and most specifically in China (Werner, 2003). In fact, in China, because of the treaty, the biggest source of income for the government is in the tobacco tax. Cutting off access to tobacco completely means losing access to this funding. One of the options is double the tax charged on cigarettes. Studies in other countries show that while this does cut down on public consumption and the growing health problems brought along by smoking, it keeps the revenue, or tax income, the same. Tobacco companies, however, have made sure that entry into the World Trade Organizations depends on China cutting its Tobacco Tax in half. Werner sees this as a way of China becoming one more pawn in the global system currently in place.
There is no disputing the fact that millions of people have become addicted to smoking in this country as well as others and that this health hazard seems to have grown overnight. The tobacco industry has used its influence in gaining power in organizations such as the WTO in order to increase their business overseas. However, while the treaties being written to encourage globalization have basically bullied some countries into conforming to rules that are counter the country's own rules, there are also treaties being written to help keep industries in check so that they will not bully other countries into accepting standards that may endanger the people of any one country. The following will discuss opposing views to Werner's essay and look at counter-measures that are being used to balance out some WTO standards.
As Werner points out, using China as his main example, while governments may want to protect the interests of their people by, for example, limiting the tobacco that they consume, they also need to make sure that there is a healthy amount of income in the economy of the country and to help run the country (2003). Improving the economy in a country is one of the motivations for entering into the glo...