Uruguay Warns Citizens of Tobacco Risks, Philip Morris Sues

There's a reason why Uruguay, a country about the size of Washington state, is becoming ground zero for the fight against tobacco transnationals. In November, the World Health Organization is hosting the fourth meeting for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first global health treaty, in Punta del Este, Uruguay.  But in the meantime, Philip Morris filed a lawsuit against the country, aiming to make it an example of what happens when countries try to stand up against the powerful industry.

The lawsuit alleges that Uruguay's new health warning legislation isn't fair to the the tobacco company. The country requires graphic health messages to cover 50 percent of a pack of cigarettes. The warnings contain pictures and text that show the potential health consequences from the products. In 2009, Uruguay introduced legislation that would up the amount the coverage amount to 80 percent by 2010. But Philip Morris balked.

Citing a bilateral investment treaty, the company alleges that the pictures limit their right to branding the package and are therefore an intellectual rights infringement.

The lawsuit is surprising because graphic health warnings on cigarette packs aren't something new. Canada has had them on their cigarette pack since 2002 and all the countries in the European Union have them. Australia requires that warnings cover 30 percent of the front and 90 percent of the back, while Brazil mandates 100 percent of one side is covered with a health warning.

In fact, all countries that have ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control are required to adopt and implement large, clear and changing health warnings on tobacco products within three years of ratification.

But Uruguay's proposed increase has Philip Morris scared. The country's six graphic health warnings, which were implemented in March, are the largest in the world. One of the pictures shows a sleeping child surrounded by smoke, with the text: "By smoking, she could die. Exposing infants to cigarette smoke increases risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Sudden infant death syndrome is one of the main causes of death in the first year of life." The warnings also show pictures linking smoking to known health effects like cancer, erectile dysfunction and premature birth.

The tobacco industry is also worried because graphic health warnings work. Unlike the small text boxes we see on cigarette packs in the U.S., the pictures are hard to ignore. They alert potential smokers to danger every time they look at a pack. They're particularly effective in countries and communities with low literacy rates. And because more and more countries are beginning to implement the warnings, they stand to become the norm. But if Uruguay is any indication, so are lawsuits by the tobacco industry.

But health advocates aren't taking it lightly. As part of Corporate Accountability International's 10th International Week of Resistance to Tobacco Transnationals, they are standing with Uruguay and highlighting the tobacco industry's interference with the treaty's implementation. We can urge the U.S., which still has not ratified the treaty, to support the global fight against tobacco transnationals by asking President Obama to sign the FCTC.

Photo credit: Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada