Southeast Asia urged to take tough common position on tobacco control
Southeast Asia urged to take tough common position on tobacco control
Uamdao Noikorn, Associated Press, Bangkok
An international anti-tobacco group urged Southeast Asian
countries meeting in Bangkok to take a tough common stance ahead
of global negotiations next month for a UN-sponsored treaty on
tobacco control.
Government representatives from the 10 members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began a three-day
meeting on Monday to discuss a draft of the global treaty, which
is aimed at controlling the use, sale, advertisement and
smuggling of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
The Framework Convention Alliance, which comprises more than
180 nongovernment groups from over 70 countries, wants the treaty
to include, among other things, a full ban on tobacco advertising
and terms like "light" and "low tar," which it says lull smokers
into a false sense of security.
The fifth round of negotiations to produce the Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control treaty, will be held under the
auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva,
Switzerland between Oct. 14-25. The treaty, due for ratification
in May 2003, would be legally-binding.
"The position that ASEAN nations takes is important to the
final outcome of the treaty because ASEAN includes countries with
some of the most progressive tobacco control legislation in the
world," the alliance said in a statement.
Thailand and Singapore, both ASEAN members, have strong anti-
tobacco laws. For example, Thailand bans scenes depicting smoking
on television and smoking in virtually all air conditioned public
places.
But other ASEAN members have some of the weakest anti-tobacco
legislation in the world. According to the WHO, most Asian
countries also levy low cigarette taxes, have poor regulations on
advertising and almost no control on sponsorship.
The alliance says that tobacco use remains the single largest
preventable cause of premature death and disease. Worldwide each
year, 4 million people die as a result of tobacco-caused
diseases. Since the negotiations on the global convention began
in October 1999, over 11 million people have died from tobacco-
related illnesses, the alliance claims.
The alliance has worked with governments in helping to draft a
strong treaty, and several of its members will attend the ASEAN
meeting. But it says the draft still has weaknesses that would be
used by the tobacco industry as a powerful argument against
stronger domestic legislation.
Among the major changes it wants is for the convention not to
be subordinate to treaties between countries that prohibit trade
discrimination.
"Non-discrimination in trade is an important value as it
relates to trade in beneficial products. However, with respect to
trade in tobacco products, public health must be the paramount
concern," the alliance said.