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Key Points

• The Philippines is an island nation in Southeast Asia consisting of over 7,000 individual islands. It is part of the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific Region.
• Its population was 115.6 million as of 2022. The previous year, adult tobacco use prevalence was 19.5%.
• The Philippines ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005. It has not signed the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.
• PMFTC Inc. – a joint venture between Philip Morris International and the Fortune Tobacco Corporation, the tobacco business of local conglomerate LT Group – has the largest share of the Philippine cigarette market. Japan Tobacco International accounts for most other sales.
• Recent tobacco industry tactics in the Philippines include attempting to influence the committee responsible for overseeing tobacco control in the country; corporate social responsibility, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic; and establishing relationships with public officials, including at the very top of government.

The Philippines has made some progress on tobacco control, especially since the introduction of the reforms known as the Sin Taxes in 2013. These both greatly simplified tax structures and significantly increased excise on tobacco and alcohol products, with a substantial share of the new revenue being channelled into universal healthcare.¹ Tobacco use prevalence, which stood at 29.7% in 2009, had fallen to 23.8% by 2015, and again to 19.5% by 2021.²³ However, rising incomes and subsequent smaller increases in tobacco taxes have made cigarettes more affordable, slowing further progress.⁴ Other challenges include an illicit tobacco market larger than the global average;⁵ the growing popularity of newer nicotine and tobacco products (particularly e-cigarettes) amongst young people;⁶ and ongoing tobacco industry presence on the inter-agency committee responsible for implementing tobacco control regulation in the country.⁷ Philippine domestic law continues to fall short of what is required by the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) across a number of areas.⁸

Tobacco Use in the Philippines

In 2022, the population of the Philippines was 115.6 million.⁹ According to the 2021 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), tobacco use prevalence amongst Filipino adults was 19.5%.³ Prevalence is much higher amongst males (nearly 35%) than females (just over 4%).³ Amongst adolescents aged between 13 and 15, 12.5% were using some form of tobacco in 2019.¹⁰ Again, prevalence for males (over 18%) is higher than for females (nearly 7%).¹⁰

In the 2021 GATS, just over 2% of Filipino adults reported current use of e-cigarettes (3.6% males; 0.5% females).³ However, use of e-cigarettes is considerably higher amongst youth. In the 2019 Global Youth Tobacco Survey, the corresponding figure was over 14% – higher than for conventional cigarettes (10%).¹⁰ More than 20% of boys aged between 13 and 15 reported using e-cigarettes, compared to 7.5% of girls.¹⁰ Smokeless tobacco use in the Philippines also appears to be greater amongst the young: in 2019, 3% of young people reported current smokeless tobacco use, compared to 1.5% of adults in 2021.¹⁰³

There were an estimated 95,600 deaths attributable to tobacco use in 2019, accounting for nearly 15% of all mortality in the Philippines that year.¹¹ According to a 2018 study, the economic burden of tobacco use in the Philippines in 2012 was just under PHP₱270 billion (US$15.1 billion according to the purchasing power parity exchange rate) – equivalent to 2.5% of national GDP. This includes both direct costs resulting from tobacco use (e.g., hospitalisations and medication) as well as indirect costs (reduced productivity due to disability and mortality). The same study found that diseases attributable to tobacco use accounted for nearly 5% of total health expenditure.¹²

Tobacco in the Philippines

Market share and leading brands

PMFTC Inc. (PMFTC) dominates the Philippine cigarette market, with a market share of around 61% in 2022.¹³ PMFTC is a joint venture between Philip Morris International (PMI) and the Fortune Tobacco Corporation, the tobacco business of local conglomerate LT Group.¹⁴

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has a market share of 38%, thanks to its 2017 acquisition of local company Mighty Corporation.¹³¹⁵ Together, PMFTC and JTI account for virtually all of the licit cigarette sales in the country.¹³

PMI’s flagship brand Marlboro is the most popular brand of cigarette, with a share of nearly 33% in 2022. In second place is another PMFTC brand, Fortune International, with a share of nearly 17%. JTI’s Winston is third, with a market share of around 14%. All other brands have market shares of less than 10%.¹⁶

• For more information on the tobacco industry in the Philippines, please see the Tobacco Supply Chain Database.

At nearly 23%, the Philippines has one of the largest market shares for menthol cigarettes in the world.¹⁷¹⁸ Menthol cigarettes have been marketed in the Philippines since at least the 1970s, including in campaigns targeting young women.¹⁹ In more recent times, the menthol market share has increased year on year since 2014. Similarly, though the market for flavour capsule cigarettes is much smaller than for menthol, it has also been growing steadily, with yearly increases since 2015.¹⁷ These products are often more attractive to youth and young adults than conventional cigarettes; menthol in particular is associated with increased smoking initiation.¹⁸

• For more information, please see the page on Flavoured and Menthol Tobacco in LMICs.

Tobacco farming and child labour

Since the early 1960s, tobacco production in the Philippines has remained roughly stable, at between 40,000 and 70,000 tonnes a year. However, between 1981 and 1993 it increased to between 74,000 and 118,000 tonnes. Conversely, between 2006 and 2009 it dipped below 40,000, to a low of 32,000 tonnes in 2008.²⁰

Figure 1: Tobacco production, 1961 to 2021.²⁰ Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization/Our World in Data | CC BY

Research has demonstrated that tobacco growing is not a profitable enterprise for most farmers. Despite this, farmers continue to grow tobacco due to a belief in its profitability and the reliability of the tobacco market; its perceived resilience to bad weather compared to other crops; and, in particular, access to credit.²¹ Filipino farmers interviewed for a study published in 2019 stated that tobacco farming allowed them to take out loans to which they would not have had access had they been growing other crops. Loans were also used to cover non-agricultural expenses such as school fees, buying food, and paying off other loans.²¹

As part of the Sin Tax reforms, 15% of the revenue collected from tobacco taxes is allocated to tobacco-growing communities to promote economically viable alternatives.²² However, this remains a challenge. Farmers have cited lack of capital, difficulties accessing credit, an absence of technical support and a perceived lack of markets for other crops as reasons for not transitioning away from tobacco.²¹

Tobacco is also one of 13 commodities produced in the Philippines which feature on the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2022 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor.²³ However, comprehensive and up-to-date information on child labour in Philippine tobacco farming is not available.

Tobacco and the economy

The Philippines is a net importer of raw tobacco, importing about US$243 million of raw tobacco in 2022, compared to exports of around US$184 million.²⁴²⁵ However, the country is a net exporter of cigarettes, with exports in the same year of over US$232 million, compared to about US$22.6 million in imports.²⁶²⁷

Illicit trade

Illicit tobacco was estimated to form around 16% of the market in the Philippines in 2018.⁵ Though this is above the likely global average of 11 to 12%, it has changed little since 1998.⁵²⁸ Though industry-funded studies found significant increases in the Philippine illicit tobacco trade following the introduction of the Sin Taxes in 2013, there is no independent evidence to support this.⁵

Tobacco and the environment

The WHO reports that curing in tobacco agriculture is a leading cause of demand for wood from native forests in the Philippines.²⁹

Farmers cultivating the native batek variety of tobacco in the southern Philippines have been documented as using several toxic agrochemicals to control pests. These include some listed as hazardous by the WHO, such as cypermethrin and methomyl.³⁰

It has been estimated that between 30 and 50 billion cigarette butts are littered every year in the Philippines – 12.5 million on the resort island of Boracay alone.³¹ Boracay was closed for six months in 2018 for environmental rehabilitation, resulting in billions in lost revenues for both government and the private sector.³¹³²

• For more information on the tobacco industry’s environmental impact, please see Tobacco and the Environment and the long read on Plastics, the Environment and the Tobacco Industry.

Roadmap to Tobacco Control

The Philippines ratified the WHO FCTC in 2005 and the treaty entered into force later that year.³³³⁴ WHO FCTC ratification was a catalyst for strengthening tobacco control laws in the country and reducing industry influence on policy.³⁴ However, the Philippines is not a party to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.³⁵

The Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 (RA 9211) is the country’s main tobacco control law, covering areas such as smoking in public places; tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and sales restrictions. Subsequent legislation built on the 2003 law, introducing further regulation on issues such as designated smoking areas, advertising and the packaging and labelling of tobacco products.³⁶

However, given that RA 9211 was enacted just three months before the Philippines signed the WHO FCTC, Filipino tobacco control advocates have argued that the law was both timed and designed to pre-empt the Convention. This has resulted in tobacco control regulations which, nearly 20 years later, still fall some way short of WHO FCTC requirements.⁷³⁷ Designated smoking areas are still permitted in indoor offices and workplaces; restaurants; and cafés, pubs and bars. Restrictions on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship remain incomplete. And at 50.6% of the retail value of the most popular brand of cigarettes, tobacco taxation is significantly below the 75% threshold recommended by the WHO.⁸

The tobacco industry, led by the Philippine Tobacco Institute (PTI), has also used RA 9211 as justification for delaying the introduction of more WHO FCTC-compliant measures (such as graphic health warnings), arguing that such measures contravene existing Philippine law.³⁷³⁸

In August 2020, the joint House Committees on Trade and Industry and on Health approved a bill regulating manufacture, sale and use of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs).³⁹ This bill reversed an earlier decision to raise the purchase age from 18 to 21 and restrict flavourings to tobacco and plain menthol. It also shifted responsibility for regulation of these products from the Food and Drug Administration to the Department of Trade and Industry. Eight days after the bill was approved, the first of four stores dedicated to PMI’s flagship HTP IQOS opened for business.⁴⁰

This bill was a precursor to the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act, which eventually became law in July 2022. E-cigarettes in hundreds of different flavours reportedly flooded the Philippine market in the months following the passage of the law.⁴¹ Leading Filipino tobacco control advocates argue that the law has undermined recent gains in tobacco control.⁴⁰

For more details, please see the following websites:

• Legislation by country/Jurisdiction – Philippines, Tobacco Control Laws, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids
• Philippines, WHO FCTC Implementation Database, WHO FCTC Secretariat
• Country profile – Philippines, World Health Organization, WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2023

Tobacco Industry Interference in the Philippines

Recent tobacco industry tactics in the Philippines include attempting to influence the committee responsible for overseeing tobacco control in the country; corporate social responsibility, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic; and attempts to influence policy, including by establishing relationships at the very top of government.

Conflict of interest

The Philippines’ main tobacco control law, RA 9211, requires the government to implement a “balanced policy”, given that:

“It is the policy of the State to protect the populace from hazardous products and promote the right to health and instill health consciousness among them. It is also the policy of the State, consistent with the Constitutional ideal to promote the general welfare, to safeguard the interests of the workers and other stakeholders in the tobacco industry.”⁴²

However, the first principle of the implementation guidelines for Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC states that “There is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry’s interests and public health policy interests.”⁴³ Any requirement for “balance” can only therefore hinder progress on tobacco control and undermine public health.

This may be seen in the composition of the Interagency Committee on Tobacco (IAC-T), a multisectoral body established by RA 9211 responsible for overseeing implementation of the legislation.⁴² One seat on the IAC-T is reserved for the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) – a government agency that sits within the Department of Agriculture – which has a mandate to “Promote the balanced and integrated growth and development of the tobacco industry to help make agriculture a solid base for industrialization.”⁴⁴

Another seat is reserved for a representative of the tobacco industry, specifically the Philippine Tobacco Institute (PTI), an association whose members over the years have included PMFTC and JTI, among others.^42454647 The PTI has a long history of undermining tobacco control measures, including successfully managing to reduce the size of graphic health warnings on tobacco products, opposing tobacco tax reforms and litigating over tobacco control regulations against public bodies such as the City of Balanga and the Department of Health.⁴⁶⁴⁸⁴⁹

Tobacco control advocates have called repeatedly for the removal of the PTI from the IAC-T, citing conflict of interest and alleging that it uses its position to actively weaken tobacco control policies.⁴⁶⁵⁰⁵¹ The WHO has supported this position, stating that the composition of the Philippine IAC-T “is blatantly in conflict with WHO FCTC Article 5.3”, which requires parties to protect their public health policies against the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.⁵²

Corporate social responsibility

As of 2023, there was still no ban on tobacco industry corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Philippines.⁸ The tobacco industry has taken advantage of this shortcoming to try to enhance its reputation and influence both policy makers and the general public.

From 2017 to 2021, PMI spent nearly US$38 million on CSR in the Philippines. Nearly US$31 million of this total was spent in 2020 and 2021 alone.⁵³ Much of this funding is channelled through the Jaime V. Ongpin Foundation (JVOFI), a development NGO and partner of “Embrace”, PMFTC’s CSR programme.⁵³⁵⁴ During 2020, in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, JVOFI distributed ambulances, ventilators, PCR machines for COVID-19 testing, personal protective equipment, food supplies and rapid test kits throughout the country.⁵⁴

PMI was far from the only tobacco industry player carrying out this kind of work: by mid-April 2020, the LT Group – PMI’s partner in joint venture PMFTC – had spent PHP₱200 million (around US$4 million) on COVID-19 assistance.⁵⁴ The LT Group implements such initiatives in the Philippines via its CSR arm, the Tan Yan Kee Foundation.⁵⁵ Also in April 2020, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) donated 20,000 face masks to hospitals in the province of Batangas, where its manufacturing facilities are located.⁵⁴

An investigation published by the media and business intelligence organisation Eco-Business in 2021 revealed that a number of congressional representatives were involved in the distribution of COVID-19 relief donated by the tobacco industry and its associates.⁴⁰ These donations also coincided with several debates in Congress which addressed regulation for newer nicotine and tobacco products (see section “Roadmap to Tobacco Control”).⁴⁰³⁷

Both PMI and JTI also lobbied the Philippine Ministry of Finance for permission to continue their operations as normal during lockdown, though cigarettes were not considered to be an essential item.⁵⁴ In an April 2020 press release, JTI argued that lockdown restrictions were forcing smokers to buy illicit tobacco; were resulting in lower tax revenues for government; and were harming retailers, especially small and family-run businesses.⁵⁶ Restrictions on the transport and delivery of tobacco products were subsequently lifted.⁵⁷

This shows how industry arguments around the illicit trade were accepted by Filipino policy makers, allowing tobacco companies to operate even during an outbreak of a lethal respiratory disease to which smokers are more vulnerable.⁵⁸

• For more on tobacco industry activity during the pandemic, please see the COVID-19 Tobacco Tactics page and the COVID-19 monitoring database.

Unnecessary interaction with high level officials

Hailing from the Ilocos region, where tobacco is a major cash crop, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has met with PMI at least twice since becoming president in June 2022.⁴¹⁵⁹ The most recent of these meetings was a lunch he and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos hosted for PMI executives – including CEO Jacek Olczak – at the Malacañang Palace in November 2022, the first time a company CEO has been received at the Philippine presidential palace. Also present were PMFTC president Denis Gorkun and LT Group CEO Lucio Tan III.⁴¹

PMFTC’s director for global communications stated that the aim of the meeting was to outline the company’s plan “to expand our economic footprint in the Philippines.”⁴¹ PMI is reportedly investing US$150 million in the expansion of a manufacturing plant in Tanauan, Batangas. The new wing of the factory is to be used for the production of BLENDS, tobacco sticks used exclusively in PMI’s BONDS, a more affordable version of its flagship HTP IQOS.⁴¹

In 2012, the then Senator Marcos was photographed during a Senate debate on the Sin Taxes speaking to a lawyer representing PMFTC.⁶⁰⁶¹

Relevant Links

• The Toll of Tobacco in the Philippines, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, 2023
• Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2022: The Philippine Report on the Implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, HealthJustice, 2023
• Global Adult Tobacco Survey, Fact Sheet, Philippines 2021, Republic of the Philippines Department of Health, Philippine Statistics Authority, WHO Philippines et al
• Global Youth Tobacco Survey, Fact Sheet, Philippines 2019, Republic of the Philippines Department of Health, Epidemiology Bureau, WHO Western Pacific Region et al
• Tobacco Industry Monitor – Philippines, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance, 2024

Tobacco Tactics Resources

• Flavoured and Menthol Tobacco in LMICs

References

The post Philippines Country Profile appeared first on TobaccoTactics.

Image source: Luis Barrios/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Key Points

• Mexico is a country in North America, covered by the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for the Americas.
• It has a population of over 127.5 million with current smoking prevalence of 19% amongst the population aged 20 and over.
• Mexico ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2004. It has not joined the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.
• The Mexican tobacco market is dominated by the big transnational tobacco companies, particularly Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco.
• Recent tobacco industry tactics in Mexico include the use of third parties; the targeting of youth with marketing for newer nicotine and tobacco products, particularly on social media; and corporate social responsibility, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mexico significantly reduced smoking prevalence between 2002-2009, in the years around ratification of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).⁶²⁶³⁶⁴ However, between 2009 and 2016 there was no further progress. This may be explained by ongoing industry interference, such as on price and tax; the introduction and rapid growth of flavour capsule cigarettes; as well as challenges involved with implementation of Mexico’s main tobacco control law.⁶⁴⁶⁵ In more recent years, Mexico has redoubled its efforts, passing a major amendment to its tobacco control law in 2021 which significantly increased compliance with the WHO FCTC.⁶⁶ Mexico now has some of the most comprehensive tobacco control regulation in the world.⁶⁶⁶⁷

Tobacco Use in Mexico

In 2022, the population of Mexico was over 127.5 million.⁶⁸ According to the 2021 National Health and Nutrition Survey on COVID-19 (ENSANUT), prevalence of current smoking in the Mexican population aged 20 and over was just over 19%. There is significant difference between males and females, with nearly 30% of men reporting current smoking compared to around 9% of women. Prevalence of current smoking amongst Mexican youth aged from 10 to 19 was less than 5%, with 7.5% of males in this age range smoking compared to less than 2% of females.⁶⁹

There were an estimated 48,400 deaths attributable to smoking in 2019, accounting for 6.6% of all mortality in Mexico that year.⁷⁰ A study published in 2021 estimated the total cost of tobacco use to the Mexican economy at US$8.2 billion per year. US$5.1 billion is spent on treating diseases associated with tobacco use – equivalent to 9.3% of the annual health budget. The US$1.9 billion that Mexico receives in revenue from the tobacco industry covers just 38% of the burden of tobacco use.⁷¹

Since 2008, Mexico has prohibited sale, distribution and promotion of any product that resembles a cigarette, which has been applied to e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (see section “Roadmap to Tobacco Control”).⁷²⁷³ Even so, in the 2021 ENSANUT survey, current use of e-cigarette by adults aged 20 and over was 1.6% (2.5% for males; 0.7% for females). Amongst youth aged 10 to 19, prevalence was slightly higher, at 1.8% (2.4% for males; 1.1% for females).⁶⁹ A 2022 survey by the National Commission Against Addictions estimated that five million Mexicans between the ages of 12 and 65 had used e-cigarettes at some point, with 975,000 being current users.⁷⁴

Tobacco in Mexico

Market share and leading brands

In 2022, market research company Euromonitor International estimated the Mexican tobacco market to be worth nearly 89 billion Mexican pesos (US$4.5 billion), mostly accounted for by cigarette sales.⁷⁵ The market is dominated by the big transnational tobacco companies (TTCs), particularly Philip Morris International (PMI) and British American Tobacco (BAT), and to a much lesser extent Japan Tobacco International (JTI). Between them, these three companies accounted for virtually all legal cigarette sales in 2022. PMI is the market leader with just over 60%, followed by BAT with just under 36%. JTI’s share was 4%.¹³

As of 2022, the top six brands in Mexico were all manufactured by either PMI or BAT. By far the most popular cigarette was PMI’s premium brand Marlboro, with a market share of over 48%. This was followed by BAT’s mid-range cigarette Pall Mall, with under 22%. All other brands had a share of less than 10%.⁷⁶

• For more information on the tobacco industry in Mexico, see the Tobacco Supply Chain Database.

The use of flavour capsule cigarettes is particularly high in several Latin American countries, including Mexico, where their share of the market has risen year on year since 2012.⁷⁷ Although they were only introduced in 2011, flavour capsule cigarettes accounted for nearly 28% of the cigarette market in 2022 – amongst the highest proportions in the world.⁶⁴⁷⁸ Research has shown that flavour capsules increase the appeal of cigarettes and stimulate a desire to try them, particularly amongst young people.⁷⁸⁷⁹

• For more information, see Flavoured and Menthol Tobacco in LMICs.

Tobacco farming and child labour

Tobacco growing in Mexico has fallen considerably since 1980, when it produced nearly 94,000 tonnes of leaf, to under 7,000 tonnes in 2010 (see Figure 1). However, in 2010 production started to increase again, rising to over 15,000 tonnes by 2012, since when the figure has remained roughly stable.²⁰

Figure 1: Mexican tobacco production, 1961 to 2020.⁸⁰ Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization/Our World in Data | CC BY

Similarly, in 1980 the harvested area was 42,000 hectares, falling to 4,000 hectares in 2010, but up to 7,000 in 2020.²⁰

A series of exposés in the 1990s revealed widespread use of child labour on Mexico tobacco farms, as well as the use of banned agrochemicals and poor living and working conditions for tobacco pickers. While the industry claims much has changed since then, an investigation by The Guardian in 2018 found children working on seven out of the ten farms the report visited in the state of Nayarit, Mexico’s main tobacco growing region. The farms featured in the investigation were supplying PMI, BAT and Universal Leaf Tobacco.⁸¹

• For information on tobacco industry responses to accusations of complicity in child labour, please see the pages on CSR: Child Labour and the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco-Growing Foundation (ECLT).

Tobacco and the economy

Mexico is a net exporter both of tobacco leaf and cigarettes. According to UN Comtrade, it exported approximately US$7.1 million in raw tobacco in 2022, compared to around US$2.4 million in imports.⁸²⁸³

A 2021 report on the impacts of tobacco tax, published by the Center of Research on Food and Development (CIAD), which bases its calculations on the Secretariat of Economy’s Online Tariff Information System, puts the figure for cigarette exports in 2019 at close to US$180 million, compared to imports of over $10 million.⁸⁴ This corresponds to customs data from Descartes Datamyne, which put cigarette exports for 2020 at over $168 million, compared to imports of US$10.7 million.⁸⁵ However, the Comtrade figure for cigarette exports in 2020 is much lower.⁸⁶ No import data is available on Comtrade for that year.

According to the CIAD report, seventy per cent of Mexican cigarette exports served the Canadian market, 15% the Colombian market, and 11% Central American markets.⁸⁴ Customs data also indicates these are the main export destinations for cigarettes manufactured in Mexico.⁸⁵

The CIAD report also states that the tobacco industry is a relatively small sector of the Mexican economy, employing just 0.1% of the national workforce in 2018.⁸⁴

Illicit trade

In a 2021 study which measured the Mexican illicit tobacco trade using two methodologies, illicit cigarettes accounted for 8.8% of total consumption based on an analysis of discarded packs, and 7.6% based on a survey of smokers. Both results are significantly lower than the figure of 16.6% which is widely publicised by the tobacco industry.⁸⁷ While the figures obtained via both methodologies represent an increase from previous estimates of illicit cigarette consumption – 0.5% in 2009 and 2.7% in 2015 – they are lower than the global average and lower than the figure for other countries in Latin America such as Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.⁸⁸⁸⁹ A previous study also found wide geographical variation across the country: for example, in Hermosillo, Sonora, just 0.3% of total cigarette consumption was illicit, while in León, Guanajato, the figure was as high as 27.5%.⁸⁸

There is also an illegal e-cigarette market. Between January 2021 and June 2022, Mexican authorities seized over 60,000 devices, suspending the activities of nearly 180 retail outlets.⁹⁰

Tobacco and the environment

Mexico produces around 40 billion cigarettes annually. This consumes between 109 and 205 billion litres of water and between 73 and 114 million kilowatts of energy. It also generates CO₂ emissions of between 20,000 and 29,000 tonnes. Around 55 million cigarette butts are discarded every day in Mexico, at an estimated cost of close to US$140 million annually.⁹¹

• For more information, please see the page on Tobacco and the Environment and the long read on Plastics, the Environment and the Tobacco Industry.

Roadmap to Tobacco Control

Mexico was the first country in the Americas to ratify the WHO FCTC in 2004.⁶³ However, it has not joined the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.⁹²

In 2008, The General Law on Tobacco Control came into force, containing most of the provisions established in the WHO FCTC.⁹³ However, it left some significant loopholes. While smoking was completely prohibited indoors in primary and secondary schools, and in federal government facilities, workplaces and other buildings with public access were permitted to provide designated smoking areas. Similarly, the law banned most forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, but made an exception in cases where it was aimed exclusively at adults.⁹⁴ Some stricter regulation was introduced at subnational level. For example, Mexico City passed its own 100% smokefree law in February 2008 and in the following years 14 states followed suit.⁹⁵⁹⁶

In 2021, the Mexican Senate unanimously approved a key amendment to the 2008 General Law, which banned smoking in all enclosed public spaces and workplaces, as well as banning all forms of tobacco advertising.⁶⁶ A further update, which came into force in January 2023, extended smoke-free legislation even to open-air environments where there may be public gatherings, such as parks, beaches and restaurant terraces. It also bans the display of tobacco products in all retail outlets.⁶⁷⁹⁷⁹⁸ With these two measures, Mexico made important progress towards full compliance with the WHO FCTC.⁶⁶

Mexico has taken a tough stance on newer nicotine and tobacco products. Since 2008, there has been a ban on any product that resembles a cigarette.^99100101 Regulators have applied this law to e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs), but it has been contested by both retailers and tobacco companies.⁷²⁹⁹ In 2020, the government banned imports of e-cigarettes and HTPs, bringing customs law into line with existing health regulations.¹⁰² Though a decree published by the Secretariat of Economy in July 2021 created an exception for HTPs, this was reversed by a new presidential decree in October of the same year.¹⁰³¹⁰⁴

Finally, on World No Tobacco Day in May 2022, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador signed a decree imposing a total ban on “circulation and marketing” of e-cigarettes and HTPs. This effectively makes the import and sale of these products illegal in Mexico.⁹⁹¹⁰⁵

For more details, please see the following websites:

• Legislation by country – Mexico, Tobacco Control Laws, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids
• Mexico, WHO FCTC implementation database, WHO FCTC Secretariat
• Country Profile – Mexico, World Health Organization, WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2023

Tobacco Industry Interference in Mexico

Tobacco industry tactics in Mexico include the use of third parties; the targeting of youth with marketing for newer nicotine and tobacco products, particularly on social media; and corporate social responsibility, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Use of third parties

Tobacco companies often lobby via industry and trade associations, think tanks, front groups and other third parties, including public relations (PR) companies and professional lobbyists.

In Mexico, the Confederación Patronal de la República Mexicana (COPARMEX) is an employers’ union, which brings together businesses of all sizes and from all sectors.¹⁰⁶ In 2021, Philip Morris International (PMI) listed COPARMEX as one of the business and trade organisations in which it held a leadership role.¹⁰⁷

In May 2022, Mexico held a public consultation on an update to its revised tobacco control law, regarding proposals to completely ban the display of tobacco products at points of sale, and to further restrict designated smoking areas to limited open-air environments.⁹⁷ COPARMEX’s submission to the consultation argued that cost of implementing these measures would be high and adversely impact the owners of small businesses; that the proposals violated the right to free trade; and that they would fuel the growth of the illicit trade.¹⁰⁸

The National Tobacco Industry Council (CONAINTA) – of which PMI, BAT and JTI are all members – also opposed these measures, arguing that they would have a negative impact on the national economy, including on tobacco growing communities; that they violated consumer rights; and that they would endanger jobs and investment.¹⁰⁹ In 2023, the president of CONAINTA warned that there would be a “storm” of legal appeals against the updated tobacco control law.¹¹⁰

Controversial marketing: targeting youth

The tobacco industry has long seen young people as a vital target market; tobacco use generally starts in adolescence. According to the 2016-7 National Survey of Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco Consumption, the average age of initiation for daily tobacco consumption in Mexico was less than 20 years old.¹¹¹

Mexican media have documented tobacco companies targeting young people with marketing for newer nicotine and tobacco products via social media. From around 2018, industry hashtags – such as #FuturoSinHumo (“#SmokeFreeFuture”) and #EligeElCambio (“#ChooseChange” – both PMI) and #vypefriends and #govype (both BAT) began to appear on posts by popular Mexican actors, influencers, comedians and others.¹¹²¹¹³ Products such as PMI’s HTP IQOS and BAT’s e-cigarette Vype (since rebranded as Vuse) featured visibly in this content, though often company sponsorship was not made explicit.¹¹²

Even before the General Law on Tobacco Control was amended in late 2021, it prohibited tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship in all but three circumstances: in adult magazines, in adult-only establishments, or in personal correspondence to adults via post. It also specifically prohibited the online marketing of tobacco products.⁹⁴ According to a lawyer at the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, “these products must comply with the General Law on Tobacco Control, which clearly establishes a near-total ban on this publicity.”¹¹²

A 2022 study on exposure to e-cigarette advertising and the social acceptability of e-cigarette use in Mexico identified online advertising as one of the channels of exposure most significantly associated with a higher likelihood of perceiving e-cigarettes as socially acceptable.¹¹⁴ According to a researcher at the National Institute of Public Health – one of the authors of the study – the industry’s aim is the “renormalization” of nicotine consumption amongst young people.¹¹²

• See also the page on PMI’s Futuro Sin Humo campaign.

The tobacco industry has also sponsored motorsports in Mexico. In the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix, held in October, the McLaren cars displayed BAT’s Vuse branding – in an apparent violation of the comprehensive ban on e-cigarettes brought in just months beforehand.¹¹⁵ Motorsport sponsorship is a longstanding and well-documented promotional strategy aimed at young people, particularly boys and young men.¹¹⁶

Corporate social responsibility

Tobacco companies often use corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to enhance their public image and corporate reputation.

In 2018, PMI’s local subsidiary Philip Morris México (PMM) set up a partnership with a local start-up, Eco Filter, which uses biotechnology to recycle cigarette butts.¹¹²¹¹⁷ This partnership involves clean-up and collection initiatives which target young people, with events taking place at concerts, parks and universities. Eco Filter also delivers presentations to young people in which it displays PMI logos, and has used the social media hashtag and PMI slogan #FuturoSinHumo.¹¹²¹¹⁸ Eco Filter states that it does not promote PMI’s products or encourage nicotine consumption amongst young people.¹¹²

In 2021, Eco Filter opened a new factory in Guadalajara, Jalisco, with support from PMM.¹¹⁷¹¹⁹ It will process waste from PMM’s manufacturing facility near Guadalajara, as well as cigarette butts from the street.¹²⁰¹²¹

• See also Cigarette Filters.

Both PMI and BAT carried out extensive corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, PMI donated electric beds, vital signs monitors and ventilators to a hospital in Guadalajara. PMI also donated money for personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare professionals, and meals to a public welfare institution.¹²² BAT joined a programme called UNIR y DAR (“UNITE and GIVE”) with other local companies in Nuevo León, where BAT México is headquartered. As part of an initiative called #RespiraNL, these companies made donations for PPE.¹²³ BAT also provided food supplies in Guadalupe, Nuevo León.¹²⁴

There are also CSR initiatives on child labour in Mexico. For example, since 2001 BAT has run a programme called “Florece” (meaning “Blossom” or “Flourish” in English), which provides day centres for the children of workers in the tobacco fields of Nayarit.¹²⁵¹²⁶

• For more on tobacco industry activity during the pandemic, please see the COVID-19 Tobacco Tactics page and the COVID-19 monitoring database.

Relevant Links

• III Índice Regional de Interferencia de la Industria Tabacalera en países de América Latina y el Caribe 2023, Corporate Accountability, Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control
• Mexico – Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2021, Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control
• Interferencia de tabacaleras en México: reporte de índice regional, Salud Justa, 2021
• Mexico: the long road to Tobacco Control, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
• Mexico – Cigarette Tax Scorecard, Tobacconomics
• Tobacco Industry Interference in Mexico, STOP
• México, Organización Panamericana de la Salud

Tobacco Tactics Resources

• E-cigarettes: British American Tobacco
• Futuro Sin Humo
• Flavoured and Menthol Tobacco in LMICs
• PMI’s IQOS: Use, “Switching” and “Quitting”

TCRG Research

• Developing more detailed taxonomies of tobacco industry political activity in low-income and middle-income countries: qualitative evidence from eight countries, B.K. Matthes, K. Lauber, M. Zatoński, L. Robertson, A.B. Gilmore, BMJ Global Health 2021;6:e004096.

For a comprehensive list of all TCRG publications, including research that evaluates the impact of public health policy, go to TCRG publications.

References

The post Mexico Country Profile appeared first on TobaccoTactics.

Image 1: PMI’s IQOS and HEETS tobacco sticks (Source: Screengrab from uk.iqos.com, 15 June 2021)

PMI’s flagship heated tobacco product (HTP), called IQOS, was first trialled in Milan (Italy), and then Nagoya (Japan) in 2014.¹²⁷

What is IQOS?

IQOS is a battery-operated device that heats tobacco sticks, originally called HEETS, and later sold under a range of brand names, including TEREA, SENTIA and DELIA.¹²⁸ The sticks have been sold under cigarette brands Marlboro and Parliament in some countries.¹²⁹ Sticks are available in several flavours.

IQOS heats the tobacco up to 350°C, compared to 600°C in cigarettes, and therefore, according to PMI there is no “combustion, fire, ash, or smoke” and “the levels of harmful chemicals are significantly reduced compared to cigarette smoke”.¹³⁰ However, these claims are widely debated within the public health community. Independent reviews of PMI’s data indicate that while IQOS may expose users to lower levels of some harmful chemicals, it also exposes users to higher levels of other potentially harmful chemicals and the impact of IQOS on health remains unknown.^131132133134 One peer reviewed review of PMI’s clinical data concluded that IQOS was “not detectably different” from cigarettes, in terms of potential harmful effects.¹³⁵ PMI publishes its own evidence on IQOS on its PMI Science website.

PMI also sells e-cigarettes (also known as an electronic nicotine delivery systems, or ENDS) under the IQOS brand, called IQOS VEEV (formally IQOS MESH).¹³⁶¹³⁷ There is evidence that the company has conflated the two products.¹³⁸ For details see PMI’s IQOS: Use, “switching” and “quitting”.

• For more information on IQOS VEEV and earlier products see E-cigarettes: Philip Morris International

Product Innovation

Since launching the IQOS brand in 2014, PMI has developed and marketed several iterations of IQOS. Between 2014 and 2018, IQOS models were numbered 2.2, 2.4 or 3.¹³⁹¹⁴⁰

In 2019, PMI launched brand extensions IQOS Multi and IQOS Duo (see image 1).¹²⁹

PMI had a second HTP product under development, called TEEPS, which uses a carbon heat source to heat the tobacco sticks.¹⁴¹ The company alleged that this product wass closer to the look and feel of a conventional cigarette than IQOS. ¹⁴² PMI conducted a “small scale city test” of TEEPS in the Dominican Republic in December 2017, and intended to “consumer test” the product in late 2020.¹⁴³¹⁴⁴ In its 2021 annual report, PMI stated it had discontinued the current TEEPS technology following feedback from consumer testing in late 2021.¹⁴⁵

In February 2021, PMI announced to investors that it planned to launch another device later in the year called IQOS ILUMA.¹²⁹¹⁴⁶ IQOS ILUMA launched in Japan Duty Free later that year, followed by Switzerland and Dubai duty free launches in 2022.¹⁴⁷

In November 2022, PMI launched a bladeless HTP under the IQOS brand: Bonds by IQOS. Compatible with Blends tobacco sticks, it was reported as being test marketed in the Philippines, with the company expressing intentions to expand commercialisation in the near future.¹⁴⁸

• For more information, including other companies’ HTPs, see Heated Tobacco Products.

In September 2023, PMI announced that it had developed a “non-tobacco” stick for IQOS devices called LEVIA.¹²⁸ For details see Newer Nicotine and Tobacco Products: Philip Morris International

Markets and Launches

After first launching in 2014, by 2016 IQOS accounted for 99% of the global HTP market, according to Euromonitor data.¹⁴⁹ Although competition increased in subsequent years, IQOS continued to hold by far the largest share.^131149150

Image 2: IQOS launches by year (Source: STOP report February 2020)¹³¹

Market authorisation in the US

By the end of 2019 IQOS was available in at least 47 markets, including the United States (US).¹³¹ This followed authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to launch the product on the US market, which PMI had applied for in 2017.^{151 152} PMI launched IQOS in the US in 2019, initially in Atlanta, Georgia.¹⁵³ In July 2020, it was reported that Altria was also selling IQOS in Richmond (Virginia) and Charlotte (North Carolina), with plans to roll out to four more US cities in the following 18 months.¹⁵⁴

Through its exclusive licensing agreement with Altria, PMI launched IQOS in the US in 2019, initially in Atlanta, Georgia.¹⁵⁵ By May 2021, Altria was also selling IQOS in Richmond (Virginia), Charlotte (North Carolina) and Charleston (South Carolina).¹⁵⁶ Due to patent disputes raised by R.J. Reynolds (US subsidiary of British American Tobacco), Altria was unable to sell IQOS in the US after 29^th November 2021.¹⁵⁷ In October 2022, PMI and Altria announced they would be ending their agreement with PMI paying $2.7 billion to Altria for full commercialisation rights for IQOS in the US from May 2024.¹⁵⁷

• For more information on global market shares see Heated Tobacco Products.

