to all who participated in this petition campaign! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org (or awhite@essentialinformation.org) From awhite@essential.org Tue Dec 5 11:48:33 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 129EBB3D3 for ; Tue, 5 Dec 2006 11:48:33 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 31039134068 for ; Tue, 5 Dec 2006 11:48:32 -0500 (EST) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 28739-03-6 for ; Tue, 5 Dec 2006 11:48:32 -0500 (EST) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id CB4E5134043 for ; Tue, 5 Dec 2006 11:48:31 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <4575A2D9.30403@essential.org> Date: Tue, 05 Dec 2006 11:48:25 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.8 (Windows/20061025) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Update:Tobacco sponsorship at George Benson concert in Indonesia content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Unfortunately, Indonesian colleagues report that the George Benson concert last night was still sponsored by Djarum Super Mezzo. Here are some promotional materials gathered: http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/georgebenson/Ad.jpg http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/georgebenson/Tag.jpg Given the last minute nature of the petition campaign and the fact that Djarum Super Mezzo was the primary sponsor of the concert, this news is disappointing but not terribly surprising. We are going to share these images with the person at ICM Talent who booked the concert and suggest that George Benson donate a portion of the proceeds from the concert to tobacco control efforts in Indonesia, as a means of partially mitigating the harm caused by tobacco industry sponsorship of it. We will also recommend some concrete steps that the booking agency should take to prevent this from happening again in the future. Stay tuned for further updates, Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org (or awhite@essentialinformation.org) From awhite@essential.org Thu Dec 21 13:20:29 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B7180B39F for ; Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:20:28 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 84D95134043 for ; Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:20:28 -0500 (EST) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 28988-01-4 for ; Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:20:28 -0500 (EST) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 27CE813403C for ; Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:20:27 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <458AD06B.8060408@essential.org> Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:20:27 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.9 (Windows/20061207) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: UPDATE re: Philip Morris Violating Law in the Philippines content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, In September, almost 200 people participated in a online email campaign urging Philippines' Inter-Agency Committee for Tobacco to hold Philip Morris accountable for failing to comply with health warning requirements (see http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/letter/philwarn/). And in October, as mentioned in a previous update, a group of Filipino doctors filed a criminal case against Philip Morris for violating the law. The latest update: Roberto del Rosario, a former smoker and now committed tobacco control advocate, has sued Philip Morris for failure to comply with the health warning requirements. For more information about this, as well as the current status of the Filipino doctors' criminal case against Philip Morris, please see the update below from Debby Sy. Kudos to our Filipino colleagues for taking Philip Morris on! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action #### UPDATE FROM DEBBY SY RE: EFFORTS TO HOLD PHILIP MORRIS ACCOUNTABLE IN THE PHILIPPINES 1. Former Smoker Sues PM for Failure to Comply with Health Warning Requirements! Roberto del Rosario, a former smoker who was diagnosed with Buerger's Disease, wherein he risked having his legs amputated years ago,now files a case against Philip Morris: specifically for recently coming out with Christmas Packaging of Philip Morris Menthol that fails to show the Health Warning Requirement on the front of the cigarette package as RA 9211( Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003) mandates. For more information, see first press release below. 2. In Doctors' Suit against Philip Morris, Philip Morris Blames Government Agency for Granting an Extension The doctors filed their reply yesterday to counter Philip Morris's lame excuses. Philip Morris claims that the Inter Agency Committee on Tobacco ( IACT) has granted them an extension but fails to produce a document that proves this statement. The IACT Secretariat has expressly denied that an extension was granted. For more information, see second press release below. #### PRESS RELEASE #1 Smoker Almost Lost Leg Sues Philip Morris A man who almost lost his leg files criminal case against Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc (PMPMI) at the City Prosecutor=92s Office of Makati City this December 19, 2006 for their failure to place the health warnings on the front display panel of their recently released cigarette packages. The man, Roberto Del Rosario, was a victim of cigarette smoking. During his teen-age years, just like many of his fellow teen-agers, Roberto smoked Philip Morris until he started feeling pain in his legs. He was diagnosed with Buerger=92s Disease, a disease characterized by clogging of the arteries of the legs, which according to the doctors, was secondary