Countries agree on tobacco controls at WHO health summit

Representatives of 172 countries on Saturday agreed at a World Health Organization meeting on guidelines to control the use and sale of tobacco products.

At the meeting, the signatories of the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control agreed to link the controls to broader economic development issues, said event president Thamsanqa Dennis Mseleku of South Africa.

The event, known as the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the global tobacco treaty, approved guidelines on controlling tobacco flavorings and additives despite lobbying from the tobacco industry.

Control supporters say that tobacco companies use the flavorings to attract young smokers.

"There are hundreds of chemical substances that are used in tobacco products to make them more attractive and are aimed especially at the young public," Antoon Opperhuizen, a top COP official, told AFP.

The countries agreed to integrate smoking cessation programs into national health systems, and support programs aimed at educating people about the health risks of smoking, the WHO said in a statement.

"These guidelines will help countries adapt their laws to meet the false arguments of the tobacco industry," said Canadian Cancer Society senior policy analyst Rob Cunningham.

The COP also formed a working group to draft guidelines on taxing tobacco products, which supporters say is the most effective short-term measure to reduce consumption.

"This has been a very successful week concerning tobacco control policies," said Uruguayan Public Health Minister Daniel Olesker.

The treaty signers have demonstrated "a willingness to protect the health of the citizens of the world rather than the interests of the tobacco industry," said Laurent Huber, Director of the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA), an NGO that represents more than 350 groups worldwide supporting tobacco controls.

Also at the press conference was Uruguay's Ricardo Varela, the president-elect of the next COP that will take place in 2012 in South Korea.

Representatives of the tobacco industry, which fiercely opposes the regulations, pitched a tent outside the hotel during the week-long conference where the WHO meeting was taking place to present their views.

Producers claim flavored tobacco products represent half of global consumption, and worry that the regulations would trigger bans of some of their most popular products.

"If we prohibit production of the American blend, which is made with a mix of Virginia, Burley and Oriental leaves, it will impact more than six million producers worldwide," said Antonio Abrunhosa, a Portuguese tobacco-farmer who serves as chief executive of the International Tobacco Growers' Association (ITGA).

COP members on Thursday showed their support for Uruguay, which is facing a lawsuit from tobacco giant Philip Morris for its strict tobacco control measures that include graphic warnings covering 80 percent of tobacco packages, and bans smoking in all enclosed public spaces.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and eight international organizations have also backed Uruguay in its dispute with Philip Morris.

On Saturday, Philip Morris issued a statement emphasizing that it is "not seeking to prevent (Uruguay) from protecting the health of its citizens.

"The regulations we are challenging are extreme and ineffective measures that have created an environment conducive to the black market in cigarettes," it said.