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Action on Smoking and Health
A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions
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President Bush Drags His Feet on Signing the FCTC [03/24-5]
Excerpts from: Bush drags feet on treaty
By David Lazarus SF Gate.com [03/24/04]
The central theme of President Bush's re-election campaign is leadership. Yet when it comes to a global treaty to curb tobacco use, Bush is nowhere to be seen.
The United States was one of 192 nations that voted in favor of the so- called Framework Convention on Tobacco Control last May after nearly four years of negotiations.
Since then, 100 countries have taken the first step of signing the treaty. Ecuador, the latest signatory, climbed aboard on Monday. Meanwhile, nine nations, including India and New Zealand, have crossed the finish line and ratified the treaty, meaning that they will abide by its provisions.
The accord has broad ramifications for the $1 trillion worldwide tobacco industry. It would impose a ban on tobacco advertising for all participating nations and require that health warnings cover at least 30 percent of all tobacco packaging.
It would also ban use of deceptive terms like "light" and "mild" when selling cigarettes, as well as increase tobacco taxes.
In 2001, the latest year for which figures are available, the U.S. tobacco industry spent a record $11.22 billion on cigarette advertising and promotion, an increase of 17 percent from 2000 and 67 percent more than the amount spent in 1998.
The global treaty goes into effect only after it is ratified by at least 40 signatory nations -- a development that antismoking advocates expect by 2006. But almost a year after the United States joined the rest of the World Health Organization in accepting global tobacco regulations, Bush still hasn't signed the document, nor has he said whether he intends to submit it to the Senate for ratification.
"Where's the president?" asked Judy Wilkenfeld, director of international programs for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington lobbying group. "He has the power under the Constitution to make and sign treaties. This is now solely his responsibility."
In fact, the clock's ticking. The deadline for signing the treaty is June 29.
Ken Lisaius, a White House spokesman, said Bush hasn't made his intentions known regarding the international tobacco accord. "We're continuing an ongoing legal review of the treaty," he said. "The process is ongoing."
But why has it taken almost a year to review a document that Washington was actively involved in shaping since 1999?
Tobacco accounts for 5 million deaths worldwide every year, according to health officials. The global death toll is expected to reach 10 million annually within the next three decades unless steps are taken to curb tobacco use. John Seffrin, chief executive of the American Cancer Society, said these numbers were very much on his mind Tuesday as political leaders testified on Capitol Hill about terrorism. "I was watching Defense Secretary (Donald) Rumsfeld talking about how we were surprised by what happened on Sept. 11," Seffrin said. "And I was thinking that here's something that's not a surprise. We're facing a pandemic with the greatest avoidable loss of life in recorded history." He said he didn't buy the White House's explanation that it is still reviewing the tobacco treaty. "No country was more actively involved in determining the precise words and punctuation of the document than the United States," Seffrin noted. "They've had ample time to review the treaty."
Nevertheless, he said he's confident that Bush will ultimately come around before the deadline passes. "After all," Seffrin observed, "there's really no downside to signing."
Click here to urge the US to Sign and Ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
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