to smoking. The doctors warned him that unless he goes through an expensive operation, they would eventually amputate his leg. In his complaint, he recounted that he didn=92t know then that he could lose a leg because of smoking and that he realized that it would not have been necessary for him to go through the painful procedure had the cigarette company provided effective and accurate warnings about the real dangers of smoking. His complaint named all the eleven corporate officials of Philip Morris, 3 of whom are British, 1 Pakistani, 1 German, 1 Italian, 1 American, 1 Netherlandse, 1 Brazilian and 2 Filipinos. Should the corporation be found guilty of the alleged violations, the court may impose a fine of not more than one hundred thousand pesos, (P100,000) or imprisonment of not more than one (1) year or both. The former smoker who risked amputation said that =93it is very important for Filipinos to see clearly the health warnings so that they will be informed of the deadly effects of cigarettes=94. He said that he knows that the law requires health warnings to be conspicuously placed on the front display panel of cigarette packages. The newly conceptualized Christmas edition of Philip Morris was allegedly made available in the market starting November 2006. The package has an attractive frosted green wrapper that says =93It=92s Freezing!=94 but the health warnings that are supposed to be found on 30% of the front panel is nowhere to be found. Fortune and other leading cigarette brands have already complied with the 30% health warning requirement. Last October 19, 2006, concerned Filipino doctors filed a case against the very same tobacco company, PMPMI, for the same violations on its original packages claiming that there is an outright and persistent violation of Republic Act 9211 otherwise known as The Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003. Roberto said that he feels that it is his responsibility to report Philip Morris=92 violation so that they will learn to comply with Philippine laws and that Filipinos, esp the youth, need not go through what he has suffered. He believes that because Philip Morris persistently placed the health warnings on the side of their cigarette packs, Filipinos would not see what the health warnings say. He is hoping that our justice system will not allow Philip Morris to hide the truth from the Filipinos. #### PRESS RELEASE #2 Philip Morris Blames Government Agency in Doctors=92 Suit DTI: =93No Extension was Granted=94 PMPI claims that it was the government agency, referring to InterAgency Committee on Tobacco (IAC-T), that granted them an extension from July to November 2006, to comply with the RA 9211 or Tobacco Regulation Act, specifically on the provision requiring them to place the Health Warning on the front of the cigarette packages. This is contained in a counter-affidavit to the criminal complaint filed for failing to comply with said provision. However, the doctors who filed the complaint at the City Prosecutor=92s Office in Makati City, countered that there was no document shown to prove that an extension was indeed granted and in fact DTI, as Chair of the IAC-T denied having granted an extension. In addition, they claim that IAC-T has no legal authority to change anything in the law as this is a function of the legislative body =96 that is, Congress. =93They have n= o right, with their barage of lawyers, to accuse IAC-Tobacco of an illegal act and use the IAC-T as their scapegoat=94, said Dra. Limpin, who heads the group of lung specialists who calls themselves Medical Alliance against Cigarette Hazards (MACH). The Tobacco Regulation Act was enacted in 2003 to protect the populace from hazardous products like tobacco and promote the right to health. Health warnings have to be placed on a conspicuous location =96 the front panel of the cigarette packs as a way for the government to inform the Filipino public of the deadly effects of tobacco and thus stay them buying a product that kills. The doctors said that a giant tobacco company like PMPMI, and a visitor at that, should be reminded that they cannot violate our country=92s laws and expect the Filipinos to just sit around and do nothing. They cannot also hide behind IAC-T=92s alleged illegal act of granting them an extensio= n Philip Morris: =93Doctors Have No Personality to Sue=94 PMPI also averred that doctors are private persons not directly affected or injured by the alleged non-compliance of RA 9211, thus they have no legal personality to institute the complaints. This outraged Medical Alliance against Cigarette Hazards (MACH), who filed the criminal complaint against PMPMI last October 19, 2006 for failure to place the health warnings on the front display panel of their cigarette packages as mandated by Republic Act 9211 (RA 9211) or otherwise known as the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 Dr. Encarnita B. Limpin, the spokesperson of MACH, said that =93We, as Filipinos, are part of the populace that RA 9211 wants to protect=94. =93Furthermore=94, she said, =93that as medical practitioners, we are keenl= y aware of the harmful and dangerous effects of smoking to the public=92s health and we have personal knowledge of the offenses committed by the respondent. Thus we have the requisite personality to file this criminal complaint=94. She added, =93Please don=92t rob us of our rights to report a wrongdoing when we see one=94. =93We may be ordinary private citizens, but we are read= y to protect our fellow Filipinos especially the children from dying because of a deadly product=94 From awhite@essential.org Thu Dec 21 15:40:30 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id F31AEB39F for ; Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:40:29 