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[ WASHINGTON REPORT ]
Deadline passes for United States to ratify WHO tobacco-control treaty
“The Bush Administration is passing on one of the most pressing public-health and corporate-accountability agreements of our time.”
On Nov. 8, the U.S. government let pass an international deadline, failing to ratify the global tobacco treaty in time to vote at the first implementation and enforcement meeting early next year. The treaty, formally known as the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, will save millions of lives, its proponents say, and change the way tobacco corporations operate around the world.
More than 100 countries have ratified the treaty. Throughout negotiations on the treaty, the United States faced sharp criticism and was accused of attempting to weaken some treaty provisions in ways that would benefit tobacco corporations like Philip Morris USA.
“Our government is prioritizing Big Tobacco’s profits over people’s lives and international cooperation,” said Corporate Accountability International executive director Kathryn Mulvey. “The Bush Administration is passing on one of the most pressing public-health and corporate-accountability agreements of our time.”
The Bush Administration signed the global tobacco treaty nearly a year-and-a-half ago, but has not yet submitted it to the Senate for ratification.
Despite the Bush Administration’s lack of action, the WHO FCTC has been quickly embraced by the United Nations. More than four billion people live in countries that have ratified the treaty, including Australia, Brazil, Great Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey, encompassing more than 70 percent of the world’s population.
“The treaty bans some of the tobacco industry’s most effective and insidious tactics for addicting new customers,” explained Mulvey. “As the treaty is implemented, tobacco corporations like Philip Morris/Altria will find it much harder to push their dangerous products on children or manipulate public health policies.”
Central to the treaty is a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. It also obligates parties to protect their national public health policies from interference by the tobacco industry and encourages international cooperation to hold tobacco corporations liable for harms they cause.
The idea for an international instrument for tobacco control was initiated in May 1995 at the 48th World Health Assembly. On May 21, 2003, at the 56th World Health Assembly, WHO’s 192 member states unanimously adopted the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Among its many measures, the treaty requires countries to impose restrictions on tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion; establish new packaging and labeling of tobacco products; establish clean indoor air controls; and strengthen legislation to clamp down on tobacco smuggling.
Nations that ratify the accord have five years to adopt a ban or at least major restrictions on tobacco advertising and sponsorships, and three years to require warning labels that cover half of cigarette packages.
“I think the treaty will eventually have a dramatic impact on tobacco marketing and sales throughout the world,” said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids in the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch. He called the Bush administration’s failure to submit the treaty for ratification “an international embarrassment.” |
