['MAR', '26', '°93', '@2:16PM', '914', 'S55o9974', 'The', 'U.S.', 'General', 'Accounting', 'Office', '(GAO)', 'issued', 'a', 'report', 'in', 'December,', '1992,', 'antitled,', '"International', 'Trade:', 'Advertising', '&', 'Promoting', 'U.5.', 'Cigarettes', 'in', 'Selected', 'Asian', 'Countries,"', 'The', 'GAO', 'is', 'the', 'investigative', 'arm', 'of', 'the', 'U.S.', 'Congress', 'which,', 'among', 'other', 'things,', 'examines', 'emerging', 'or', 'key', 'issues', 'under', 'consideration', 'by', 'Congress.', 'The', 'report', 'had', 'many', 'supporting', 'finds:', 'MARKETING', 'Cigarette', 'marketing', 'does', 'not', 'encourage', 'smoking', 'initiation;', '"GAO', 'could', 'not', 'determine', 'whether', 'specific', 'population', 'segments,', 'such', 'as', 'children', 'or', 'nonsmokers,', 'were', 'being', 'targeted', 'by', 'U.5,', 'cigarette', 'companies.', 'Cigarette', 'advertising', 'and', 'promotional', '.', 'activities', 'cannot', 'be', 'isolated', 'as', 'specific', 'factors', 'or', 'major', 'factors', 'encouraging', 'the', 'initiation', 'of', 'smoking."', '(Page', '7)', '"Several', 'scientific', 'studies', 'have', 'suggested', 'that', 'many', 'other', 'variables,', 'such', 'as', 'peer', 'pressure', 'and', 'parental', 'smoking,', 'may', 'also', 'influence', 'an', 'individual’s', 'decision', 'to', 'smoke,"', '(Page', '64)', 'GAO', 'finds', 'no', 'basis', 'for', '“targeting”', 'allegations:', '"', '|.', 'based', 'on', 'the', 'Limited', 'material', 'available', 'for', "GAO's", 'review,', 'GAO', 'was', 'unable', 'to', 'determine', 'whether', 'U.S..', 'cigarette', 'companies', 'intended', 'to', 'target', 'or', 'to', 'appeal', 'specifically', 'to', 'children', 'or', 'nonsmokers', 'through', 'their', 'advertising', 'and', 'promotional', 'campaigns."', '(Page', '3)', '"In', 'fact,', 'the', 'advertising', 'restrictions', 'In', 'the', 'reviewed', 'countries', '(including', 'industry', 'self-regulatory', 'codes)', 'usually', 'restrict', 'or', 'prohibit', '...', 'advertising', '(to', 'children)"', '(Page', '64)', 'U.S,', 'cigarette', 'companies', 'make', 'every', 'effort', 'to', 'stop', 'the', 'unauthorized', 'use', 'of', 'their', 'trademarks', 'and', 'logos,', 'especially', 'those', 'appealing', 'to', 'youth;', '"USCEA', 'told', 'us', 'that', 'in', 'carrying', 'out', 'the', 'previously', 'described', 'policies,', 'USCEA', 'companies', 'take', 'aggressive', 'action', 'to', 'stop', 'unauthorized', 'uses', 'of', 'goods,', 'in', 'general,', 'and', 'on', 'all', 'goods', 'that', 'may', 'be', 'purchased', 'by', 'or', 'for', 'children,', 'in', 'particular.', 'In', 'support', 'of', 'this', 'statement,', 'USCEA', 'said', 'that', 'USCEA', 'companies', 'estimate', 'the', 'number', 'of-', 'legal', 'actions', 'they', 'initiated', 'internationally', 'approximates', '542', 'cases', 'since', 'January', '1,', '1987.', 'In', 'the', 'Asian', 'countries', 'included', 'in', 'our', 'review,', 'USCEA', 'stated', 'that', 'tobacco', 'firms', 'have', 'initiated', '207', 'proceedings', 'since', 'January', '1,', '1987."', '(Page', '76)', 'TRADE', 'USTR', 'reaffirms', 'tobacco', "industry's", 'right', 'to', 'U.S.', 'government', 'assistance', 'in', 'gaining', 'market', 'access:', '"USTR', 'officials', 'told', 'us', 'that', 'as', 'long', 'as', 'cigarettes', 'remain', 'a', 'legal', 'commodity', 'in', 'the', 'United', 'States', 'and', 'abroad,', 'there', 'is', 'no', 'legal', 'basis', 'to', 'deny', 'cigarette', 'manufacturers', 'assistance', 'in', 'gaining', 'market', 'access,"(Page', '23)', 'The', 'U.S.', 'Department', 'of', 'Health', 'and', 'Human', 'Services', '(HHS)', 'agrees', 'with', 'the', 'USTR', 'that', 'U.S.', 'cigarettes', 'marketed', 'overseas', 'are', 'entitled', 'to', 'equal', ',', 'P45', '6S06862202', ' ', ' ', ' ']