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C985413400A for ; Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:40:29 -0500 (EST) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 01624-03-7 for ; Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:40:29 -0500 (EST) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 53477134006 for ; Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:40:29 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <458AF13D.9050804@essential.org> Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:40:29 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.9 (Windows/20061207) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Article (English) re: Omar Keita and Maman Abou being freed from jail (Niger) content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, As reported earlier this month, Omar Keita, a journalist and tobacco control advocate, and his publisher, Maman Abou, were freed from jail in Niger. Below is an article (in English) about their release. Thanks again if you were one of the over 300 people around the world who signed the GLKradio-sponsored online petition on their behalf. Best wishes, Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action #### APA-Niamey (Niger) The Niger Court of Appeals has released journalists Maman Abou and Oumarou Keita, editor and editor in chief of the weekly =93Le R=E9publicain=94 respectively on bail, APA learnt here Monday. Both journalists were charged with defamation and spreading of false news about Nigerien Prime Minister, Hama Amadou, following a four-hour public hearing held under high police supervision recently. The two journalists were condemned on the basis of an article issued in July in their weekly, suggesting that Niger is =93abandoning the West for Iran=94. In their plea, the pool of lawyers that were pleading on behalf of the journalists demanded their =93release without condition=94 arguing that the crimes they were sued and imprisoned for were not =93legally set up=94. French lawyer Bourdon Williams insisted that =93maintaining people in jail, particularly journalists, for a crime of opinion was a violation of human rights=94. In its rulings, the court slammed a 9-month sentence including 6 months of suspended sentence against the two journalists and a fine of 100.000 CFA (about $150) fine for each. Oumarou Keita, drawing lessons from this situation, said the government was punishing them for a series of articles they published in April on corruption over the funding of the basic education and literacy programme. =93We shall continue our job as journalists by informing the public on the management of public funds. We have the duty of doing it and nothing can prevent us from doing it =BB, Maman Abou added. The plaintiffs, represented by Niger Lawyer Marc Le Bihan had insisted that the decision of the judge of Niamey=92s tribunal be maintained whereby the two journalists should be sentenced to 18 month-unsuspended imprisonment. At the end of October, the Niamey Court of appeal had confirmed the 18-month sentence against the two journalists for =93defamation and spreading of false news=94 in an article criticizing the Prime Minister, Hama Amadou. From awhite@essential.org Tue Feb 27 14:47:25 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AB699B3D7 for ; Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:47:25 -0500 (EST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B085C134061 for ; Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:47:30 -0500 (EST) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 07558-01-6 for ; Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:47:30 -0500 (EST) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 30B2513401E for ; Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:47:30 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <45E48ACC.4080903@essential.org> Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:47:24 -0500 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.9 (Windows/20061207) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Stop Tobacco Industry Sponsorship of Cricket in Nepal content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Surya Nepal, a tobacco company owned jointly by BAT/ITC and the Nepal's Royal family, recently established ties with the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). Per the agreement, Nepal Cricket Association accepted a five-year sponsorship deal from Surya Nepal's Shikhar Filter Kings and John Players, worth Rs. 20 million (~US$284,000). The renewed sponsorship of the cricket association by multinational tobacco companies is against the agreement and spirit of WHO-FCTC, which the parliament has recently ratified. The Non-Smokers' Rights Association of Nepal and Burning Brain Society (India) have set up a online petition to Nepalese government officials regarding the matter. TAKE ACTION: Please sign the petition appealing the Government of Nepal to stop sponsorship to "Nepal Cricket Association" by tobacco companies at: http://petitions.globalink.org/view.php?code=hemant. Thanks for taking action! