GENEVA - A landmark treaty aimed at cutting deaths and illness caused by smoking came into force Sunday, after 57 countries ratified international restrictions on tobacco producers and smokers, the World Health Organisation said.
The WHO hopes the first ever public health treaty will stop the estimated five million annual deaths caused by smoking from doubling by 2020, once it is passed into law by all the 168 countries that have signed up.
"I encourage all countries to become party to the treaty. This can result in millions of lives saved, and that is where the real success of this treaty resides," said WHO Director General Lee Jong Wook.
"Its entry into force is a demonstration of governments' commitment to reduce death and illness from tobacco use," he added.
The WHO regards tobacco as the only legal product that eventually kills half its regular users, fuelling the second leading cause of death in the world.
"This means that out of 1.3 billion smokers, 650 million will die prematurely," it added in a statement.
Tobacco-related ill-health is thought to sap 200 billion dollars from rich and poor countries.
The cost of treating illness due to smoking is estimated to rise to 6.5 billion dollars in China alone, according to the UN's health agency.
Despite three years of strong opposition from tobacco multinationals, as well as governments with substantial tobacco industries or farming, the treaty concluded in 2003 advocates bans on advertising and sponsorship, as well as sales to minors.
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control also includes public smoking restrictions, larger health warnings on cigarette packs and promotes taxation as a way to cut consumption and fight smuggling.
Treaty parties must now pass the measures into national law within three to five years, although health officials acknowledged that several countries have already implemented many of them.
Vera Luiza da Costa e Silva, head of the WHO's tobacco-free initiative, said the convention would "leave fewer loopholes for the tobacco industry, which currently finds ways to circumvent national laws".
"The difference for global tobacco control is that countries party to the convention will be able to implement these measures, especially those with cross border implications, in a coordinated and standardised way," she added.
The first parties include major industrialised countries -- except the United States -- European nations, India, Pakistan, Mexico, Thailand, as well as Indian and Pacific Ocean island states.
The treaty is expected to have an impact on direct sponsorship for public and sports events.
The McLaren formula one motor racing team on Tuesday announced a major long term sponsorship deal with a whisky firm from August, which could herald the end of its decades-long association with cigarette companies.
A tobacco advertising ban is due to be implemented in the European Union in August.
Anti-tobacco campaigners urged the United States to ratify the treaty.
"We are calling on our government to join with the global community in prioritising people's lives over the profits of giant corporations," said Kathryn Mulvey, head of the US-based advocacy group Corporate Accountability International.
The cigarette giant Philip Morris, which lobbied heavily against the WHO convention, has since said it accepts some of its provisions, including health warnings and anti-contraband measures, but is urging a more consistent approach to taxation.
"We encourage and support regulation which must provide a level playing field for all tobacco products," Hermann Waldemer, western Europe president, said in a statement on the company's 2004 results.
The group expected "further significant erosion of total cigarette consumption" in 2005, he added.

02/27/2005 01:25 GMT