New anti-smoking policies adopted

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Delegates to World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) conference in Uruguay have failed to reach consensus on how to encourage tobacco farmers to switch to other crops and how to crack down on illegal cigarette smuggling.

About 171 parties to the FCTC gathered in Uruguay for a six-day meeting [from November 15—20] to discuss and adopt guidelines aimed at putting a restriction on the use of ingredients and flavourings in the production of cigarettes.

But many of the tobacco growing countries including Malawi have condemned the guidelines arguing WHO aims to cause economic devastation in Africa through the recommendations. Dr. Bruce Munthali of the Tobacco Control Commission (TCC) is representing Malawi in lobbying against WHO recommendations.

Earlier this month, through International Tobacco Growers’ Association (ITGA), a representative body for world tobacco growers, tobacco growing countries estimated that more than 3.6 million tobacco-growing families in five of the “poverty-stricken African countries” may suffer the worst economic crisis if delegates to the Uruguay conference had adopted the proposal.

The farmers are wary of the guidelines, fearing the ban would eliminate blended cigarettes that account for half of global consumption and drastically reduce the demand for burley and oriental tobacco used to make these products as a result.

In an email interview yesterday, ITGA member Wayne Lowe disclosed that amid intense industry lobbying, the World Health Organization-sponsored meeting failed to reach consensus on how to encourage tobacco farmers to switch to other crops and how to crack down on illegal cigarette smuggling.

The meeting could not agree either on the alternatives in store for the tobacco farmers in the event that the green gold gets a ban.

“But the delegates managed to adopt some new anti-smoking rules, which will require smoking cessation programs being paid for by national health systems and that governments would need to train experts to help more smokers quit,” said Lowe.

Before the close of business on Friday, delegates were still working toward the treaty's long-held goal - recommendations that governments require ingredients to appear on cigarette labels and restrict or even ban aromatic and flavor additives that make harsh-tasting tobacco more attractive to first-time smokers.

They also struggled to find language on ingredients and additives. They were expected to continue discussing the matter until yesterday [Saturday].

Associated Press (AP) reported yesterday that host Uruguay got unanimous support from the 171 countries that have signed on to the FCTC treaty, encouraging President Jose Mujica to promise a fierce defense of the country's tough anti-smoking policies against a legal challenge by Philip Morris International, the world's second-largest tobacco company.

"We are not there yet and time is running out. But I am optimistic," said Antoon Opperhuizen, a Dutch toxicologist and economist who is advising the convention's secretariat on restricting additives. "Some questioned: 'Can you really regulate ingredients that make the product more attractive?' And the consensus was that there are tools for that, and you can do that."

What the conference will not recommend is restricting specific chemicals or flavors, Opperhuizen told The Associated Press. He said there are simply too many, and they change too frequently.

"Everything used in food is also used in tobacco," from chocolate, licorice and vanilla to many other flavors and smells, he said. "It's impossible to have a complete list."

Philip Morris and the tobacco growers' lobby say identifying and restricting additives would cost millions of jobs and harm emerging economies around the world.

Public health officials countered that tobacco producers can switch to other crops, and said millions of lives could be saved by reducing smoking.

Smokers worldwide are increasingly facing tax hikes, bans on smoking in some places, health concerns and social stigma, but public health campaigns are taking an uneven toll on the tobacco industry.

While cigarette sales declined nearly 9 percent in the United States last year, global volumes fell less than 1 percent to 5.68 trillion sticks for the nearly 901 million people who smoke, according to Euromonitor International.

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