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org, awhite@essentialinformation.org Skype: awhite74 From awhite@essential.org Sun Apr 15 14:49:53 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 61694B3C7 for ; Sun, 15 Apr 2007 14:49:53 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3395C13411B for ; Sun, 15 Apr 2007 14:49:53 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 03210-01-2 for ; Sun, 15 Apr 2007 14:49:52 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2D22B1340F2 for ; Sun, 15 Apr 2007 14:49:52 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <462273C9.9030800@essential.org> Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 14:49:45 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.10 (Windows/20070221) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: TAKE ACTION: Endorse call to governments worldwide re: Philip Morris breakup - Deadline: FRIDAY, 4/20 content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Last year, over 100 organizations in nearly 50 countries around the world endorsed a list of nine demands of Philip Morris International (PMI) to ensure that the separation of PMI and Philip Morris USA (PM USA) does not worsen the global tobacco epidemic. Altria's recent spin off of Kraft makes the separation of PMI and PM USA all the more likely in the near future. Since PMI has not responded favorably to the demands, we have decided to launch a call to governments worldwide to take action to prevent an independent PMI from worsening the global tobacco epidemic (see text and initial list of endorsements below). TAKE ACTION: Let us know if your organization would like to join the 50 organizations in over 25 countries that have already endorsed the call! To do so, please send the following information BY FRIDAY, APRIL 20 to: awhite@essential.org, awhite@essentialinformation.org Organization: Country: Contact name: Contact email: Note: We plan to publicly release the call on April 26 (date of Altria's annual shareholder meeting) and will be sending out in advance a sample press release that organizations can modify and circulate to their local/national/regional media outlets. Groups may also want to organize media events on this day, e.g. official delivery of call to a government office, photo op in front of a Philip Morris advertisement, etc. Further background information: * Original list of demands made of Altria/PMI: http://www.philipmorrisbreakup.org/demands/ * Communication with Altria/PMI regarding the demands: http://www.philipmorrisbreakup.org/updates/ Best wishes, Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 USA Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org, awhite@essentialinformation.org Skype: awhite74 ***************************************************** CALL TO GOVERNMENTS WORLDWIDE TO TAKE ACTION TO PREVENT AN INDEPENDENT PHILIP MORRIS INTERNATIONAL FROM WORSENING THE GLOBAL TOBACCO EPIDEMIC ***************************************************** The prospect of a breakup of Altria that would split Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris International into separate companies raises significant concerns about how an independent Philip Morris International will operate. Decisions that Philip Morris International makes will have major public health ramifications: =95 Tobacco is a uniquely harmful product, which kills consumers when used as intended; =95 The World Health Organization estimates that 10 million people will die annually from tobacco-related disease by 2030, 70 percent in developing countries; =95 The combined Philip Morris is the world's largest tobacco multinational= ; =95 Measured by units, 80 percent of Philip Morris' sales are outside of the United States. Last year, over 100 organizations in 50 countries asked Philip Morris International and its subsidiaries to make commitments -- in advance of a breakup -- to ensure that the separation of Philip Morris International and Philip Morris USA does not worsen the tobacco epidemic. To date, Philip Morris has declined to agree to these demands. We therefore call on governments worldwide to take the following actions, through regulations and legislation: 1. Ratify and strongly implement the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, including by ending all advertising and marketing of tobacco products; ending the use of misleading and deceptive terms such as "mild," "light" and "low"; and instituting large, graphic warnings. 2. Ban the tobacco industry from lobbying or working -- directly or indirectly through sponsored organizations or otherwise -- on any national or subnational legislative or regulatory proposals to ratify the FCTC and/or implement the terms of the FCTC. 3. Ban the tobacco industry from lobbying or working -- directly or indirectly through sponsored organizations or otherwise -- against legislation or regulation requiring 100 percent smokefree places. 4. Exclude tobacco products from bilateral and multilateral trade and investment agreements, so that the tobacco industry can not invoke provisions of such agreements to challenge any tobacco control-related law or regulation. 5. Adopt comprehensive anti-tobacco smuggling measures, at least as stringent as the provisions included in the European Union agreement with Philip Morris settling the EU=92s lawsuit against the company. 6. Require the tobacco industry to fully disclose all political contributions, lobbying costs, and charitable/educational donations. 7. Require the tobacco industry to fully disclose all advertising and marketing expenditures -- as the company now is required to do in the United States. 8. Ban the tobacco industry from sponsoring "youth smoking prevention programs." 