🔗 Share this article

Critics have charged British American Tobacco with “utter hypocrisy” for opposing anti-smoking regulations in Africa which are already enforced in the UK.

African regulatory opposition

A letter obtained by media originating from the company’s subsidiary in Zambia to the nation's political leaders demands measures restricting tobacco advertising and sponsorship to be scrapped or postponed.

The corporation is pursuing amendments to a draft bill that include lowering the recommended coverage of visual health alerts on cigarette packaging, the withdrawal of controls on flavored smoking items, and diminished punishments for any companies violating the new laws.

Health advocate reaction

“If I was a politician, I would say that they enable the defense of the British people and continue the mortality of the Zambian people,” commented Master Chimbala.

More than 7,000 Zambians a year succumb to smoking-associated diseases, according to global health agency statistics.

Chimbala said the letter was understood to have been copied to various ministerial offices and was in distribution within civil society groups.

International corporate influence worries

It comes amid expanded apprehension about corporate intervention with health policies. Last month, international health experts issued a warning that the cigarette manufacturers was intensifying efforts to weaken global control measures.

“There is proof of industry lobbying globally. Tobacco company fingerprints are on postponed duty hikes in Indonesia, delayed regulations in Zambia and even a compromised resolution at the UN high-level meeting,” commented the tobacco industry watchdog.

Possible outcomes

“When public health regulation fails to be approved because of this letter, the cost might be borne in lives of people who might potentially stop smoking.”

The tobacco control bill being considered by Zambia’s parliament includes regulations surpassing UK legislation by extending coverage to e-cigarettes, and mandating that graphic health warnings cover 75% of product packaging.

Company alternative suggestions

Via documentation, BAT suggests this be lowered to thirty to fifty percent “according to global recommended threshold”, postponed for minimum twelve months after the legislation is approved.

Global health authorities actually suggests a caution must occupy at least fifty percent of the product container front “and attempt to encompass as much of the primary showing sections as possible”. Across the United Kingdom, warnings need to encompass nearly two-thirds of a packet’s front and back.

Flavored tobacco discussion

The company seeks the withdrawal of extensive controls on flavoured tobacco products, claiming that it would lead smokers to “black market” products. It suggests prohibiting a smaller list of “tastes inspired by desserts, candy, energy drinks, soft drinks and alcohol drinks”. Each flavored smoking item have been outlawed across the UK since 2020.

The draft bill suggests penalties for different infractions “extending from a percentage of annual turnover to 10 years’ imprisonment”.

Corporate defense

In the letter, the corporate leader of British American Tobacco Zambia states the company is dedicated to good corporate behaviour” and “supports the objectives of governments to lower tobacco use and the associated health impact” but asserts that “some regulations can have undesirable and unforeseen outcomes.”

Critic response

Chimbala said the company's suggested modifications would “undermine this law so much that the necessary effect for it to cause long-term change in society will not be achieved”.

The circumstance that many such provisions existed in the UK, where the corporation is based, was “utter hypocrisy itself”, he said.

“We reside in a global village. Should I grow cigarettes in my back yard and gather the crop and sell it out – and my family members avoid tobacco, but my neighbor's family uses … to enrich myself and all the subsequent offspring while my community's youth are succumbing … is in itself total emotional failure.”

Tobacco control legislation in the United Kingdom or other countries had not resulted in corporate closures, Chimbala said. “Laws don't eliminate the industry. They merely safeguard the people.”

Formal company response

The corporate communicator commented: “The company operates its business in compliance with applicable local laws. Moreover, the corporation engages in the nation's lawmaking procedures in line with the appropriate structures which provide for stakeholder participation in regulation development.”

The company was “not opposed to regulation”, they said, noting that minors should be safeguarded against obtaining cigarettes and nicotine.

“We champion progressive regulation to realize planned population health targets, while recognizing the range of rights and obligations on businesses, users and involved parties,” the representative explained, mentioning that the corporation's recommendations “mirror the circumstances of the local commercial environment and smoking product business, which includes increasing amounts of illegal commerce”.

The nation's ministry of business, commercial affairs and industrial development was contacted for response.