Marketed in lower income countries

PMI has mainly sold IQOS in high income countries. However, it is also increasingly marketing its products in lower income countries (see Image 2). Although not officially launched, there is evidence that IQOS was available in 2018 in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, described by PMI as “key markets”. ^131158159 PMI indicated that it intended to formally launch IQOS in the Philippines in the second quarter of 2020, subject to meeting “some regulatory and legal requirements”.¹⁵⁹

On 17 February 2020, PMI launched the product in Lebanon.¹⁶⁰ IQOS had been sold previously in airport duty free stores in both Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.¹⁶¹

In its 2022 third quarter conference presentation, PMI stated that IQOS continued to show “promising growth in Low and Middle-Income markets”, specifically noting progress in Lebanon and Egypt.¹⁶² PMI went on to say its latest HTP development “is specifically relevant for low- and middle-income markets”.¹⁶² Based on reference to upcoming test market launches in the Philippines,¹⁶² it is likely PMI were referring to its new Bonds by IQOS product (see Product Innovation above).

Marketing during Covid-19 pandemic

During 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, PMI’s IQOS launches continued. In July 2020, it launched in Georgia.¹⁶³ In the Philippines, the product first went on sale online and in some independent retail outlets in April 2020, with IQOS stores opening in Manila in September and October.^164165166 In October, PMI also announced that it had launched in Jordan, although the precise timing and nature of the launch was unclear.¹⁶⁴¹⁶⁷ In 2020, Jordan had the world’s highest smoking rates, and was reported to have experienced a large amount of tobacco industry interference, including by PMI.¹⁶⁸ For more information see the Eastern Mediterranean Region page.

PMI formally launched IQOS in Costa Rica in October.¹⁶⁹ PMI said that this took their total number of IQOS markets to 61, “of which half are outside the OECD”.¹⁶⁴ IQOS was already available in Mexico, although, after considerable lobbying, the company failed to get the Mexican government to approve its import or promotion there.¹⁷⁰¹⁷¹

The Australian government also continued to reject the product, as well as e-cigarettes. For more information see Heated Tobacco Products

According to PMI, by the end of 2020, IQOS was “commercialised” in 64 markets.¹²⁹¹⁷² IQOS is not yet on sale in Indonesia, PMI’s largest market for cigarettes.^161164129 In 2023, PMI referred to a “lack of readiness” for the product in the country.¹²⁸

Closed IQOS Stores In the UK

In the UK, where the overall market for HTPs is small, Philip Morris Ltd (PML) opened specialist IQOS stores in London, Bristol, Manchester and Cardiff.¹⁶¹ However by June 2021, most of them were permanently closed, likely due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.¹²⁹¹⁷³ PML appeared to shift its retail focus to independent grocery retailers and other potential stockists, reportedly doubling the size of its UK sales force.¹⁷⁴¹⁷⁵

IQOS users

PMI releases frequently updated estimates of the number of smokers who it says have stopped smoking and switched to IQOS.¹⁷⁶¹⁷⁷ However, it is not clear how it arrives at these estimates, as PMI does not release all of its data, and so they can not be independently verified. PMI conducted some user studies (which it submitted to the FDA),¹⁷⁸ but these were run over periods of only 4-6 weeks which limits the ability to generalise the findings as a reflection of sustained behavioural change. The FDA’s 2020 decision on IQOS (see below) states that PMI must conduct post market surveillance studies in the US, which may provide a more accurate picture of conversion rates.¹⁷⁸

PMI also estimates the number of users in the process of “conversion” to using IQOS.¹⁷⁶¹⁷⁷. However, these are based on a seven day assessment only,¹⁷⁶ which limits the ability to generalise the findings as a reflection of sustained behavioural change. It is likely that the number of people who use IQOS exclusively is lower than PMI’s estimates.¹³¹¹⁷⁹

In 2020, PMI stated that over 10 million smokers had “switched” to IQOS, with another 4 million “in conversion”.¹⁷⁷¹⁸⁰ As of October 2022, PMI stated that there are approximately 19.5 million IQOS users, of which 13.5 million had “switched” from smoking to IQOS.¹⁸¹ PMI has previously stated that its “aspiration” is for the number of smokers switching to IQOS to exceed 40 million by 2025.¹⁸²

For definitions of ‘cessation’, more details on PMI’s user estimates, the evidence on dual use, and its attempts to promote IQOS as a cessation tool, see PMI’s IQOS: Use, “Quitting” and “Switching”.

Promoting IQOS and “Smoke-Free”

Although it does not disclose its marketing spend, PMI has allocated a large amount to advertising and promoting IQOS.¹⁷⁶¹³¹ As well as retail websites and distribution deals, it has established dedicated ‘concept’ stores around the world to promote its products direct to its customers, with multiple stores in some cities.¹⁶¹ It has developed sophisticated, multi-platform advertising campaigns, using traditional and social media. (For examples see images from Stanford University’s research into the impact of tobacco advertising and work by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids). It has also promoted its products at music festivals and cultural events in glamourous locations around the world.^131161183 PMI has been accused of marketing IQOS and other newer nicotine and tobacco products to youth, including through the use of paid social media influencers.^{131161183184185}

PMI’s promotion of IQOS is inextricably linked to its “Smoke-Free” public relations strategy, and campaigns such as “Hold My Light” and “UnSmoke Your World”. Research published in February 2020 by Stanford University shows how PMI’s promotional activities not only replicate advertising strategies used in the past to promote cigarettes, but also help to “normalize” the company and its heated tobacco products in the eyes of the consumer.^131183186 This normalization increases pressure on policy makers to regulate these products in ways that benefit the industry, particularly in lower income countries.

• For more information on PMI’s “Smoke-Free” Campaigns see Philip Morris International

Submitted Modified Risk Application to FDA

In December 2016 PMI submitted an application to the FDA to approve IQOS as a “Modified Risk Tobacco Product” (MRTP).¹⁸⁷¹⁸⁸ In 2018, the US Tobacco Products Advisory Committee (TPSAC) recommended against approving PMI’s application to market IQOS as a reduced risk product.¹⁸⁹

On 7 July 2020, the FDA partially authorised PMI’s MRTP application. While it concluded that the data PMI submitted showed that IQOS may reduce exposure to harmful substances, it did not agree that IQOS reduces the risk of disease and death, compared to smoking cigarettes, and so had failed to meet the higher standard of “risk modification”. PMI used the US-specific MRTP order granted by the FDA to further promote IQOS and push for its approval, or deregulation, in multiple countries around the world. For more background see Heated Tobacco Products. For details and examples see PMI Promotion of IQOS Using FDA MRTP Order.