9. Ban the tobacco industry from directly or indirectly placing tobacco products or promoting depictions of smoking in movies or other media*. Implement, as appropriate, the four smokefree policy measures endorsed by the World Health Organization. CALL ENDORSED BY (as of April 15, 2007): Australia =95 Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Australia Barbados =95 Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados China (Hong Kong) =95 Asian Consultancy for Tobacco Control France =95 Comit=E9 National Contre le Tabagisme (CNCT) : French National Committe= e Against Smoking Georgia =95 A Call to Serve (ACTS) Georgia =95 Georgian Medical Association Ghana =95 Action for Integrated Development (AID) Honduras =95 Accion para la Promocion de Ambientes Libres de Tabaco, APALTA India =95 Abhinav Bharat Foundation =95 Action Council Against Tobacco - India =95 Asha Parivar =95 Burning Brain Society =95 Citizen News Service =95 Consumer Coordination Council, Delhi =95 Daily South Asian =95 Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (UP) =95 Indian Society Against Smoking =95 Monitor Lucknow =95 National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM UP) =95 Samadhan =95 Tambakoo Kills eForum =95 Voluntary Organisation in Interest of Consumer Education (VOICE) Indonesia =95 Indonesian Smoking Control Foundation (LM 3) Malaysia =95 Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society Mauritius =95 Association ViSa New Zealand =95 Smokefree Coalition Nigeria =95 Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth - Nigeria =95 Tobacco Free Youth Pakistan =95 The Network for Consumer Protection Romania =95 Aer Pur Romania Senegal =95 Mouvement Anti-Tabac du S=E9n=E9gal Serbia =95 Zdravstveni Center, Hospital ATD, Cacak Sri Lanka =95 Jeewaka Foundation Switzerland =95 OxyRomandie Tanzania =95 Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum Thailand =95 Thailand Health Promotion Institute Ukraine =95 ADIC-Ukraine United States =95 Association for Nonsmokers Minnesota =95 The Chinese Progressive Association (CA) =95 Essential Action (DC) =95 Nightingales Nurses =95 REAL: Hawaii Youth Movement Against the Tobacco Industry (HI) =95 Roswell Park Cancer Institute (NY) =95 San Francisco Tobacco Free Coalition (CA) =95 Youth Leadership Institute (CA) =95 Virginia Group to Alleviate Smoking in Public, Inc (VA) Uruguay =95 Network for Smoke free Uruguay (RULTA) =95 Tobacco Control Committe , Sindicato M=E9dico del Uruguay. Vietnam =95 Vietnam Standard and Consumers Association (VINASTAS) Zimbabwe =95 Afro Centre for Tobacco Control * Philip Morris USA is prohibited from paying for product placements in movies and other media by the U.S. Master Settlement Agreement, but this does not apply to Philip Morris International. Philip Morris International states in its marketing code that it will not pay for product placement, but it does not address: indirect efforts to facilitate product placement; direct or indirect placement of unbranded tobacco products; or direct or indirect efforts to promote smoking in movies or other media. The four smokefree policy measures are available online at: http://smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu/solution/ From awhite@essential.org Mon Apr 16 17:56:26 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B577AB3C4 for ; Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:56:26 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8AD7D134067 for ; Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:56:26 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 22153-02-3 for ; Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:56:26 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C45FD13405C for ; Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:56:25 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <4623F101.5090909@essential.org> Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:56:17 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.10 (Windows/20070221) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Global Smokefree Partnership Launches Global Voices Campaign -- Add YOUR voice! content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: From the Global Smokefree Partnership: * 100 day countdown for smokefree: Take 5 minutes to have your voice heard * March 23, 2007 marks the 100 day countdown to the second Conference of the Parties (CoP-2) of the FCTC which will meet in Bangkok, Thailand from 29th June until July 6th, 2007. At CoP-2, parties to the treaty will consider and possibly adopt guidelines on the implementation of Article 8 to provide protection against secondhand smoke. These guidelines should serve as best practices for countries in the implementation of their smokefree laws. In the lead up to the Conference of the Parties, the Global Smokefree Partnership is launching a "Global Voices Campaign" to gain and secure support from countries for strong and effective Article 8 Guidelines. Please join the Global Voices Campaign by adding your Voice and supporting the Campaigns=92 Principles (pls. see below). The Global Voices Campaign Principles will be presented to delegates at the COP-2 meeting in Bangkok, Thailand. You can sign on as an individual, or on behalf of your organisation. Here is the link for signing on to the campaign online: http://www.globalsmokefreepartnership.org/globalvoices. If you want to become more involved in the campaign, there is an option on the website to let us know. Please also tell your friends and colleagues about the campaign (link available). If you have questions or comments, please mail us at info@globalsmokefreepartnership.org Looking forward to hearing your voice! Best regards, Annette Bornhaeuser, Global Voices Campaign Manager Sandra Moreira, Global Voices Campaign Assistant Cassandra Welch, Global Smokefree Partnership Project Director Ami Valdemoro, Global Smokefree Partnership Project Coordinator on behalf of the campaign team #### Global Voices For A Smokefree World Campaign Principles: * Secondhand smoke is a significant health hazard * There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke * There is no safe alternative to 100% smoke-free public places and workplaces * Ventilation, air filtration systems and designated smoking areas or rooms do not protect people from secondhand smoke * All people should be protected from secondhand smoke * All workers have the right to work in smoke-free workplaces * Legislation without exemptions is needed to protect