19
From the point of view of the NGO community the bright spot in the negotiations was the
ability of the AFRO group to continue to speak as a block; for the first time supporting a
total ad ban along with SEARO. Thailand and India continued to be reliable voices for
strong treaty language. Australia, Canada, and New Zealand also expressed progressive
positions.
U.S. members of the Alliance decided that the U.S. delegation and its positions needed to
become a major focus of their efforts. These NGOs reported on U.S. positions to the
media and to friendly Congressional offices. The idea was not only to put pressure on the
Administration but also to highlight for other delegations that the U.S. actions did not
represent the best public health positions. For example, following the first round of
negotiations attended by Bush Administration officials, Congressman Henry A. Waxman
(Democrat Los Angeles)
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, in the first of many broadsides against the Administration’s
position during negotiations, accused the Bush administration of marching in lock step
with Big Tobacco to undermine or eliminate serious global regulations to curb tobacco
use. “It’s either an eye-popping coincidence or a testament to the insidious influence that
Philip Morris has on the Bush Administration,” said a letter from Waxman to the
President. “ The president’s negotiators promoted 10 of 11 deletions requested by Philip
Morris…. The appearance is awful… The President should instruct his delegation to put
public health ahead of the interests of Philip Morris.”
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U.S. NGO’s used the Waxman letter to follow up with the media to expose the U.S.
position at the negotiations. They also sought to capitalize on the resignation of the chief
of delegation who had served under Clinton to highlight the change in U.S. position.
They then circulated media stories about the resignation via Globalink to NGOs in other
countries for use in their efforts to diminish the effect of U.S. positions and pressure. The
following editorial from the Boston Globe summarized the situation well:
… the resignation of the top American official working on an international
treaty to reduce cigarette smoking worldwide raises concern about the
future of the U.S. position on this critical health issue. Thomas E.
Novotny, a public health specialist and strong advocate for tobacco
control, led the U.S. delegation to the WHO FCTC during Clinton and
Bush administration. ..Novotny had reportedly been frustrated over the
Bush administration’s softened stand on key issues, such as restrictions on
secondhand smoke and the advertising and marketing of cigarettes.
In this context, the controversy created by Novotny’s resignation comes at
a time when the United States has been denying charges that it has
changed its position on a number of critical issues and international
negotiations, such as the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, the Germ
Warfare Accord, and the anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. According to U.S.
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“Waxman Critical of President’s Tobacco Stance” Los Angeles Times 19 November 2001.
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For undoubtedly much the same reason, the European Union was constrained by German tobacco
interests and Japan followed the interests of Japan International which opposed all regulatory rules in the
body of the treaty, relegating them to a protocol.
Convention