Transcript Document

The World Health Organization
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
Allyn L. Taylor
Georgetown University Law Center
Time Magazine
Rationale for an International Legal
Strategy for Global Tobacco Control
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Global burden of
disease
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Globalization of the
tobacco epidemic
Tobacco Control is an International Legal
Concern: Global Burden of Disease
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Tobacco use kills 5.4
million people a year.
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Based on current trends,
tobacco will cause 8
million annual deaths by
2030, with 80% of those
deaths occurring in
developing countries.
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By 2020, it is estimated
that only 15% of the
world’s smokers will live
in developed countries.
WHO
Global Perspective: Tobacco Pandemic
Industrialized Nations
Tobacco-Related Death is a Major “Epidemic” in Developed
Nations
50 Year Estimates, Death From Smoking 1950-2000
Developed Countries Only
Age at Death
Male
Female
35-69
33 million
4.8 million
70+
19 million
5.7 million
Total
52 million
10.5 million
Peto and
Public Health Campaigns
Legislation for Tobacco Control
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Fiscal measures (taxes and subsidies)
Discouraging consumption by young
people (including access and appeal of
tobacco)
Environmental tobacco smoke measures
Packaging and labeling of tobacco
products
Measures to control advertising,
promotion and sponsorship
Mandatory health education
Measures to control smuggling
Treatment of tobacco dependence
Regulation of the tobacco product
Ruth Roemer, JD
1918-2005
Why is Domestic Legislation Important?
“Legislation can express government policy on the
production, promotion and use of tobacco;
emphasize government’s commitment to
combating smoking by allocating resources to
effective anti-tobacco programmes; launch
governmental and voluntary anti-smoking
activities; encourage smokers to stop smoking and
dissuade potential smokers from starting to
smoke; protect the rights of non-smokers from
passive smoking; and contribute to a climate of
opinion and social pressure in which smoking is
unacceptable.”
Source: Ruth Roemer
Globalization of the Tobacco Epidemic:
The Contribution of International
Lawmaking to Global Tobacco Control
The tobacco epidemic is being
spread and reinforced
through complex mix of
factors that transcend
national borders
Globalization of the epidemic
restricts the capacity of
countries to regulate tobacco
through domestic legislation
alone
Impact of International Trade Liberalization
on Tobacco Consumption
The recent trend towards the
increased liberalization of trade
in most good and services has
significantly reduced high-tariff
and non-tariff barriers to trade in
tobacco and tobacco products
and contributed to the sharp
increase in tobacco use in many
low-income and middle income
countries.
(Taylor, Chaloupka, Guindon & Corbett,
2000)
Transnational Dimensions of Tobacco
Control
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Taxes and prices
Smuggling
Advertising and
sponsorship
Tobacco package design
and labeling
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Tobacco and agricultural
policy
Testing, reporting and
regulation of toxic and
other constituents
International cooperation
and information sharing
Duty free tobacco
products
Transnational Dimensions of Advertising and
Promotion: Spillover
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Cable and satellite
television
Movies and films
Foreign newspapers
and magazines
Internet
Product promotion
Global Dimensions of Illicit Trade in
Tobacco Products
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Illicit trade in tobacco – smuggling,
counterfeiting and other illegal manufacture
as well as bootlegging - is a major
international problem.
In 2006 it was estimated that illicit trade
accounts for 10.7% of global cigarette sales
or almost 600 billion cigarettes.
Illicit trade deprives governments of US$
billions in taxation, fuels organized crime
and undermines tobacco control efforts.
A WHO Framework
Convention on Tobacco
Control
Framework Convention-Protocol Approach
A Dynamic Model of Global Standard-Setting
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No technical legal meaning
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Step 1: Framework Convention
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International cooperation in achieving broadly stated
goals and institutions for global governance.
Future Steps: Protocols
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Specific measures designed to implement goals
of the framework convention or add further institutional
commitments.
