Frank Jordans, Associated Press Writer
GENEVA –A U.N.-backed meeting on tobacco smuggling has barred cigarette companies from attending for fear they will try to influence delegates, participants said Thursday.
More than 130 countries agreed late Wednesday to expel the tobacco industry from the rest of the weeklong meeting of parties to the 2005 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which the U.S. has signed but yet to ratify.
Governments are considering a range of measures to crack down on contraband cigarettes, including a ban on Internet sale of tobacco products and a crackdown on smuggling through duty free zones.
“We (the governments) decided not to permit the tobacco industry to enter the meeting because they could interfere in the negotiations,” said Justino Regalado Pineda, the head of Mexico’s National Office for Tobacco Control.
“We have to protect people from their commercial interest to poison the population.”
Philip Morris International, whose representatives sat in on meetings earlier in the week, said it was “disappointed” by the decision.
“It sets a dangerous precedent for the United Nations in what should be a democratic and transparent process,” PMI spokesman Greg Prager said.
British American Tobacco, too, opposed the decision.
“We strongly believe that a successful fight against illicit trade can only come from direct co-operation between regulators, law enforcement authorities and the tobacco industry,” BAT spokesman David Betteridge said.
He said the debate leading to the exclusion was “instigated” by Corporate Accountability International.
The U.S.-based watchdog group said the decision was a victory for public health.
“This action sends a clear message from customs, health and law enforcement officials that it’s not business as usual for the tobacco companies,” the group’s international policy director Kathy Mulvey said.
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On the Net:
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: http://www.who.int/gb/fctc/