Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/622093
48 tobaccoasia / Issue 5, 2015December/January) Weapon for Smoking Opponents Anti-tobacco activists tried to use a contradictory aspect of the treaty to divide growers from manufacturers: The carveout applies to tobacco products but not to leaf. "The tobacco industry and its political allies claim this provision would harm tobacco farmers," said Matthew L. Myers, president of an organization called Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Make no mistake: This provision would not impact and explicitly exempts trade of tobacco leaf." Indeed, like Vilsack, he claimed the net effect of the agreement would be beneficial to tobacco farmers. "The tobacco provision is focused on preventing tobacco manufacturers' abuse of the international trade system and addresses the actions of these manufacturers, not growers," said Myers. "It is shameful that to- bacco companies are hiding behind tobacco growers to disguise their own wrongful and abusive behavior." Growers Unconvinced But this interpretation gained no traction with growers. "The only loser in this carveout will be the American farmer," said growers Tim Yarbrough of Prospect Hill, NC, and Graham Boyd of Raleigh, NC. "Big tobacco companies already manufacture and sell products in the many regions of the world TPP would encompass," said the two, who are president and executive vice president of the Tobacco Growers Association of NC. The reality is that such products are and will remain devoid of US grown leaf. What would benefit the growers would be more sales of American-made cigarettes. "Consumers will still maintain the choice to buy and use tobacco products constituted from leaf grown in other inferior regions of the world when compared to the quality and accountability of American grown tobacco under our government's agronomic and pro- duction standards," Yarbrough and Boyd said. They claimed that the Obama administration had promised North Carolina's congressional delegation that it would not unfairly target tobacco growers in the TPP talks. "We are profoundly disappointed to learn that this promise has been broken," they said. "If the White House truly believes they are standing up for the best interests of the thousands of farm families and the industries that service their segment of the economy and community, then we invite them to have a real conversation with us. (They will) learn that we do not share their views." Dangerous Precedent? The tobacco activist Myers, by the way, described why he and his colleagues were so excited about the car- veout. "This provision is a critical step toward ending the tobacco industry's growing abuse of trade agreements to challenge life-saving tobacco control measures all over the world," he said. "It sets a precedent for other trade agreements and boosts efforts to combat a global tobacco epidemic that kills millions each year." The tobacco provision protects the sovereign right of the United States and the 11 other TPP countries to adopt public health measures to reduce tobacco use and its devastating toll, Myers said. "Until Congress approves this agreement, the tobacco industry and its allies are certain to make every effort to defeat or weaken the provision protecting tobacco control measures," he said. "We urge President Obama and members of Congress to stand firm and reject these efforts." Malays Make a Point: Why Not Leaf Too? The Malaysians, meanwhile, who made the original request for the carveout, said in November that changes made in the final version of the treaty had weakened their provision. The president of the Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control, Molly Cheah, said that the agreement as currently written may not offer full protection for tobacco control measures, since the parties are given the option to "choose" to implement the exercise or to "deny" its benefits. "It is unfortunate that the (Malaysian) Ministry of International Trade and Industry did not defend its carve-out proposal, only to see the government caving in," she said at a press conference. She was particularly incensed that tobacco leaf would not be carved out as well as tobacco products and asked that a Malaysia-specific clause be added so that leaf would be treated the same way as products in her country. NOTES: Participating countries are the US, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile, and Peru. Other countries could petition to be included later…Ne- gotiations have taken seven years so far…In the US, the agreement cannot be voted on before 90 days have passed since President Barack Obama notified Congress on November 5 of his intent to sign the agreement. Since that would put the ratification debate right in the middle of the presidential campaign, it has been sug- gested that legislators might try to delay the process… Because of the "fast track" authority recently given to the President by Congress, legislators can only approve or reject the treaty. They can't amend it.