We have submitted the documents of our requirement for FCTC to Japanese
Government on 16th January, 2003, toward the 16th (final) intergovernmental negotiation meeting to be held on 17th through 28th February,
2003 in Geneva, as follows.

Messrs: Japanese Government Delegation for WHO-FCTC
16th January, 2003
Japan Coalition on a Smoke-free Environment for Kids
1chome-21-1-702, Tamatsukuri, Chuouku,
Osaka 540-0004, JAPAN
Tel,Fax +81-6-6765-5020
url http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~muen/smokefree.htm

Plea for the Preparation of Severe International Treaty at WHO-FCTC
We have released our opinion and proposal for protecting people of the world from thehazard of tobacco smoking at the public hearing of WHO-FCTC in October, 2000, anddelivered the same to the government delegation. As the inter-governmental negotiation
meeting of WHO-FCTC is now scheduled to be held in Geneva next month, we would
like to propose that Japanese Government should strongly demand the following points
so that they can be adopted into the international treaty.

The proposals of requirements:
１．We require and propose that the international treaty should be ratified to include aclause that requires every country to prohibit the smoking of minors, as enacted inJapan by “Minors Smoking Prohibition Act”, and to enforce strict punishment for
the illegal sales of tobacco to minors.
２．We require and propose that the treaty should be ratified to include a clause thatenforce the early removal and prohibition of the vending machines, through which
minors can freely buy tobaccos.

Since the “vending machines” enable minors tobuy cigarettes easily, such machine vending is apparently in violation of the“Minors Smoking Prohibition Act” in Japan, and tobacco industry is now trying toadopt the vending machines installed with age-identification function so that they
can get over the illegality.

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３．We require and propose that the international treaty should be ratified to include aclause that promotes the gradual raise of tobacco tax on a large scale to make surethat minors can hardly buy cigarettes, thereby preventing minors from smoking,and consequently decreasing the population of smokers. The increased levies
should be appropriated for the costs of the protection measures against smoking(especially for minors), or for the support of the tobacco leaf growers and retailers
when they change their employment.
４．We require and propose that the international treaty should be ratified to include aclause that internationally common and strict expression shall be applied to thehealth warning labels of cigarettes, telling the truth about the harms of tobacco (theharms of both active and passive smoking), such as “Smoking makes you dependent
on nicotine of tobacco”, ”Smoking increases a risk factor of lung cancer”, “Smokingincreases a risk factor of heart disease and cardiovascular disease”, and “Smoking
by pregnant women increases a risk factor of low-weight baby birth”, accompaniedwith appropriate illustrations.
５．We strongly advocate the prohibition of use of the cigarette brands, such as“Light” and “Mild”, because such bands give the illusion or misunderstanding on
not only smokers but also on non-smokers that the tobacco products with suchbrands are less harmful, containing lower tar and nicotine, which are the major
elements of tobacco, and apparently this is an “unfair indication”. (There is notmuch differences between the ingredients of the brand tobacco leaves of suchbrands and other brands. The fact is merely that the amount of the indicatedingredients is made smaller by making pinholes in the filter, thereby thinning theamount of nicotine and tar that smokers inhale. As a result, smokers tend tosmoke the “Light” or “Mild” brand cigarettes much more than the other brandcigarettes, to compensate their thirst for nicotine and tar. Consequently, theamount of the secondhand smoke increases, contributing to the increased risksof passive smoking.
６．We require and propose that the international treaty should be ratified to include
a clause that prohibits tobacco advertising in any sort of the events or throughmass media, as well as the sponsorship of tobacco companies on any sort ofthe events.
７．We require and propose that the international treaty should be ratified to include
a clause that each country should prepare such a law that can oblige every country
in the world to protect the health of its own people from the hazard of passive
smoking. Because of the globalization, a treaty that can enforce every country in2

the world to prepare such a law is indispensable.
８．We require and propose that the international treaty should be ratified to include
a clause that the tobacco industry should be privatized completely, and thejurisdiction of the matters concerning tobacco should be transferred to the Ministryof Welfare, that is in charge of national health.

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