Letters: Trade pact could help fight tobacco epidemic

If countries don’t take action to curb the tobacco epidemic, tobacco could kill one billion people this century.

The United States and many other countries have used tobacco-control measures such as smoke-free laws, tobacco taxes and marketing restrictions to protect kids and reduce tobacco-related disease and death.

However, the tobacco industry has been using trade agreements to sue these governments to keep the laws from taking effect and discourage other countries from adopting such policies.

To stop this practice, the United States and 11 Pacific Rim nations negotiated a provision in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade and investment agreement, which prohibits tobacco companies from using the agreement to challenge current or future tobacco-control measures. Congress must approve the the partnership for this provision to take effect.

By approving the agreement, Congress would have an opportunity to prevent tobacco use and save lives worldwide rather than promoting the interests of the tobacco industry. I urge Rep. Jim Clyburn to think globally about protecting kids by voting in favor of the agreement.