PMI submitted a new MRTP for IQOS 3 in 2021. On 11^th March 2022, the FDA repeated its previous decision, granting PMI a modified exposure order, but not a modified risk order for the IQOS 3.¹⁹⁰

• For information on PMI’s newer nicotine and tobacco products, its collaborations, and how it uses its products to undermine public health, see Newer Nicotine and Tobacco Products: Philip Morris International

TobaccoTactics Resources

• Philip Morris International
• Newer Nicotine and Tobacco Products: Philip Morris International
• PMI’s IQOS: Use, “Quitting” and “Switching”
• PMI Promotion of IQOS Using FDA MRTP Order
• Heated Tobacco Products
• Harm Reduction
• Tobacco Industry Product Terminology

Relevant links

• PMI website
• STOP report: Addiction At Any Cost: The Truth About Philip Morris International

TCRG Research

• Critical appraisal of interventional clinical trials assessing heated tobacco products: a systematic review, Braznell S, Van Den Akker A, Metcalfe C, G.M.J. Taylor, J. Hartman-Boyce, Tobacco Control, Published Online First: 08 November 2022, doi: 10.1136/tc-2022-057522
• Tobacco industry messaging around harm: Narrative framing in PMI and BAT press releases and annual reports 2011 to 2021, I. Fitzpatrick, S. Dance, K. Silver, M. Violini, T.R. Hird, Frontiers in Public Health, 18 October 2022. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.958354
• US regulator adds to confusion around heated tobacco products, A.B. Gilmore, S. Braznell, BMJ, 2020;370:m3528. doi:10.1136/bmj.m3528
• Understanding the emergence of the tobacco industry’s use of the term tobacco harm reduction in order to inform public health policy, S. Peeters, A.B. Gilmore, Tobacco Control, 2015; 24:182-189. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2013-051502

For a comprehensive list of all TCRG publications, including research that evaluates the impact of public health policy, go to the Bath TCRG’s list of publications.

References

The post Heated Tobacco Products: Philip Morris International appeared first on TobaccoTactics.

Motorsports, golf, cricket, tennis, sailing and badminton are among many sports which have received tobacco money.^192193194

With one-fifth of the world’s population, nearly a billion people, connected to football directly or indirectly, this sport provides the tobacco industry with a massive potential audience.¹⁹⁵ By associating with football, the tobacco industry is able to increase brand awareness among key demographics in all parts of the globe, link their brand with images of health and success, normalise its presence and contribute towards its corporate social responsibility goals. ¹⁹⁶¹⁹⁷ Note: In this article we use the word football though in some countries the sport is more commonly known as soccer.

Football-themed cigarette pack produced by Semarange in Indonesia in 2015. Image from The use of sports imagery and terminology on cigarette packs from fourteen countries, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10826084.2017.1363236

Tobacco pack advertising

The tobacco industry initially promoted its products as a means of maintaining an athletic physique.¹⁹⁶ In the 1890s tobacco companies began producing collectible cards with images of football players. The cards, which featured cigarette advertisements, were placed inside cigarette boxes. The practise all but stopped during the Second World War due to paper and tobacco shortages, but companies such as Carreras, now British American Tobacco (BAT), continued advertising, putting images on cigarette cartons.¹⁹⁶¹⁹⁸

Tobacco brand names are still used to develop links with sport, including football. An analysis by Kleb et al looked at cigarette packs from 14 low- and middle-income countries to see how many had sports-related themes. It found 36 brands with distinct “sports appeal” including the use of football imagery and text. “The pack is a powerful medium through which tobacco companies continue to associate their products with idealised concepts associated with sports,” the authors conclude.¹⁹⁹

Football star endorsements

Tobacco brands have used particularly well-known football stars to endorse their brands. In the United States in 1964, such testimonials were prohibited under the voluntarily Cigarette Advertising Code. However the code was widely felt to be ineffective and in other countries tobacco associations with the sport continued.²⁰⁰²⁰¹

Where previously the England captain in the 1950s would be proudly pictured with a particular brand, now prominent footballers are often called out if seen smoking. Zinedine Zidane, Mario Balotelli and Fabien Barthez, are among those who have been criticised for setting a poor example.²⁰²²⁰³

Nonetheless, the attractiveness of using individual football stars continues – whether they wish to or not. In 2002, the English Football Association threatened legal action against BAT after the company used images of England World Cup captain David Beckham and star, Michael Owen, in newspaper advertisements in Malaysia.²⁰⁴ In 2012, Indonesian cigarette company Gudang Garam used its digital sports channel to form a link with Manchester United and England star Rio Ferdinand, before the footballer cut ties with the company. It subsequently focussed on motorsports content.

More recently, VPZ, which operates e-cigarettes stores in the UK and has financial links with Philip Morris International, launched a campaign on 10 March 2022 to coincide with National No Smoking Day, calling for a “complete ban on smoking”. The retailer enlisted the services of former Tottenham and Liverpool player Neil “Razor” Ruddock to act as the campaign ambassador. As part of its anti-smoking campaign, VPZ argued that “vaping is fundamental to reaching this target” and highlighted its “vape clinic” services.²⁰⁵

Since television money flooded into the game in the 1990s, football has vastly expanded its global reach. Its top stars have ever-greater global exposure and marketing power which continue to make them attractive targets for tobacco companies.

Sponsoring clubs, leagues and cups

Tobacco companies have sponsored football leagues, clubs and cups around the world. The practice is helped by the fact that the global governing body of football, FIFA, and its continental confederations such as UEFA, often have little authority over national leagues which are structured in a variety of ways. In these regulatory gaps tobacco companies continue to exploit football brands, in particular in the continents of Africa, Asia and South America.

An internal presentation from Philip Morris in 1994 outlined the benefits for targeting the Asian football market to promote the Marlboro brand. It said: “[Football] Perceived as a very masculine, somewhat rugged sport; very popular among YAMS [young adult male smokers], nicely complements F1 as a Marlboro property.” It proposed sponsoring regional and national cups and leagues and identified China, Indonesia, South Korea and Hong Kong as priority markets. It proposed spending US$9m over three years sponsoring the China National Football League.²⁰⁶ That deal went ahead despite the fact there was a law banning tobacco advertising in sports stadiums.²⁰⁷ The sponsorship deal did end a year later, partly due to the advertising ban. Marlboro had eventually paid more than US$1.2m each year for the rights – which was twenty times more than the China Football Association’s organisational budget. “The commercialization of Jia-A league opened a brand new era of Chinese sports,” according to one study.²⁰⁸²⁰⁹

RJ Reynolds’ Camel brand sponsored cup competitions in Uruguay (Mundialito Uruguay), Japan (Toyota Cup) and venues across Europe for the European Cup Winners cup in the 1980s. An internal analysis concluded that the European advertising had great potential but “it will be a slow and expensive process”.²¹⁰ Tobacco companies have invested in that process.

In Jamaica, Craven A, produced by Carreras, was the title sponsor of the country’s premier domestic league competition until the early 2000s.²¹¹ Tobacco companies have also sponsored domestic leagues in Colombia (Copa Mustang) and Indonesia (Liga Dunhill) as well as individual sides such as Austria Vienna (Memphis cigarettes) and FK Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.²¹²

In 2017, Nyasa Manufacturing Company took ownership of Big Bullets FC in Malawi.²¹³ In 2020 Zimbabwe professional side Dynamos Football Club (known to its fans as DeMbare) agreed an increased sponsorship package with Gold Leaf Tobacco.²¹⁴²¹⁵ Cairo’s Eastern Company Sporting Club, also known as El Sharkia Lel Dokhan, is named after the Egyptian tobacco company, and in 2021 the company’s top management asked all smokers to support the team in the Egyptian football league stating that “sports is the good image of the company”.²¹⁶

In 2019, Djarum, an Indonesian tobacco company that ranks as the world’s leading clove cigarette producer²¹⁷ bought an Italian football club called Como 1907, a team that plays in the Italian Serie B league.²¹⁸ The new owners brought in former England international Dennis Wise as CEO and have attracted young footballing talent as well as more well-known faces such as Spain’s Cesc Fabregas.²¹⁹