Possible Protocols to the FCTC
Testing and reporting of
ingredients
Product regulation
Duty-free sales
Tobacco
taxes/price
Agricultural
policies
Illicit Trade
Treatment of
tobacco
dependence
Environmental Tobacco Smoke
Health Education & Research
Advertising and sponsorship
Protecting children and
adolescents
Examples of the Framework
Convention- Protocol Approach
Protocols on specific problems (oil
spills, ocean dumping, protected
areas)
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UNEP Regional Seas Agreement
(e.g., Barcelona Convention 1976)
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Long-Range Transboundary Air
Pollution Convention (1979)
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Vienna Convention for the
Protection of the Ozone Layer
(1985)
Montreal Protocol on Substances
that Deplete the Ozone Layer
(1987)
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Framework Convention on Climate
Change (1992)
Kyoto Protocol (1997)
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European Convention on Human
Rights and Biomedicine (1997)
Protocols on human cloning and
transplantation of human organs
and tissues (1999)
Protocols on specific pollutants
WHA Resolution 49.17: A Framework Convention for
Tobacco Control (1996)
The World Health Assembly called upon the Director
General of WHO to
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initiate development of a framework convention
in accordance with Article 19 of the WHO
Constitution to:
 deal with aspects of tobacco control that
transcend national boundaries
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include a strategy to encourage member nations
to move progressively towards adoption of
comprehensive tobacco control policies
A WHO Framework Convention: From
Rationale to ‘Ripeness’
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Evolution of WHO’s
traditional organizational
culture:
 Election of Dr Gro
Harlem Brundtland
 Limitations of
traditional public
health measures
Tobacco litigation in the
US:
 Evolution of public
image of industry
 Damage awards
FCTC Timeline
•First Session of the INB (October 2000)
Chair’s Text: January 2001
•Second Session
(April 2001)
•Third Session (November 2001)
•Fourth Session (March 2002)
•Fifth Session
(October 2002)
•Sixth Session (February 2003)
•Adoption (May 2003)
•Entry into Force (February 2005)
Substantive and Procedural Limitations of the
FCTC: Challenges of Global Lawmaking
(with thanks to Jackson Pollock)
Framework Conventions:
General Obligations
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National measures to combat the problem
Education, training, public awareness
Cooperation in scientific research
Financial and technical assistance
The FCTC: A Catalog of Substantive
Obligations
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General Obligations (Art. 5).
Measures Relating to Reduction of Demand (Arts. 6-14).
 Price and tax measures; environmental tobacco
smoke; regulation of tobacco product contents;
tobacco product disclosures; packaging and labelling;
advertising, and; cessation.
Measures Relating to Reduction of Supply (Arts.15-17).
Protection of Environment (Article 18).
Scientific and Technical Cooperation and
Communication of Information (Articles 20-22).
Article 16: Sales to and by minors
1.
Each Party shall adopt and implement effective,
legislative, executive, administrative or other
measures at the appropriate government level to
prohibit the sales of tobacco products to persons
under the age set by domestic law, national law or
eighteen. These measures may include…
2.
Each Party shall prohibit or promote the
prohibition of the distribution of free tobacco
products to the public, especially minors.
Article 16: Sales to and by minors
3. Each Party shall endeavor to prohibit the sale of
cigarettes individually or in small packets which
increase the affordability of such products to
minors.
6. Each Party shall adopt and implement effective
legislative, executive, administrative or other
measures, including penalties against sellers and
distributors , in order to ensure compliance with
obligations contained in paragraphs 1-5 of this
Article.
The FCTC: A Limited Institutional
Framework
Meeting of
the contracting parties
Science
advisory
body
Implementation
body
Secretariat
Financial
mechanism
Challenges to Global Tobacco Lawmaking:
The Tobacco Industry
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Economic interests: tobacco tax
revenue.
Industry ‘interference’ with
international negotiations.
Role of industry on governmental
delegations.
Liberty: WHO and the ‘Nanny
State.’
The Tobacco Industry and Liberty
Smoking is a civil right,
Those who don’t should join the fight.
For if one right does disappear.
The loss of others may be near….
Too many calories can cause you to die,
So let’s have a ban on apple pie.
Once a government restricts a right,
The end will never be near in sight.
There is a lesson here and it is no joke, I once had
the right to smoke!
Philip Morris Magazine
Lessons From the FCTC Process: Challenges to
Tobacco Lawmaking
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Powerful industry
opposition to
tobacco control.
Lack of strong
international NGO
presence.
Inexperienced
secretariat.
Failure of nations to
“take tobacco
control seriously.”
CNN
BMJ
The Final FCTC Text: Challenges in Promoting
Treaty Compliance
JT
The impact of the FCTC and FCTC negotiation
process on global tobacco control: the ‘power of the
process’
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The sheer process of negotiating an international instrument can stimulate
national action and international cooperation long before instrument is
adopted:
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Negotiation process can bring an issue to the global stage.
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Negotiation process can bring together different ministries within
national governments to forge national solutions.
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Negotiation process can encourage the development of national
coalitions and international partnerships.
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Negotiation process can promote the development and coordination of
civil society, nationally and internationally.
The Contribution of FCTC to Global
Tobacco Control: Creation of a Global
Forum to Highlight Tobacco Control
•
Entry into Force (February 2005)
First Meeting of the Conference
of the Parties (February 2006)
• Second Meeting of the COP
(June 2007)
• Third Meeting of the COP
(November 2008)
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3 Sessions of INB on Protocol on
Illicit Trade (July 2007, October
2008 and July 2009)