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18.10.2014 Europe

Countries Sideline Big Tobacco At Treaty Meetings

Progress Made To Recoup Health Costs, Cut Industry Out Of Policymaking And Regulate Electronic- Cigarettes (E-Cigs)
By Vision For Alternative Development (VALD)
Countries Sideline Big Tobacco At Treaty Meetings
18.10.2014 LISTEN

MOSCOW—Tobacco treaty negotiations concluded today with parties adopting a range of lifesaving policies over the objections of Big Tobacco and its surrogates. Notable public health victories at the sixth session of the Conference of the Parties of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) include:

• a resolution demanding the interests of public health be prioritized in the context of trade negotiations, as industry attempts to use trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership to undermine tobacco control laws; and

• a consensus that work proceed in developing international standards for holding Big

Tobacco civilly and criminally liable for the health crisis it is driving.

• the adoption of principles for regulating electronic cigarettes globally in line with tobacco products;

"Industry interference continues to be the single greatest impediment to the treaty's progress.

But this week, the global community made strides in clearing this impediment and getting to the task of saving lives," said Vision for Alternative Development (VALD) Programmes Director Labram Musah.

The meeting's decision on electronic cigarettes was among its most eagerly anticipated.

Currently, many nations where e-cigarettes are becoming popular have little to no regulations—allowing e-cigarette corporations, increasingly owned by Big Tobacco, to use flavoring and marketing that appeals to kids. The decision urges countries to regulate the devices and all forms of marketing, in line with the recommendations of the FCTC. An increasing number of countries, including Panama, Singapore and most recently India, have already banned e- cigarettes.

Parties also adopted a resolution to prioritize health and their obligations to the treaty in trade negotiations. The resolution introduced by Malaysia was prompted by a disagreement between the US and other Pacific Rim countries during Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.

Separately, Malaysia has proposed a carve-out of the industry to counter a proposal by the US that would allow the tobacco industry legal standing to sue countries directly in trade courts for implementing tobacco control laws.

In response to reports of diplomatic missions carrying out the agenda of the tobacco industry, countries expanded the scope of Article 5.3—a provision that creates a firewall between the tobacco industry and policymaking. The adopted decision calls on Parties to end this practice and provides direct support to countries to speed up the implementation of the firewall at the national level.

With regard to setting standards for holding the industry liable for its harms, delegates empowered an expert group to begin drafting guidelines for country implementation as soon as COP7.

The tobacco epidemic costs the global community more than $500 billion every year. These direct health costs are compounded by the loss of economic activity from ailing or dyingsmokers and environmental destruction from farming practices. The successful litigation against the tobacco industry in the US, via the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), secured the recovery of $206 billion in health care costs and transformed public health by banning advertising to kids and exposing industry lies.

The global tobacco treaty, entered into force in 2005. To date, 178 countries and the European Union have become Parties to the treaty. It contains the world's most effective tobacco control and corporate accountability measures—estimated to save 200 million lives by 2050 if fully implemented.

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