Framework Convention for Tobacco Control
INB6
Statement of the United States of America

March 1, 2003

Delivered by

David E. Hohman
Health Attaché
U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva

Mr. Chairman,

My delegation wishes to join others in expressing our appreciation for your leadership during this crucial session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body.

Mr. Chairman, we had hoped that this draft Convention would have been concluded as a consensus text. Unfortunately, this was not possible. While we are pleased that the text enjoys wide agreement, there are some provisions that we cannot accept. I would like to mention a few.

The provision in the Article on packaging and labeling that requires a minimum size of health warnings fails to take into consideration the separation of powers principle of our government and, in this instance, the prerogatives of our Congress. This is doubly unfortunate in view of the leadership role that the United States plays in tobacco control and the effective warning labels that we have used for many years. A similar problem exists with respect to the provision in the Article on sales to and by minors that addresses the distribution of free tobacco products to youth, which fails to take into account the role of our States in our Federal system.

Mr. Chairman, the reference in this text to indigenous peoples is also unacceptable. Not a single resolution of the U.N. General Assembly or the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the competent bodies in the U.N. system to address this issue, has ever used the formulation incorporated in this draft. This text should be conformed to the standard formulation on this issue before the Convention is adopted.

We are also deeply concerned about the definition for advertising and promotion in Article 1, which is far too broad. The definition for sponsorship, if applied in our country, would violate our Constitutional protections of freedom of speech.

We are disappointed that reservations are excluded. We will examine the text closely to search for flexibility and consider other options that may be necessary to address this issue.

In closing, Mr. Chairman, I want to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to conclude a Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that we can sign and ratify. While the United States does not object to forwarding the draft Convention to the World Health Assembly for its consideration in May, these and other issues will have to be addressed. We look forward to further work in this direction at the World Health Assembly.

Thank you.