PHA-Exchange> Govt’s tobacco policy roasted - Yomiuri Shimbun

[Syed Mahbubul Alam Tahin]

Quotable quote:
Eitaka Tsuboi, president, Japan Medical Association, hinting that the 
United States may have set the bad example allowing Japan to put national 
self-interest ahead of international concerns during FCTC negotiations: "I 
think the Japanese people were infuriated by the way the United States 
refused to accept the Kyoto Protocol on the world environment."

Govt's tobacco policy roasted - Yomiuri Shimbun
Foot-dragging over WTO (sic) convention draws international criticism
Wednesday, February 19, 2003

As the sixth and final round of negotiations for the Framework Convention 
on Tobacco Control (FCTC) began in Geneva Monday, Japan continued to be the 
focus of international criticism for the high proportion of smokers among 
its population and its reluctance to impose stricter controls over tobacco.
Criticism initially surfaced in October in Geneva, where the fifth round of 
FCTC negotiations were being held. Nongovernmental organizations at a joint 
press conference accused Japan--along with the United States and 
Germany--of putting priority on the interests of tobacco companies instead 
of human health.
"Japan, the United States and Germany are the three major stumbling blocks 
in the current negotiations to successfully reaching a global health 
treaty," an NGO official said.
The convention currently under debate is part of a global strategy under 
World Health Organization auspices to reduce tobacco-related deaths and 
disease worldwide.
When in force, the treaty will include international rules on tobacco 
taxation, smoking prevention and treatment, as well as illicit trade, 
advertising and promotion, and product regulation.
The origins of the treaty date back to 1999, when the FCTC was adopted 
unanimously during a WHO general assembly meeting. At the assembly, member 
countries were called on to work together to reduce the number of 
tobacco-related deaths worldwide, which then totaled 4.9 million annually.
The FCTC will be the first such international treaty on public health, and 
countries have been targeting the upcoming WHO general meeting scheduled 
for May for the treaty's adoption.
But in October, Japan was the only nation among 192 member countries not to 
endorse the treaty's purpose and intention--namely, to reduce the 
consumption of tobacco worldwide.
One reason for this is that the Japanese government holds two-thirds of the 
shares of Japan Tobacco Inc., the world's third-largest tobacco company.
"Japan not only lags behind other countries in terms of tobacco regulation, 
it remains primitive in its thinking (concerning the issue of smoking and 
health)," said Eitaka Tsuboi, president of the Japan Medical Association.
According to the association, 49 percent of the adult male population in 
Japan continues to smoke, topping the United States and Britain, where the 
figure is 28 percent, and Sweden, where it is 17 percent.
Not only does Japan have the highest adult male smoking rate among 
industrialized countries, it actively encourages its citizens to consume 
tobacco.
Cigarette prices in Japan are half to two-thirds the price of tobacco 
products in European countries. Tobacco taxes in Japan are about 60 
percent, compared with 70 percent to 80 percent in most industrialized 
countries.
Japan and Germany are almost the only countries in the world where 
cigarettes can be bought easily from vending machines.
Warnings on cigarette packages are not straightforward in Japan, whereas in 
many other countries they are clear and direct.
For example, Australian smokers are warned they could be killed by the 
habit, while in Canada, cigarette purchasers are told outright that smoking 
causes cancer.
In Japan, citizens are told only that their health could be endangered by 
smoking.
The U.S. death rate for adult males due to lung cancer dropped as a result 
of the U.S. government's strenuous efforts to discourage smoking. In Japan, 
lung cancer is now the most common type of cancer death, surpassing stomach 
cancer.
Japan, instead of becoming a focus for criticism for blocking the WHO 
talks, could take advantage of the global treaty and worldwide antismoking 
campaign to promote its lagging public health policy.
However, the government has been stubborn in adhering to its policy of not 
discouraging smoking, as can be seen in its insistence in using labels like 
"mild" and "light" for domestically produced cigarettes, in defiance of a 
proposal to ban misleading brand names that was included in a draft treaty 
in October.
Thus, Japan's calls for a treaty "with a level of flexibility so that 
various countries can participate" have been criticized as conflicting with 
the spirit of the treaty, the final draft of which was announced in January.
Japan's ambivalent stance as a country whose citizens' health is undermined 
by the effects of tobacco while the government simultaneously relies on 
tobacco taxes as a major source of revenue has complicated the situation.
According to the Tobacco Industries Law, which aims to promote the growth 
of the domestic tobacco industry, the government is expected to encourage 
the production and sale of tobacco to ensure a stable inflow of tax revenue.
Even after the Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation was privatized in 1985, 
the government still owned two-thirds of JT shares, giving it ample reason 
not to discourage tobacco consumption.
In October, just before the fifth round of WHO talks in Geneva, the Finance 
Ministry's Fiscal System Council compiled an interim report on smoking and 
related health issues.
In the report, the government argued that tobacco and cigarettes were items 
of preference, and the decision as to whether to consume them should be 
left to each individual, stressing that the state had no intention of 
discouraging the products' consumption or banning them completely.
Concerning the use of euphemisms in cigarette names, including words like 
"mild" and "light," the government argued that countries should be free to 
name their products whatever they liked and refused to accept any 
international regulatory code.
In contrast, a panel of medical and scientific experts submitted to the 
health, labor and welfare minister a proposal in December that stated the 
panel felt it necessary to discourage smoking among the national population 
and suppress overall tobacco consumption.
In other words, the government is now split over the tobacco problem.
While the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry actively supports the 
international health treaty, the Finance Ministry is apparently reluctant 
to do so.
The Japan Medical Association in January submitted a request to ministers 
involved in the issue to oppose the Finance Ministry's stance on the WHO 
treaty.
A group of politicians who support promoting a ban on smoking, consisting 
of 90 Diet members, did the same Friday last week, urging the government to 
reconsider so as not to damage the treaty.
"I think the Japanese people were infuriated by the way the United States 
refused to accept the Kyoto Protocol on the world environment," said 
Tsuboi, hinting that the United States may have inadvertently set an 
example for Japan to behave similarly.
If a detailed health treaty with specific regulations is signed by member 
countries, JT may no longer be able to sell its popular Mild Seven 
cigarettes and may even be banned from sponsoring major sporting events.
Nobuko Nakano, who heads an antismoking NGO that addresses women's health 
issues, is a close observer of the Geneva negotiations.
"We can't afford to let the treaty retrogress. We're hoping (the Geneva 
convention) will come up with concrete, practical results, as it could lead 
to effective antismoking campaigns in Japan," Nakano said.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20030219wo41.htm

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Stan Shatenstein


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