ESSENTIAL ACTION
TOBACCO & TRADE

TOBACCO: MORE TRADE = LESS HEALTH
EXCLUDE TOBACCO FROM INTERNATIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS!

UPDATES

Doggett Amendment (prohibits key government agencies and officials from promoting the sale of tobacco products overseas, or working to reduce other countries' non-discriminatory tobacco control regulations)

• NEW! Letter from U.S. Representatives Waxman and Doggett to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice re: Doggett Amendment Compliance in Thailand - tif version (December 5, 2006)

U.S. - Malaysia Free Trade Agreement

• Essential Action Comments re: Proposed U.S. - Malaysia Free Trade Agreement (May 12, 2006)

Central America Free Trade Agreement

• Factsheet: CAFTA-DR AND TOBACCO CONTROL: The Public Health Case Against CAFTA-DR (March 22, 2005)

U.S. - Thai Free Trade Agreement

December 9, 2003: A coalition of Thai and U.S. tobacco control groups today sent letters to the Thai Ministers of Health and Commerce, and the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Trade Representative, urging that tobacco products be excluded from the Thai-US Free Trade Agreement now under negotiation. View the letters sent to:

• Thailand's Minister of Public Health Sudarat Keyuraphan
• Thailand's Commerce Minister Wantana Muangsook
• U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick
• U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson
  

Free Trade Area of the Americas

November 18, 2003: Letter from nearly 30 groups throughout the Americas to Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) delegates urging that tobacco products be excluded from the Free Trade Area of the Americas:

• Open Letter from Public Health Advocates to FTAA Delegates re: Tobacco & Trade - PDF version
• Una Letra Abierta de Defensores de la Salud Pública a los Delegados del ALCA re: Tabaco y Comercio  - PDF version

LINKS ON TOBACCO & TRADE

GENERAL BACKGROUND

• International Trade Agreements and Tobacco Control  - html version
  Essential Action Factsheet (November 2003)
• International Trade Agreements and Tobacco Control: Threats to Public Health and the Case for Excluding Tobacco from Trade Agreements
  by Robert Weissman (November 2003)
• Public Health, International Trade and the FCTC
  Report by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (March 2001)
• An Introduction to International Trade Agreements and their Impact on Public Measures to Reduce Tobacco Use
  by Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada (April 2001)
• Confronting the Tobacco Epidemic in an Era of Trade Liberalization
  Paper by WHO Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (July 2001)
• Why trade and investment liberalisation may threaten effective tobacco control efforts
  by Cynthia Callard, Hatai Chitanondh, Robert Weissman
  vs.
  Tobacco control in an era of trade liberalisation
  by Douglas Bettcher, Ira Shapiro
  Debate in journal Tobacco Control (Spring 2001)
• The impact of trade liberalization on tobacco consumption
  Article 14 (Section IV) of Tobacco Control in Developing Countries
  Published by OUP for the World Bank and World Health Organization, 2000

SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF TOBACCO-RELATED TRADE ISSUES

• CAFTA-DR AND TOBACCO CONTROL: The Public Health Case Against CAFTA-DR
  Essential Action Factsheet (March 2003)
• U.S. Congressmen Call for Excluding Tobacco from FTAA
  Letter from Rep. Waxman, Sen. Durbin, and Rep. Doggett to Bush Administration (November 2003)
  
• U.S. Government Chooses Tobacco Industry Over Public Health In Chilean Trade Agreement
  Statement of William V. Corr, Executive Vice President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (December 2002)
• Philip Morris International, Inc. Response to Canadian Proposal to Ban Misleading Descriptors "Light" and "Mild"
• Philip Morris to Canada: Drop Dead
  by Robert Weissman and Russell Mokhiber, Corp-focus (April 2001)
• Legal Opinion With Regard to Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products Requirement Under International Agreements
  Letter from Carla Hills to R.J.Reynolds Tobacco Company and Philip Morris International Inc (May 1994)
• Thailand - Restrictions on Importation of and Internal Taxes on Cigarettes, a GATT decision - November 7, 1990

REPORTS ON TOBACCO & TRADE RELATED EVENTS

November 17-21, 2003 Health Before Trade: Tobacco Out of the FTAA! Report on tobacco-related events that took place in Miami, FL leading up to negotiations on the Free Trade Area of the Americas

TAKE ACTION!

SEND A FAX to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, urging him to exclude tobacco from the scope of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information on tobacco and trade issues, contact Robert Weissman at 202-387-8030 or rob@essential.org