MUMBAI, India - As tens of thousands of activists gather at the World Social Forum, the effort to implement the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) continues to make significant progress.

The FCTC, the world's first public health and corporate accountability treaty, will save millions of lives and change the way the tobacco industry operates globally. Initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO), the FCTC bans tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (such as Philip Morris/Altria's Marlboro Man) and protects public health policy from tobacco industry interference. The treaty sets precedents for international regulation of other industries that threaten health, the environment and human rights such as pharmaceuticals, oil and agribusiness.

The treaty's adoption in 2003 marked a major milestone for the movement challenging corporate globalization. Infact and the Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) have launched a campaign for the FCTC's swift implementation. Through workshops, media activism, and the screening of an award-winning film, Infact and NATT are building awareness of and support for the FCTC at the World Social Forum.

"The World Social Forum is predicated on the belief that another world is possible. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is one of the most important recent examples of a successful challenge to a powerful, deadly industry that profits at the expense of human health. India and other countries of the Global South stood up to US cowboy diplomacy throughout the FCTC negotiating process. That kind of ongoing courage will be key to the treaty's successful implementation," says Patti Lynn of Infact, a US-based corporate accountability organization and NATT member.

Eighty-five governments have signed the treaty, which enters into force and becomes international law after 40 countries sign and ratify it. Last month India's Cabinet approved ratification of the FCTC. Infact and NATT have noted India's leadership throughout the FCTC negotiating process, and are urging Indian officials to complete the FCTC ratification process quickly.

"The adoption of the FCTC last year was a major victory for people over profits of giant tobacco corporations. Now the hard work of moving countries to implement the treaty has begun. With the leadership on this issue based in the Global South, it is vital that countries such as India move quickly to ratify the FCTC," says Bejon Misra of ConsumerVOICE (India), also a NATT member.

Infact, ConsumerVOICE (India) and Environmental Rights Action(Nigeria) and others are organizing workshops on the FCTC to mobilize World Social Forum participants behind treaty ratification campaigns. In addition, Infact's award-winning film Making a Killing: Philip Morris, Kraft and Global Tobacco Addiction, which builds a compelling case for the FCTC, will be screened in the WSF film festival.

Throughout the FCTC negotiations, NATT members encouraged, prodded and pressured countries to stand firm in the face of Big Tobacco's enormous political and economic clout. With International Weeks of Resistance to Tobacco Transnationals, Marlboro Man Awards, and the release of a number of reports, NATT has played a key role in exposing and challenging the attempts of transnational tobacco corporations and their political allies in wealthy countries to derail the FCTC. In the push toward ratification, NATT will continue to watchdog the tobacco industry's interference in the process.

"With giant corporations like Philip Morris/Altria, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International driving an epidemic that claims nearly five million lives a year, Big Tobacco's expansion is one of the most pressing corporate accountability issues of our time. We have a tool to rein in this deadly industry. The World Social Forum is a perfect arena for us to build momentum behind the FCTC," says Akinbode Oluwafemi of Environmental Rights Action(Nigeria), a NATT member.

Since 1977, Infact has been exposing life-threatening abuses of transnational corporations and organizing successful grassroots campaigns to hold corporations accountable to consumers and society at large. The Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals (NATT) includes 75 NGOs from more than 50 countries working for a strong, enforceable Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. For more information visit http://www.infact.org or http://www.iwr2002.org.

Contacts:
Patti Lynn/Infact
mobile phone in Mumbai: +44.7753.876.963

David Lerner/Riptide Communications
in New York: 01.212.260.5000

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