people from the dangers of secondhand smoke * Effective enforcement, implementation and monitoring provisions are necessary components of effective legislation. The Global Smokefree Partnership is a new multipartner initiative formed to promote effective smokefree policies worldwide. The partnership is coordinated by the American Cancer Society and the Framework Convention Alliance, partners include Action on Smoking and Health London, Americans for Nonsmokers Rights, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Cancer Research UK, European Respiratory Society, French National Cancer Institute (INCa), Framework Convention Alliance, Global Tobacco Research Network, Health Bridge India, International Nongovernmental Coalition Against Tobacco, International Union Against Cancer, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Institute for Global Tobacco Control, and the World Health Federation. For further information on the partnership, please visit www.globalsmokefreepartnership.com From awhite@essential.org Thu Apr 19 17:47:07 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6150BB3C9 for ; Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:47:07 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 32275134067 for ; Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:47:07 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 30138-02-8 for ; Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:47:07 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1342913405C for ; Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:47:06 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <4627E351.60904@essential.org> Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:46:57 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.10 (Windows/20070221) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Reminder: Fri 4/20 is deadline for signing on to call to govs -- help us reach 100! content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Nearly 85 organizations in over 40 countries have endorsed the call to governments worldwide to take action to prevent an independent Philip Morris International from worsening the global tobacco epidemic (see call and endorsements below)! If your organization would like to add its name to the list, please send the following information BY FRIDAY, APRIL 20 to: awhite@essential.org, awhite@essentialinformation.org Organization: Country: Contact name: Contact email: Note: We plan to publicly release the call on April 26 (date of Altria's annual shareholder meeting) and will be sending out in advance a sample press release that organizations can modify and circulate to their local/national/regional media outlets. Groups may also want to organize media events on this day, e.g. official delivery of call to a government office, photo op in front of a Philip Morris advertisement, etc. Background information: * Original list of demands made of Altria/PMI: http://www.philipmorrisbreakup.org/demands/ * Communication with Altria/PMI regarding the demands: http://www.philipmorrisbreakup.org/updates/ Best wishes, Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 USA Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org, awhite@essentialinformation.org Skype: awhite74 ***************************************************** CALL TO GOVERNMENTS WORLDWIDE TO TAKE ACTION TO PREVENT AN INDEPENDENT PHILIP MORRIS INTERNATIONAL FROM WORSENING THE GLOBAL TOBACCO EPIDEMIC ***************************************************** The prospect of a breakup of Altria that would split Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris International into separate companies raises significant concerns about how an independent Philip Morris International will operate. Decisions that Philip Morris International makes will have major public health ramifications: =95 Tobacco is a uniquely harmful product, which kills consumers when used as intended; =95 The World Health Organization estimates that 10 million people will die annually from tobacco-related disease by 2030, 70 percent in developing countries; =95 The combined Philip Morris is the world's largest tobacco multinational= ; =95 Measured by units, 80 percent of Philip Morris' sales are outside of the United States. Last year, over 100 organizations in 50 countries asked Philip Morris International and its subsidiaries to make commitments -- in advance of a breakup -- to ensure that the separation of Philip Morris International and Philip Morris USA does not worsen the tobacco epidemic. To date, Philip Morris has declined to agree to these demands. We therefore call on governments worldwide to take the following actions, through regulations and legislation: 1. Ratify and strongly implement the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, including by ending all advertising and marketing of tobacco products; ending the use of misleading and deceptive terms such as "mild," "light" and "low"; and instituting large, graphic warnings. 2. Ban the tobacco industry from lobbying or working -- directly or indirectly through sponsored organizations or otherwise -- on any national or subnational legislative or regulatory proposals to ratify the FCTC and/or implement the terms of the FCTC. 3. Ban the tobacco industry from lobbying or working -- directly or indirectly through sponsored organizations or otherwise -- against legislation or regulation requiring 100 percent smokefree places. 4. Exclude tobacco products from bilateral and multilateral trade and investment agreements, so that the tobacco industry can not invoke provisions of such agreements to challenge any tobacco control-related law or regulation. 5. Adopt comprehensive anti-tobacco smuggling measures, at least as stringent as the provisions included in the European Union agreement with Philip Morris settling the EU=92s lawsuit against the company. 