Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
May 11, 2004
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500Subject: Do Not Submit the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to the Senate
cc: Senator Richard Durbin, Senator Peter FitzgeraldDear President Bush:
I strongly object to you signing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The FCTC represents a historic infringement on the individual's right to choice.
Mr. President, please do not send this bill to the Senate for ratification. Every day citizens all over the world are losing their individual freedoms. Please show the world that the United States respects the individual's right to choice by not creating this legislation to promote a new world wide Prohibition era. Do not send this treaty to the Senate.
Sincerely,
Garnet Dawn
UNITED STATES SIGNS TOBACCO CONTROL TREATY
NEW YORK -- 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.
U.S. Signs Tobacco Control Treaty
By Marc KaufmanThe United States has become the 108th country to sign the World Health Organization's global treaty on tobacco control, a decision hailed by some anti-tobacco advocates but viewed with skepticism by others who doubt the Bush administration will push for ratification.
The treaty was signed Monday night by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, who called it an important step toward reducing tobacco use.
"The United States has long been a world leader in anti-smoking efforts," Thompson said in a statement. "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 WHO and other member nations to implement this agreement."
According to HHS spokesman Bill Pierce, no schedule has been set for submitting the treaty to the Senate for ratification.
The treaty provides a set of principles and a framework for action on issues ranging from tobacco advertising to excise taxes and cigarette smuggling.
Signing the treaty does not commit the United States to any changes in its tobacco policies, although it does require the government not to undermine the agreement. Even ratifying the treaty would not significantly change how tobacco is regulated in this country, unless Congress passes the legislation the treaty recommends or requires.
The U.S. delegation to the treaty negotiations came under sharp criticism here and abroad amid perceptions that the United States, under the influence of tobacco companies, was trying to weaken the agreement.
Yesterday, however, Mark Berlind, a vice president at Altria Group Inc., formerly called the Philip Morris Inc., said his company supported the treaty and wants it ratified. He said the treaty calls for many of the changes and regulations that his company has been seeking under legislation to give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco.
But R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. spokesman Seth Moskowitz said the United States already has enough tobacco regulation and that the treaty should not be ratified. "We don't think it's necessary," he said. "The government already has ample authority to regulate the industry."
The American Medical Association praised the decision, saying, "Tobacco now kills some 5 million people each year. Without this new international treaty, that number could climb to 10 millions deaths a year. . . ."
WHO is scheduled to flesh out and implement the tobacco framework at a meeting in New York next month, the first major gathering since the organization approved the agreement one year ago. Some observers said the Bush administration signed the treaty now to make sure it could participate in that meeting.
"What will be critical to watch is whether the U.S. contributes constructively to those negotiations," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "The U.S. participation leading up to the framework convention was deeply disappointing . . . often the voice for watering down or weakening the treaty."
He said that U.S. support of the treaty could be important if it leads to additional momentum toward granting the FDA regulatory power over tobacco.
The tobacco control and corporate responsibility group Infact said yesterday that it did not hold out much hope for the treaty in the short term.
"Unfortunately, our government has a history of signing treaties, leveraging its power to weaken the treaties, and then never ratifying them," Infact executive director Kathryn Mulvey said. "This is a stunning PR maneuver. We are not holding our breath for the U.S. to ratify the treaty."
The treaty will take effect once 40 governments have ratified it; so far nine have, and the European Parliament has recommended ratification.
The agreement would have its greatest impact in less developed nations where smoking is not widespread.
Signatories are required to ban cigarette advertising -- unless their constitutions forbid such a step -- and are encouraged to increase tobacco taxes. The treaty also requires cigarette makers to increase the size of health warnings so they take up at least 30 percent of the package cover.
August 20, 2004
President George Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
President Bush,
My Opinion on the FCTC,
The WHO's heavy handed tactics to encourage all countries to sign the FCTC worldwide treaty (168 signatures obtained) during "The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control" in Geneva, Switzerland with a deadline of June 29, 2004 seems to have been one issue--but ratification is another. The FCTC treaty does not seem to be a top priority in South-East Asia (and many other countries) when weighed against the economic advantages of AFTA. (See below)
As of August 20, 2004 only 26 countries have ratified the treaty. Treaty implementation requires 40 countries to ratify it. Please reference http://www.fctc.org/sign_rat/signed.shtml to see a listing of the countries that have ratified the treaty to date. I have read that the USA is expected to continue to oppose ratification.
