Contacts:
Bejon Misra/VOICE : 91- 9811044424
Patty Lynn/Infact
: Cell: 617-306-3641
NGOs
Urge Indian Government to Ratify Global Tobacco Treaty
New DelhiRepresentatives of a leading network
of organizations advocating for the swift implementation
of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)
have come to Delhi to urge India to ratify the treaty.
Eighty-five governments have signed the treaty, which
enters into force and becomes international law after
40 countries sign and ratify it. Last month Indias Cabinet
approved ratification of the FCTC. The Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals
(NATT) noted Indias leadership throughout the FCTC negotiating
process, and are calling on Indian officials to complete
the FCTC ratification process quickly. The
FCTC, the worlds first public health and corporate accountability
treaty, will save millions of lives and change the way
the tobacco industry operates globally.
The adoption of the FCTC last year was
a major victory for people over profits of giant tobacco
corporations. Now the hard work of moving countries
to implement the treaty has begun. With the leadership
on this issue based in the Global South, it is vital
that countries such as India move quickly to ratify
the FCTC, says Bejon Misra of ConsumerVOICE (India),
a NATT member.
Initiated by the World Health Organization
(WHO), the FCTC bans tobacco advertising, promotion
and sponsorship (such as Philip Morris/Altrias Marlboro
Man) and protects public health policy from tobacco
industry interference. NATT has launched a campaign
for the FCTCs swift implementation, and is monitoring
closely for attempts to derail the treaty.
India played a lead role in the push
for a strong FCTC throughout the negotiations, even
as wealthy countries like the US sought to undermine
the process. There has been much recent attention to
Indias strengthening ties with the Bush Administration.
We are urging the Indian government to resist US cowboy
diplomacy on the FCTC, and to ratify this groundbreaking
treaty right away, says Patti Lynn of Infact, a US-based
corporate accountability organization and NATT member.
ConsumerVOICE, Infact and Environmental
Rights Action (Nigeria) reached tens of thousands of
people with information on the FCTC at the World Social
Forum in Mumbai over the past week through workshops,
media activism, and the screening of an award-winning
film. As a result, dozens more organizations will be
campaigning for FCTC ratification in their own countries.
Throughout the FCTC negotiations, NATT
members encouraged, prodded and pressured countries
to stand firm in the face of Big Tobaccos enormous political
and economic clout. With International Weeks of Resistance
to Tobacco Transnationals, Marlboro Man Awards, and
the release of a number of reports, NATT has played
a key role in exposing and challenging the attempts
of transnational tobacco corporations and their political
allies in wealthy countries to derail the FCTC. In the
push toward ratification, NATT will continue to watchdog
the tobacco industrys interference in the process.
With giant corporations like Philip Morris/Altria, British American
Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International driving an epidemic
that claims nearly five million lives a year, Big Tobaccos
expansion is one of the most pressing health and corporate
accountability issues of our time. We have a tool to
rein in this deadly industry. We need countries committed
to public health to take the lead in this critical phase,
says Akinbode Oluwafemi of Environmental Rights Action
(Nigeria), a NATT member.
The Network
for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT)
includes 75 NGOs from more than 50 countries working
for a strong, enforceable Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control. For more information visit www.infact.org or www.iwr2002.org
or www.consumer-voice.org
