By Gustavo Capdevila
GENEVA, Oct 6 2000 (IPS)

The European Court of Justice ruling that overturns a European law banning tobacco advertising has cast a shadow on World Health Organisation (WHO) efforts to establish a framework convention to fight tobacco addiction.

The Court ruled this week to annul a European Union (EU) directive, passed in 1998, which severely limited the use of advertising to promote consumption of tobacco products.

The legal decision was based on legal and technical grounds, and not on public health considerations.

But the WHO reacted immediately, stressing that the elimination of the restrictive legislation is cause for deep concern for this international institution.

The announcement of the ruling comes on the eve of negotiations in Geneva for a Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), sponsored by the WHO.

The 191 member nations of the WHO will begin discussions Oct 16 on a system of binding regulations intended to regulate tobacco use around the world.

The debate has been preceded by a two-year campaign to raise international awareness about the health hazards posed by smoking or the use of other tobacco products and derivatives.

The WHO reports that four million people die each year as a result of tobacco use. Estimates indicate that by 2030, the number of such deaths will reach 10 million annually, with 70 percent of the victims being from developing countries.

Before FCTC negotiations get underway, the WHO will hold a public hearing Oct 12 and 13 for all interested parties, including tobacco industry representatives, to express their positions.

The WHO has already received more than 500 requests to make presentations at the hearing to be held in this Swiss city.

WHO Director-General, Gro Harlem Brundtland, reacted after the European Court’s ruling with a call to all member states to keep in mind the effects on public health caused by any delay in talks on the framework convention.

“Now more than ever, we need quick and decisive action by member countries. Delays mean more deaths,” she emphasised.

The WHO leader, former prime minister of Norway, said the FCTC should be drafted and ready for signing by 2003 at the latest.

In her assessment of the ruling emitted by the Luxembourg-based European Court, Brundtland observed that it creates the opportunity for future concerted action against tobacco use.

The WHO “strongly recommends that European Union member states strengthen their tobacco control legislation and urges them to redraft a tobacco advertising ban in accordance with the European Court’s indications.”

Brundtland called on all countries “to ensure that a ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship is central to the FCTC-related protocols.”

The Court’s ruling coincided with an announcement by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) of its decision to ban tobacco advertising from motor sports after 2006.

The Formula One world championship car races, controlled by the FIA, were until now one of the last bastions for the tobacco industry’s ads and sponsorships.

Germany, apparently subjected to pressures from tobacco companies, had objected to the European Union directive banning cigarette advertising.

Brundtland commented that the tobacco industry “claims people smoke out of free choice… it has been manipulating its products to ensure that addiction occurs rapidly and is maintained. This is not free choice.”

A WHO study has found that in developing countries, among children ages 13 to 15, one of every five is addicted to tobacco.

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