It is really a shame WHO (and all the other overfunded health organizations) can't use their vast resources to address our environmental pollution, starvation, Malaria and other serious diseases/health problems in this world, rather than attacking the small pleasure people all over the globe derive from smoking a legal product.
How frustrating the hesitation of so many countries to ratify the treaty must be for the public health experts!!!
Garnet Dawn
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/illinoissmokers/
http://www.ipsnews.net/aftrica/intera.asp?idnews=2561
HEALTH-SOUTH-EAST ASIA:
Free Trade Pact Could See Cigarette Flood
Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Aug 20 (IPS) - South-east Asia's march to create a regional free trade area by 2018 is causing heartburn among public health experts, given that this push to end trade tariff barriers could open the doors for an avalanche of cigarettes to flood local stores.
On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) appealed to South-east Asian governments to ''weigh the public health risks of liberalization of the tobacco trade under the ASEAN (Association of South-east Asian Nations) Free Trade Agreement (AFTA).''
The appeal comes ahead of a two-day meeting, from Aug. 23- 24, to be held in the Malaysian city of Penang, where officials are expected to address issues that link AFTA, the tobacco trade and public health.
''The liberalization of trade would result in an increase in tobacco use in the region,'' Burk Fishburn of the WHO's Western Pacific regional office, said in an interview.
''Tobacco companies stand to gain from the drop in tariffs, because the price of cigarettes will drop, boosting sales,'' Hatai Chitanondh, president of the Thailand Health Promotion Institute, told IPS.
The WHO is echoing calls by anti-tobacco activists like Hatai for ASEAN governments to exclude tobacco products from the free trade agenda.
''Tobacco products should not be included on the list of goods to benefit from the AFTA,'' says Hatai. ''This is the only way to lessen the health consequences of smoking in the region.''
The WHO wants governments to view tobacco products as they do guns, which cannot be traded liberally. ''There are a number of products that are excluded from free trade deals, such as guns, and we think tobacco should come under this category,'' adds Fishburn.
This appeal to thwart the spread of tobacco products in South- east Asia comes a month-and-a-half after 168 countries completed the signing of the world's first public health international treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Of that number, only three nations - Brunei, Burma and Singapore - of ASEAN's 10 members - which also include Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam -- have ratified the anti-tobacco treaty.
The FCTC was negotiated over four years by the 192 member states of the WHO and approved as a legally binding document in May 2003.
It offers countries a range of measures to be included in local tobacco control laws. Among them are a ban on tobacco advertising, compelling tobacco companies to display a health warning covering one-third of a cigarette packet's cover and protecting citizens from second hand smoke in public places, such as restaurants.
In addition, the FCTC endorses the need to crackdown on cigarette smuggling, ''including the placing of final destination markings'' on packets and an increase of tobacco taxes.
Currently, there are over an estimated 1.1 billion smokers in the world, and South-east Asia has been singled out by the WHO as having the ''second highest annual per capita growth rate in tobacco consumption.''
That stems from more people smoking in the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.
According to the WHO if governments fail to contain the cigarette habit, the prevailing number of deaths per year globally due to tobacco-related diseases, which is five million, will mushroom to 10 million annually by 2030.
Seventy percent of those deaths, the U.N. health agency warns, will take place in the developing world.
''Trade liberalization will most likely increase death, disease and the economic cost due to tobacco use,'' Dr. Shigeru Omi, regional director of the WHO's Western Pacific division, said in a press release.
The reality of tobacco use is that ''the economic costs to society are staggering,'' he added, quoting a World Bank study that reveals the net economic cost of tobacco use exceeding estimates of ''the economic benefits to producers and consumers by at least 20 billion U.S. dollars each year.''
Such a dismal message, however, has still to be absorbed by South-east Asian governments with the exception of Singapore and Thailand, says Hatai.
''Most governments are quite weak on health issues when it is up against free trade,'' he adds. ''And the voice of the affected is usually weak in this region.''
He accuses tobacco companies of pushing governments to keep their products within the goods to benefit from the trade agreement.
The current trade volume between ASEAN's 10 members is close 100 billion U.S. dollars, up from the 73 billion U.S. dollars in the value of trade in 1998.
ASEAN leaders launched plans to establish AFTA in 1992, with the aim of boosting the region's competitive edge as a production centre for the world market. Trade liberalization within the region, including an end to tariff and non-tariff barriers, was vital to that effort. (END/2004)