The U.S. government is backing away from its support for tobacco exports, but its a hard habit to break. The exquisitely appointed anterooms leading to the secretary of States office are a mix of 18th century antiques, crystal chandeliers, oil paintings of past envoys and carved moldings in the shape of tobacco leaves, blossoms and seed pods. It gives new meaning to the term tobacco lobby. The countrys major tobacco companies, working as a tobacco heritage committee, helped finance the transformation of what was a 60smodern reception area into seven elegant adjoining rooms, known collectively as the Treaty Room. Just inside one of the tealandcream colored rooms, a framed commemoration notes appreciatively the generous contributions of Philip Morris U.S.A., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., United States Tobacco Co., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Lorillard Inc., the American Tobacco Co., and Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co.

Website: http://www.afsa.org/