VZCZCXRO5795
RR RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
DE RUEHMO #1135/01 1141423
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231423Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7735
INFO RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 2793
RUEHYG/AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 3136
RUEHZN/EST COLLECTIVE
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC 5238

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 001135 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
USAID FOR GH, E&E 
HHS FOR OGHA 
USDA FAS FOR OGA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO SCUL PREL SOCI RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES TOBACCO CONTROL CONVENTION 
 
REFS: A. 07 Moscow 5630 
  ¶B. 07 Moscow 5522 
  ¶C. 08 Moscow 854 
  ¶D. 07 Moscow 1834 
  ¶E. 07 Moscow 1434 
 
MOSCOW 00001135  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  PLEASE PROTECT 
ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  In a significant step forward for anti-smoking 
regulation, on April 11, the Russian Duma overwhelmingly voted to 
ratify the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on 
Tobacco Control (FCTC).  Observers expect the FCTC will be quickly 
approved by the Federation Council and signed by the President. 
Over the next three to five years, the Duma will have to consider 
several additional pieces of tobacco control legislation to come 
into compliance with the FCTC, including measures to enlarge 
cigarette package warnings, increase cigarette prices and excise 
taxes, and limit tobacco advertising and smoking in public places. 
Tobacco companies are expected to lobby heavily against these new 
legislative measures and argue that the convention's tobacco control 
provisions are intended to be advisory rather than mandatory. 
Nonetheless, the convention's passage raises the hope that in a few 
years time, the large cohorts of Russian smokers will begin 
declining, helping to reverse the country's demographics crisis. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Russia Coming Into Compliance With FCTC 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) On April 11, the Duma ratified the FCTC by a vote of 447 to 
¶1.  The Cabinet had approved it in January and sent it to the Duma 
as a draft law in February.  (While Russia actively participated in 
the original development and negotiations of the FCTC in 2003 at the 
WHO, it had never signed or ratified the document.)  Once approved 
by the Federation Council and signed by the President, the FCTC will 
enter into force for Russia 90 days after the ratification documents 
are submitted to the WHO. 
 
¶3. (U) By its terms, the FCTC contemplates several changes to 
domestic tobacco control legislation over a three to five year 
period after ratification.  These measures include: 
 
-- increasing the size of the warning label on cigarette packs to a 
minimum of 30 percent of the surface area within three years; 
 
-- introducing a complete ban on tobacco advertisement within five 
years; 
 
-- limiting smoking in public places and facilities; 
 
-- banning cigarette sales in kiosks; 
 
-- increasing cigarette excise taxes; 
 
-- decreasing tar and nicotine levels in cigarettes; 
 
-- creating non-smoking areas in bars and restaurants; 
 
-- increasing public health communication on the health risks of 
smoking and the provision of treatment to nicotine addicts. 
 
-- banning the use of terms such as "light" or "super- light" to 
describe cigarettes; and 
 
-- prohibiting tobacco companies from sponsoring various public 
events. 
 
¶4. (U) Even prior to ratifying the FCTC, the Duma began making some 
of the necessary changes to Russian law, which already prohibits 
tobacco advertisements on radio, TV and on outdoor signs and 
billboards.  In early April, the Duma approved the first reading of 
a draft law to prohibit tobacco advertisements on all forms of 
transportation, including in the Metro, at train and bus stations, 
and in airports.  The Duma held an initial hearing on April 21 to 
discuss legislative changes needed to implement the FCTC, and the 
Duma Health Committee has established a 30-member expert council to 
work on preparing draft implementing legislation.  Anti-tobacco 
advocates from the All-Russia Cancer Center have also established a 
new NGO called "Healthy Society," which is chaired by Duma Deputy 
Nikolay Gerasimenko, to assist in the FCTC's implementation. 
 
MOSCOW 00001135  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Gerasimenko is deputy head of the Duma Health Care Committee and a 
long-time anti-smoking crusader within the Duma.  He will receive an 
award for his achievements in fighting smoking at the Eastern 
European Anti-Tobacco Forum in Warsaw April 22. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Important Step on Road to Tobacco Control 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Health and demographic experts applaud the Duma's 
ratification of the FCTC, but worry that the tobacco industry will 
raise obstacles and delay the convention's implementation.  Kirill 
Danishevskiy, a senior health consultant with the Open Health 
Institute and head of the Russian Society of Evidence-Based 
Medicine, expects that some lobbyists and lawmakers will argue that 
the FCTC is a non-binding international agreement whose provisions 
are only meant to be advisory, rather than mandatory.  Andrey Demin, 
a prominent public health advocate and head of the Russian 
Association of Public Health, agrees that some health officials and 
policy makers will view the FCTC as an "elastic" document.  He also 
expects the big tobacco companies will lobby heavily to slow down 
the legislative process. 
 
¶6. (U) International tobacco industry representatives have publicly 
stated that they are ready to observe the FCTC, but they hope that 
lawmakers will consider the "specifics of market regulation" in 
Russia as they adopt legislation to implement the FCTC.  Philip 
Morris issued a statement welcoming FCTC ratification as "an 
important step" in regulating the tobacco industry, but emphasized 
the "framework" nature of the convention, which allows member states 
to be guided by national "constitutional principles," a likely 
indication that the company will lobby for watered-down restrictions 
on advertising.  British American Tobacco's Russia representative 
pointed out that tobacco is a legal product, and Germany and Japan 
have not banned outdoor advertisement, despite being members of the 
FCTC.  (Philip Morris, British American Tobacco, and Japan 
International Tobacco, which distributes RJ Reynolds' brands 
internationally, collectively control over 80 percent of the Russian 
cigarette market.)  Some observers have also noted that the 
hospitality sector will join with the tobacco lobby to oppose 
smoking bans or the establishment of smoke-free zones in hotels, 
bars and restaurants, arguing that these businesses would see a loss 
of income. 
 
¶7. (U) Some 65 percent of Russian men and 30 percent of women smoke, 
according to estimates from the Federal Surveillance Service for 
Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being (Rospotrebnadzor). 
Rospotrebnadzor also estimates that at least 25 percent of 15-19 
year olds smoke (Ref A), though a recent survey conducted in Moscow 
revealed that 70 percent of Russian teenagers between the ages of 13 
and 18 consider themselves to be smokers.  According to various 
estimates from health and demographic experts, 330,000 to 500,000 
deaths every year are attributable to the direct or indirect 
consequences of smoking, making it one of the two main drivers of 
Russia's high mortality, along with heavy drinking of vodka and 
other spirits (Refs B-E). 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Duma ratification of the FCTC is a major step forward in 
the years-long effort to implement meaningful anti-smoking 
regulation in Russia.  As further legislation is introduced to 
implement the FCTC in the next three to five years, we believe 
high-level political will to improve mortality figures and reverse 
the demographics crisis (Refs C, D) will ultimately overcome intense 
lobbying from cigarette companies.  Once appropriate implementing 
legislation is enacted, and if it is effectively enforced, future 
generations of Russians can look forward to smoking less and 
breathing less second-hand smoke. 
 
BURNS