Memoranda of understanding: a tobacco industry strategy to undermine illicit tobacco trade policies

Abstract

ObjectiveAnalyse the transnational tobacco companies’ (TTCs) memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on illicit trade and how they could undermine the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (Protocol).MethodsReview of tobacco industry documents and websites, reports, news and media items using standard snowball search methods.ResultsFacing increasing pressure from governments and the FCTC to address illicit tobacco trade during the late 1990s, TTCs entered into voluntary partnerships embodied in MoUs with governments’ law enforcement and customs agencies. One of the earliest known MoUs was between Philip Morris International and Italy in 1999. TTCs agreed among themselves to establish MoUs individually but use the Italian MoU as a basis to establish similar connections with other governments to pre-empt more stringent regulation of illicit trade. TTCs report to have signed over 100 MoUs since 1999, and promote them on their websites, in Corporate Social Responsibility reports and in the media as important partnerships to combat illicit tobacco trade. There is no evidence to support TTCs’ claims that these MoUs reduce illicit trade. The terms of these MoUs are rarely made public. MoUs are non-transparent partnerships between government agencies and TTCs, violating FCTC Article 5.3 and the Protocol. MoUs are not legally binding so do not create an accountability system or penalties for non-compliance, rendering them ineffective at controlling illicit trade.ConclusionGovernments should reject TTC partnerships through MoUs and instead ratify and implement the FCTC and the Protocol to effectively address illicit trade in tobacco products.

Measuring the illicit cigarette market in Mexico: a cross validation of two methodologies

“…Building on this argument, the industry has often managed to present itself as an integral partner to the government in combating illicit trade. This tactic allows them to re-enter the policy arena, where, in theory and legally, they had been previously excluded via article 5.3 of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) 8 9. The industry has also been successful in getting media attention for its rhetoric and creating an echo chamber with tobacco companies and their front groups repeating similar, unsubstantiated claims about the illicit trade of cigarettes 10.…”

“…This tactic allows them to re-enter the policy arena, where, in theory and legally, they had been previously excluded via article 5.3 of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). 8 9 The industry has also been successful in getting media attention for its rhetoric and creating an echo chamber with tobacco companies and their front groups repeating similar, unsubstantiated claims about the illicit trade of cigarettes. 10 Industry efforts to disseminate and publicise claims about illicit trade both among policy-makers and the public serve largely to secure their interests and impede progress in tobacco control.…”

Tobacco supply and demand strategies used in African countries

“…Such documents have been signed by all four of the tobacco companies in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa, as well as by British American Tobacco and Phillip Morris in Ghana and by British American Tobacco in Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Mauritius and Zambia. 8 These memoranda of understanding have helped establish productive relations with governments and helped pre-empt more restrictive government regulations concerning illicit trade. 8 Such agreements, because of their lack of transparency and enforcement mechanisms, also undermine the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, which entered into force in 2018 and requires the establishment of a global tracking and tracing system, supply chain licensing and special investigative techniques.…”

The status of tobacco control in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: progress in the implementation of the MPOWER measures

“…Any efforts to improve tobacco control in the EMR must take into account the strong presence of the (multi-national and national) tobacco industry. Alliances between governments and the tobacco industry are clear (18). The industry is also exploiting the lack of stability that exists in many parts of the Region (19).…”