6. Require the tobacco industry to fully disclose all political contributions, lobbying costs, and charitable/educational donations. 7. Require the tobacco industry to fully disclose all advertising and marketing expenditures -- as the company now is required to do in the United States. 8. Ban the tobacco industry from sponsoring "youth smoking prevention programs." 9. Ban the tobacco industry from directly or indirectly placing tobacco products or promoting depictions of smoking in movies or other media*. Implement, as appropriate, the four smokefree policy measures endorsed by the World Health Organization. CALL ENDORSED BY (as of April 19, 2007): Algeria =95 Association Club Scientifique de la Facult=E9 des Sciences M=E9dicales = de S=E9tif Argentina =95 www.tabacoysalud.globalink.org Australia =95 National Heart Foundation of Australia =95 Action on Smoking or Health Australia Azerbaijan =95 Anti-Smoking Alliance/Azerbaijan Bangladesh =95 Welfare Association for Cancer Care ( WACC) Barbados =95 Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados Cambodia =95 Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA Cambodia) Cameroon =95 Health Promotion Watch Canada =95 Airspace Action on Smoking & Health =95 Central Alberta Tobacco Reduction Action Coalition (CATRAC) =95 Unit=E9 Qu=E9b=E9coise de Recherche sur le Tabagisme, Universit=E9 Lava= l China (Hong Kong) =95 Asian Consultancy for Tobacco Control Colombia =95 Campa=F1a No Tabaco Congo =95 Organisation Internationale de D=E9v=E9loppement et d'Action Humanitair= e (OIDAH) France =95 Association Interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur le Tabagisme en Basse-Normandie (AIRTBN) =95 Comit=E9 National Contre le Tabagisme (CNCT) : French National Committe= e Against Smoking =95 French Alliance Against Tobacco =95 Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer =95 Observatoire Sanitaire et Social des Activit=E9s Festives (OSSAF) Georgia =95 A Call to Serve (ACTS) Georgia =95 Georgian Medical Association Ghana =95 Action for Integrated Development (AID) =95 Africa-American Lung Association (AALA) Guam, USA =95 Health Partners, L.L.C. Honduras =95 Acci=F3n para la Promoci=F3n de Ambientes , APALTA India =95 Abhinav Bharat Foundation =95 Action Council Against Tobacco - India =95 Asha Parivar =95 Burning Brain Society =95 Citizen News Service =95 Consumer Coordination Council, Delhi =95 Daily South Asian eforum =95 Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (UP) =95 Indian Society Against Smoking =95 Iqra Foundation =95 Monitor Lucknow =95 National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM UP) =95 Samadhan =95 Tambakoo Kills eForum =95 Voluntary Organisation in Interest of Consumer Education (VOICE) Indonesia =95 Indonesian Smoking Control Foundation (LM3) =95 Tobacco Control Working Group, Indonesian Public Health Association Japan =95 Japanese Society for Tobacco Control Malaysia =95 Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society Mauritius =95 Association ViSa Morocco =95 AMAPES STOP TABAC Nepal =95 Non-Smokers' Rights Association of Nepal (NOSMORAN) New Zealand =95 Smokefree Coalition Nigeria =95 Educare Trust =95 Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth - Nigeria =95 Journalists Action on Tobacco & Health =95 Tobacco Free Youth Pakistan =95 The Network for Consumer Protection Philippines =95 Conference of Public Health Advocates Romania =95 Aer Pur Romania Senegal =95 Mouvement Anti-Tabac du S=E9n=E9gal Serbia =95 Zdravstveni centar, Hospital ATD ,Cacak South Africa =95 National Council Against Smoking Sri Lanka =95 Jeewaka Foundation Switzerland =95 OxyRomandie Tanzania =95 Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum Thailand =95 Thailand Health Promotion Institute Ukraine =95 Alcohol and Drug Information Center - Ukraine USA =95 American Lung Association =95 Asian Pacific American Consortium on Substance Abuse (APACSA) =95 Association for Nonsmokers Minnesota =95 BREATH--The Global Smoke-Free Workplace Program =95 Chinese Progressive Association =95 Corporate Accountability International =95 Essential Action =95 Health and Social Policy Institute (HASPI) =95 Nightingale Nurses =95 REAL: Hawaii Youth Movement Against the Tobacco Industry =95 Roswell Park Cancer Institute =95 San Francisco Tobacco Free Coalition =95 Virginia Group to Alleviate Smoking in Public, Inc =95 Youth Leadership Institute Uruguay =95 Network for Smoke free Uruguay (RULTA) =95 Sociedad Uruguaya de Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria (SUMEFA) =95 Tobacco Control Committee, Sindicato M=E9dico del Uruguay Vietnam =95 Vietnam Standard and Consumers Association (VINASTAS) Zimbabwe =95 Afro Centre for Tobacco Control * Philip Morris USA is prohibited from paying for product placements in movies and other media by the U.S. Master Settlement Agreement, but this does not apply to Philip Morris International. Philip Morris International states in its marketing code that it will not pay for product placement, but it does not address: indirect efforts to facilitate product placement; direct or indirect placement of unbranded tobacco products; or direct or indirect efforts to promote smoking in movies or other media. The four smokefree policy measures are available online at: http://smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu/solution/ From awhite@essential.org Mon May 21 19:18:06 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1201BB392 for ; Mon, 21 May 2007 19:18:06 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E08B8134128 for ; Mon, 21 May 2007 19:18:05 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 19910-03-4 for ; Mon, 21 May 2007 19:18:05 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9816F134065 for ; Mon, 21 May 2007 19:18:05 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <465228A8.5050000@essential.org> Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 19:18:00 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.10 (Windows/20070221) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Implementation of FCTC (Panama & Uruguay) content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Groups in Panama and Uruguay are pushing for the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in their countries. TAKE ACTION: Click on the links below and add your name to the petitions! 