<
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/12/philip-morris-lobbying-to-stop-who-attack-on-vapes-and-similar-products>
"Philip Morris International (PMI), the tobacco and vaping company behind
Marlboro cigarettes, is waging a big lobbying campaign to prevent countries
from cracking down on vapes and similar products as part of a global treaty, a
leaked email reveals.
The company, which has been increasingly focusing on smoke-free products as
governments tighten regulations on cigarettes, made $10.19bn (£8.3bn) in
revenues from products such as heated tobacco and electronic cigarettes in
2022.
In a message sent by the PMI’s senior vice-president of external affairs last
month and seen by the
Guardian, staff were told to find “any connection, any
lead, whether political or technical” before a meeting of delegates from 182
countries. He described the agenda for the meeting of the World Health
Organization as a “prohibitionist attack” on smoke-free products.
There is growing scrutiny of vaping products, with ministers in the UK taking
the first step towards banning candy-coloured disposable e-cigarettes in
England. A consultation has been launched on plans to crack down on vaping by
young people and ban smoking altogether, to create the first “smoke-free
generation”. The health secretary, Steve Barclay, said this month he was
concerned about figures that showed the number of children who vaped had
tripled in the past three years.
The WHO framework convention on tobacco control (FCTC), which takes place next
month in Panama, will discuss possible regulation, including taxation, on
smoke-free products.
In the email, PMI suggested it had seen the agenda for the convention, which
focused on smoke-free products. In 2016, the tobacco company announced a
transformation of its business away from cigarettes and set itself an objective
to replace them with heated tobacco products, e-vapour products and nicotine
pouches."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
