Negotiating the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control: Public Health Joins the Arcane World of Multilateral Diplomacy
This case study is written from the point of view of a single head-of-delegation experience negotiating the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Others have drawn different conclusions from the same set of facts. The intent, however, is not to necessarily write a consensus history of international tobacco control efforts, but rather point out issues, some not so obvious, that may affect future treaty negotiations when public health and diplomacy inevitably intersect.
Responding to the tremendous global health and economic burden of tobacco — the leading preventable cause of death worldwide, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control represents the first multilateral treaty covering a significant public health issue. Sharing experience from the front line, this chapter describes the complexity and the intrigue of the multidisciplinary negotiations. For 191 governments to reach consensus is a tremendous challenge. The negotiating process, involving the WHO Secretariat and government delegations, is revealed as one intricate in dynamics, skills, and personalities. Good intentions, trial and error, politics, and economic interests all played out during the difficult deliberations which covered a broad range of issues from the structure of the convention and the health consequences of passive smoking, to cross-border advertising, taxation, and trade.
