The US contribution has been entirely negative

Clive Bates, Action on Smoking and Health

The World Health Organization, which is sponsoring the treaty, hopes it will slow the increase in tobacco-related deaths, expected to rise from 4m to 10m in the next 30 years.

But week-long negotiations on the content of the treaty ended on Friday without a satisfactory agreement being reached.

Government negotiators will meet again in the autumn to try to find a solution acceptable to all sides.

But Clive Bates, director of the UK anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) said it would be best if the US pulled out of the negotiations entirely.

He said: "The US contribution has been entirely negative - weakening, delaying and deleting anything that might have substance.

"It's very unlikely that the United States will ever ratify a tobacco treaty, so why shape it around what they want?

"It would be best if the US delegation goes home from Geneva, adopts its increasingly familiar ostrich stance and stays out altogether."

Slow progress

Celso Amorim, chairman of the talks, said there had been no progress during the Geneva meeting.

He said governments had focussed on adding their comments to a draft text rather than actually negotiating.

Mr Amorim, a diplomat from Brazil, said he would now incorporate all the observations into a new text.

He said he was still hopeful that the treaty might come into force as planned by 2003.

He said: "It's very important that we keep the target date as it's a matter of urgency. It has to do with people's health and it can't be postponed."

But anti-smoking activists said some countries were putting tobacco company interests before health.

Ricardo Navarro, of the Network for Accountability for Tobacco Transnationals, said: "We are concerned that the United States and Japan are adopting positions which would clearly benefit the tobacco companies."

US officials denied charges that Washington wanted to weaken the treaty.

Delegation chief Tom Novotny said: "The administration feels strongly focussed on public health - especially prevention in kids and stopping smuggling."

But Vince Willmore, of the US-based Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, said the US delegation was trying to weaken a variety of provisions including:

• a proposed ban on labelling claims like low-tar, light and mild
• an end to duty-free sales
• a ban on smoking in public places like discotheques