1) PANAMA: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Dpanama Sponsor: Coalici=F3n Paname=F1a contra el Tabaquismo (COPACET) 2) URUGUAY: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=3Durug07 Sponsor: Centro de Investigaci=F3n para la Epidemia del Tabaquismo (CIET) Thanks in advance for participating! Anna Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action From awhite@essential.org Tue Jun 19 15:45:51 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6C370B3CB for ; Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:45:51 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 41AA9134040 for ; Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:45:51 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 23151-02-4 for ; Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:45:51 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E78B813403C for ; Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:45:50 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <4678326D.8050606@essential.org> Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:45:49 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.12 (Windows/20070509) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Take Action: Imperial Tobacco wants to "set up shop" in Mauritius content-transfer-encoding: 7bit content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Dear Friends, Imperial Tobacco is negotiating with the Mauritian government to set up a branch in Mauritius. ViSa has set up an online petition in opposition. TAKE ACTION: Sign the petition to the Prime Minister of Mauritius to ask him to stop that dangerous and unwanted project. Click on: http://petition.globalink.org/view.php?code=visa2 Thanks for taking action! Anna White Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control Essential Action P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036 Tel: +1 202-387-8030 Fax: +1 202-234-5176 Email: awhite@essential.org, awhite@essentialinformation.org www.takingontobacco.org From awhite@essential.org Wed Jun 20 17:27:17 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Received: from milan.essential.org (milan.essential.org [65.222.222.35]) by lists.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 79868B3F6 for ; Wed, 20 Jun 2007 17:27:17 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 36A6F134040 for ; Wed, 20 Jun 2007 17:27:17 -0400 (EDT) Received: from milan.essential.org ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (milan.essential.org [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 09979-02-8 for ; Wed, 20 Jun 2007 17:27:17 -0400 (EDT) Received: from [65.222.222.241] (joshua.essential.org [65.222.222.241]) by milan.essential.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D296D13403C for ; Wed, 20 Jun 2007 17:27:16 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <46799BB4.2030602@essential.org> Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 17:27:16 -0400 From: Anna White User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.12 (Windows/20070509) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Subject: Final call for sign-on: the 10-day countdown is on content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Sender: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org Errors-To: tobacco-activist-admin@lists.essential.org X-BeenThere: tobacco-activist@lists.essential.org Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Action alerts on timely issues re: Big Tobacco's global expansion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Fyi, if you have not received via another email list... #### GLOBAL VOICES CAMPAIGN: FINAL CALL FOR SIGN-ON 10 days before government delegates from around the world will be arriving = in Bangkok for the second session of the Conference of the Parties to the F= ramework Convention on Tobacco Control (CoP-2), we would like to issue a fi= nal call for sign on to the Global Voices Campaign. Over the past three months, the Global Voices Campaign has been seeking to = secure support among representatives of governments and civil society world= wide for strong and effective FCTC/Article 8 guidelines. These guidelines w= ill be submitted for adoption at the upcoming CoP. With over 400 organizations and 400 individuals from around the globe which= have signed on to the Campaign, we may only be missing YOUR voice. We will= have to be closing the list of signatures =96 which will be presented to d= elegates at the CoP,so if you have not yet signed up, please take a minute = to do so NOW. By signing up, you endorse 8 core smokefree principles, mirroring the Artic= le 8 guidelines. Sign-on is available online, by simply clicking here: http= ://www.globalsmokefreepartnership.org/globalvoices/pledge_sign.php?type=3Do= rganisation, if you sign up on behalf of your organization, or here if you = wish to sign on as an individual: http://www.globalsmokefreepartnership.org= /globalvoices/pledge_sign.php?type=3Dindividual Thanks for joining in =96 every extra voice will make a difference! Very best Annette Bornh=E4user on behalf of the campaign team