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The World Takes on Big Tobacco
By Nathan Burchfiel
CNSNews.com Correspondent
February 25, 2005

(CNSNews.com) -- The world's first tobacco control treaty comes into force on Sunday, as the World Health Organization and 57 countries declare war on the tobacco industry and "the tobacco epidemic."

More than 160 nations signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), and 57 countries -- including France, Germany, Japan, Canada and Mexico -- have ratified it.

The legally binding treaty is "designed to reduce the devastating health and economic impact of tobacco," according to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control website.

In addition to banning advertisements for tobacco products, the treaty encourages countries to increase tobacco taxes and "protect citizens from exposure to tobacco smoke in workplaces, public transport and indoor public places."

Dr. Thomas Glynn, director of Cancer Science and Trends at the American Cancer Society, said the treaty is not so much about banning smoking as it is about educating people on the health risks of tobacco.

The three main goals of the treaty, Glynn said, are to enforce existing laws, including those on exposure to secondhand smoke; enact new legislation and policies to restrict exposure; and to educate people about the dangers of smoking.

The treaty also mandates "providing treatment for tobacco addiction" and "encouraging legal action against the tobacco industry."

The United States signed the treaty on May 10, 2004, but it is not subject to its requirements because President Bush has not sent the treaty to the Senate for ratification.

"It would be a tragedy for the United States not to join the FCTC," American Cancer Society National Volunteer President Stephen F. Sener said in a statement. "Our nation should be leading on this issue, not watching from the sidelines. We should ratify the convention, implement it, and help low-income nations do the same."

Glynn said the U.S. already follows many of the treaty's provisions. "Other than requiring the tobacco manufacturers to increase the size of the warning labels," he said, "there really should be no additional costs, and that's one of the beauties of the U.S. ratifying it -- this is not going to cost us."

Glynn said the treaty may cost cigarette manufacturers because it is expected to reduce the number of smokers.

"Over the long term, if the treaty is effective, their sales will go down, but it's not going to be something that happens overnight; it's not as though farmers here will be put out of work or anything of that sort," he said.

The Framework Convention Alliance, a nongovernmental organization that helped produce the FCTC, called the treaty "groundbreaking." In a release, the group said the treaty is "a major step forward in the worldwide battle against the death and disease caused by tobacco."

"It provides the basic tools for countries to enact comprehensive tobacco control legislation and take on the powerful tobacco industry," the nongovernmental organization said.

Philip Morris International released a statement supporting the FCTC's "comprehensive tobacco regulation." Philip Morris USA is the largest cigarette manufacturer in the United States; it produces Marlboro, Virginia Slims and Parliament brands, among others.

Such regulation, the company said, when it is "applied evenly and enforced effectively for all tobacco products, is needed today instead of a range of isolated fiscal and regulatory measures that have limited impact in the overall goal of reducing harm."

Philip Morris International said it looks forward to continuing to work with governments around the world -- "to encourage a comprehensive regulation where fiscal policy, consumer information, licensing and other measures complement each other in one comprehensive approach."

Countries that ratified the treaty will meet in coming months to discuss repercussions for nations that do not follow the mandates of the agreement or who undermine its regulations.