“What can we learn from industry interference around the global tobacco treaty? “, 22 Jul 2015

Corporate capture of efforts to hold corporations accountable for their human rights abuses is not new…One classic example is nearly one and a half decade long process of the global tobacco treaty negotiations, and how tobacco industry used myriad ways to thwart progress, interfere with public health policy making and despite which governments were able to make landmark progress on adapting guidelines to check industry interference…Since 2008, there has been growing recognition of the fundamental and irreconcilable conflict of interest between tobacco industry and public health policy…According to the Corporate Accountability International…"[…] Tobacco corporations are attempting to weaken, delay and defeat tobacco control legislation around the world.”…As the work around proposed business and human rights treaty inches forward, we need strong measures in place to check industry interference right from the very beginning…[Refers to British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International, Philip Morris International]