[2300] in peace2
Tobacco Treaty (FCTC)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (felixauyeung@juno.com)
Sun Mar 2 21:32:34 2003
From: felixauyeung@juno.com
To: Pitt-Peace@topica.com, peace-announce@mit.edu
Cc: hungerfellows2002@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 2003 21:28:41 -0500
Message-ID: <20030302.212845.-205973.0.FelixAuYeung@juno.com>
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World Briefs
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sunday, March 2, 2003, A-8
Tobacco Treaty
GENEVA -- Over U.S. objections, more than 170 nations agreed yesterday on
a text for a tobacco treaty that would impose worldwide restrictions on
advertising and labeling, while clamping down on smuggling and
second-hand smoke.
The draft accord, four years in the making, next goes to the World Health
Assembly in May for adoption. Germany and China also joined the United
States in expressing reservations.
U.S. health attache David Hohman hinted to exhausted delegates that the
United States might press for parts of the text to be renegotiated at the
forthcoming World Health Organization assembly. That risks the
unraveling of the entire treaty.
The accord, called the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, proposes
a ban on cigarette advertising except in countries, such as the United
States, where this would violate constitutional safeguards.
Although the United States has some of the toughest anti-tobacco
legislation and long since banned television advertising, it was
pilloried by health activists throughout the negotiations. Developing
countries were suspicious that the United States -- home to the world's
biggest exporter, Philip Morris -- was more interested in protecting the
tobacco industry than the health of the poor.
_____
Framework Convention Alliance: www.fctc.org
Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids: www.tobaccofreekids.org
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