Statement on FCTC
Tobacco
is the only consumer product in the world that, if used as intended,
kills half of its users.
Tobacco use is one of the
the leading causes of preventable death in the world today. At present,
4 million people a year die from a tobacco-related disease. If current
trends continue, 10 million people will die each year by the year 2030,
with the majority of these deaths occurring in developing countries.
If swift action is not taken, tobacco will soon become the leading cause
of death worldwide, causing more deaths annually than tuberculosis,
pneumonia, diarrheal diseases, and the complications of childbirth combined.
The Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) represents an historic opportunity
for global action to curtail the tobacco epidemic. The FCTC Alliance,
Philippines commends the Philippine government for its efforts thus
far and urges it to take bold actions to advance the FCTC process.
As a member
of the Framework Convention Alliance, FCAP offers the following recommendations
for the procedures, principles and substance of the FCTC:
On the procedures
of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) and subsequent working
groups, we would urge that:
-
there be full NGO participation
in all meetings of the Negotiating
Body, working groups, ad hoc bodies and any other committees that
are established by the INB for the purposes of negotiating or implementing
the FCTC; and that
-
tobacco companies and
their affiliates should not be an official party to the negotiations
and should not be allowed to serve on any advisory, scientific,
enforcement or implementation bodies of the FCTC.
On the principles
of the FCTC, we would argue that:
- tobacco control policies must be
evidence-based using methods of proven effectiveness and drawing
upon international best practice;
- the principle aim of the FCTC must
be to substantially and quickly reduce death, disease, and disability;
- the protection and promotion of public
health must be the guiding principle for all the decisions and actions
of the negotiating parties;
- the Convention itself should include
specific obligations on, among other issues, advertising, duty free
sales, product regulation, smuggling, and warning labels, rather
than reserving all obligations for inclusion in protocols;
- the public health provisions of the
FCTC should take precedence over other international agreements.
For example, measures to protect public health may conceivably conflict
with trade liberalisation, but the public health objectives are
legitimate and should take precedence over trade when lives are
at stake; and that,
- nothing in the FCTC undermine existing
tobacco control initiatives or regulations in any signatory state
nor prevent, preempt or discourage any party from taking stronger
action than required by the FCTC.
Finally, we
advocate that the substance of the FCTC and related national
and local laws include, among other measures:
- a total ban on all forms of direct
and indirect tobacco advertising, sponsorship, promotion and "brand
stretching";
- strong measures to combat tobacco
smuggling;
- a ban on tax free sales and tax-free
import allowances of tobacco;
- comprehensive tobacco products regulation,
including but not limited to minimum standards for manufacturing,
packaging, ingredient and smoke composition and disclosure, product
content and labeling;
- prominent picture-based health warnings
covering at least 50% of the package in the main language of the
country in which the tobacco product is to be sold (and markings
on every pack with its origin and the country of final destination);
- a prohibition on the use of misleading
terms like "light" or "mild" (or any similar misleading classification)
on tobacco products;
- a mechanism for the transfer of technology,
finance and knowledge to assist countries in their tobacco control
efforts; and
- the use of tobacco tax policy as
a public health tool to achieve continuous decreases in tobacco
consumption.
The FCTC should
require all parties to establish and document an evidence-based, comprehensive
tobacco control program including local, national and international
measures with the aim of reducing harm caused to tobacco users and to
those exposed to secondhand smoke. Finally, Member States should not
wait for the conclusion of the negotiations to implement these measures,
including those called for in World Health Assembly resolutions that
have already been unanimously approved.
The Alliance
pledges to work constructively with the members of the INB to ensure
that a strong and effective FCTC is developed and impemented that protects
public health and reduces the death and disease caused by tobacco.
September 2004
