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n February 27, 2005, the world’s first public health treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), becomes international law. The treaty represents the first coordinated global effort to reduce tobacco use, which is the world’s leading preventable cause of death. It requires countries that have ratified it to implement scientifically proven measures to reduce tobacco use and its terrible toll in health, lives and money.

Related Materials Releases & Statements Special Reports Congressional and Other Letters in Support of the FCTC Map: Countries that Have Ratified Tobacco Treaty Related Links

Tobacco is truly a global problem. Some five million people die from tobacco-caused diseases each year. If current trends continue, this figure will rise to 10 million per year by the year 2030, with 70 percent of those deaths occurring in developing countries. Just as infectious diseases know no political boundaries, leaving individual countries incapable of effectively containing them, the tobacco epidemic also requires international cooperation if it is to be controlled.

Signaling strong international support for the treaty, 167 nations have signed it and more than 130 have ratified it. While the United States signed the treaty, the President has yet to send it to the Senate for ratification. It is imperative that the U.S. play a leadership role in the global effort to reduce tobacco use by ratifying the treaty and supporting its effective implementation domestically and internationally. If widely ratified and effectively implemented, the tobacco treaty will be a fundamental turning point in reducing tobacco use and its devastating consequences around the world.

Resources on the Web Summary of the FCTC Full text of the FCTC Framework Convention Alliance WHO Tobacco Free Initiative

Provisions of the FCTC

The objective of the FCTC is “to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.” This legally binding treaty gives nations powerful new tools to protect the health of their citizens from the tobacco industry’s deceptions and slick marketing. The treaty commits countries to:

• Ban all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (with an exception for nations with constitutional constraints).
• Place large, graphic health warnings on cigarette packs.
• Implement measures to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke.
• Increase the price of tobacco products, which reduces smoking among both youth and adults.
• Combat cigarette smuggling.
• Regulate the content of tobacco products.

The FCTC Has Already Had a Huge Impact

The FCTC has already contributed to a huge change in public perceptions about tobacco and the necessity of passing and enforcing strong laws and regulations to control its use. In addition to the specific benefits of the Convention, the process leading to the passage of the FCTC has already:

• Given new impetus to efforts to enact or strengthen national legislation and action to control the harm caused by tobacco.
• Helped mobilize national and global technical and financial support for tobacco control.
• Brought new ministries, including those dealing with foreign affairs and finance, more deeply into the tobacco control effort.
• Mobilized non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other members of civil society in support of stronger tobacco control.
• Raised public awareness of marketing tactics used by multinational tobacco companies.

In order to support the development of a strong FCTC and combat tobacco industry disinformation, an alliance of non-governmental organizations from around the world has been formed. Now comprising more than 200 groups from more than 90 countries, the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) is playing a key role in educating policymakers and strengthening cooperation across borders.