The ownership of the club is actually via Djarum’s subsidiary SENT Entertainment Ltd. Through Djarum’s television arm Mola TV, it has developed a reality TV series called Dream Chasers: Garuda Select which followed 24 young footballers trying to succeed in Europe under the direction of Wise. This collaboration between sport and media has echoes of F1’s successful Netflix series Drive to Survive which has been credited with increasing interest in the sport in America. Motorsport is a recipient of huge tobacco sponsorship given the opportunity to reach new young markets.²²⁰²²¹

Djarum also owns a badminton club and has sponsored other sports events in the past.²²²

In many cases the financial support offered by tobacco companies is vital for some clubs and it is not always about them being targeted by cigarette manufacturers. In 2001, the US Soccer Federation, the charitable arm of football in America, contacted Philip Morris about setting up a “Smoke Free Kids and Soccer Program” to distribute grants. “Obviously we are interested in your input and would love to hear any ideas you might have,” the Foundation’s associate director of development and outreach wrote.²²³ Philip Morris already had years of investment in football in America, such as through the Miami Cup in the 1980s.²²⁴

As well as these professional sides there is a tradition of works teams who took their official names from tobacco companies. These include BAT Sports FC in the UK, a club originally formed by the workforce of British American Tobacco, and whose team was once nicknamed the ‘tobacco men’.²²⁵ Another example is the BSG Tabak Dresden, a German team that was named after the local tobacco manufacturer in the 1940s.²²⁶

FIFA World Cup and Confederations Cup

American tobacco company RJ Reynolds was an official sponsor of the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. Though Mexico had tobacco advertising bans in place when it hosted the 1986 World Cup, tournament organisers negotiated a deal which allowed RJ Reynolds to advertise. After 1986, FIFA announced that it would no longer accept sponsorships from the tobacco industry.²²⁷ FIFA then introduced a ban on tobacco use at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, but, four years later in Germany, the ban was dropped.²²⁸

In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control banned “all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship”, and with the increasingly global nature of TV coverage and consequent bans on cross-border advertising, companies were forced to remove all cigarette branding.²²⁹ FIFA, with help from the WHO, developed its own tobacco-free policy, and in South Africa in 2010, introduced a comprehensive ban on smoking during its competitions.²³⁰

In 2017, FIFA updated its tobacco-free policy to include heated tobacco products (HTPs) and e-cigarettes (also known as electronic nicotine delivery systems, or ENDS).²³¹

For the 2022 World Cup an agreement between FIFA, the WHO and the Government of Qatar prohibits smoking and the use of e-cigarettes in the stadium bowl and fan zones and only allows it in outdoor designated smoking areas in the outer perimeter of the stadiums. This will be enforced by tobacco monitors.²³² One UK-based manufacturer of e-liquids has promised to pay the fines of England fans caught using such products.²³³ Meanwhile Indonesian clove cigarette manufacturer Djarum, already one of tobacco companies most actively using sports to promote its products, will repeat its 2018 World Cup strategy of sponsoring community-based world cup screenings, including World Cup-themed promotional material.²³⁴

UEFA European Football Championships

UEFA introduced a tobacco-free stadia policy in all its competitions in 2012, prohibiting the use, sale and promotion of tobacco and e-cigarettes in all internal and external areas of host stadia.²³⁵ In 2014, Healthy Stadia studied the extent and nature of smoke-free policies operating at football stadia within Europe and found that only 10 of 22 countries with bans completely prohibited smoking.²³⁶ The same study, which explored the legislative framework surrounding smoke-free stadia in Europe, showed gaps between legislation and practise.²³⁶

The first European Championships staged under the policy was Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, with the policy extending to France 2016.²³⁵²³⁷

The postponed 2020 European football championships saw the launch of a Tobacco-Free Declaration developed by the European Healthy Stadia Network to help clubs, leagues and governing bodies develop tobacco-free policies. An updated survey found a marked increase in smoke-free stadia compared with 2014.

It showed that 29 out of 50 UEFA national associations responding were operating complete smoke-free policies, 21 had partial policies while three had no policies at all. In addition 51 of the 53 associations responding had policies prohibiting the sale and advertising of tobacco products and 26 had specific policies prohibiting e-cigarettes.²³⁸

The Dutch Football Association is one of those with voluntary codes stronger than national legislation and aims to have all stadia and training areas smoke-free and no advertising or promotion of both conventional and newer nicotine and tobacco products.²³⁸

VIP facility at Bayern Munich’s stadium in Germany sponsored by a tobacco company

UEFA national associations are only part of the football picture in each country. Examples such as cigar sponsorship at Germany’s prestigious Bayern Munich ground show there are still gaps in the advertising and promotion ban.²³⁹

During the 2020 UEFA Championships, British American Tobacco’s HTP brand glo acted as official sponsor for the Italian national Football Federation, despite the Italian Ministry of Health and consumer rights organisations exposing it as illegal sponsorship of tobacco products.²⁴⁰

Glo sponsorship of the Italian National Football Federation included a sales area in the Rome stadium, allowing fans to win and personalise glo products on site.²⁴¹

A survey conducted by Tobacco Tactics found varying levels of compliance with such legislation. Spanish journalists reported a lack of awareness of legislation banning tobacco use at stadia and a general acceptance of smoking as a matter of culture. Journalists in Romania reported seeing occasional tobacco advertising since the autumn of 2019. By contrast, reporters in Denmark reported neither witnessing tobacco use, nor advertising in or around stadia and reported general compliance with laws.²⁴²

• For more information see the Healthy Stadia guidance on tobacco free stadia.

Promoting Newer Products

The uneven application of tobacco advertising bans has opened the door to advertising the growing sales of newer nicotine and tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and HTPs. Despite many countries now having smoke-free regulations inside stadia for domestic competitions, this does not always stretch to prohibiting the use of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs). For example, the English Football League does not prohibit them within its ground regulations.²⁴³ One of the early examples of NGP manufacturers taking advantage of this is Birmingham City in the UK which in 2013 signed a sponsorship deal with local-based Nicolites to carry the e-cigarette logo on its first team shirts.²⁴⁴ In Scotland, the sponsors of Rangers FC, launched a range of e-cigarettes flavours honouring the club’s Ibrox brand.²⁴⁵ Chinese e-cigarette companies have been forging links with football clubs. In 2021 Geekvape and French Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain agreed a deal “for co-branded products in authorized countries”.²⁴⁶ Innkin signed a sponsorship deal with the English Football League in October 2020.²⁴⁷ Notionally this supposed to support smoking cessation campaigns in October but the deal has continued.

Also getting a boost from an association with football are Snus pouches. In 2018 it was reported that hundreds of professional footballers in the UK used the Scandinavian smokeless tobacco product despite its sale being banned. They included England star Jamie Vardy. One footballer said: “It’s big in the game.”²⁴⁸

Closed Stadia During Covid-19 Pandemic

In 2020, most domestic league seasons were cancelled, delayed or shortened mid-season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, domestic league matches across Europe drew audiences of 20 million to enclosed, or partially covered stadia, and matches were played behind closed doors once leagues resumed.¹⁹⁵

Companies such as Phillip Morris International have exploited the lockdowns and referenced the COVID-19 pandemic in promoting special offers for home delivery of its HTP, IQOS, to Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Romania and Spain.²⁴⁹ All four countries will be hosting matches in the UEFA 2020 European Football Championship matches.²⁵⁰

However, the pandemic has also worked to enhance tobacco control policies in some instances. In Belgium, a general smoking ban was implemented in football stadia in October 2020 to aid the safe return of fans and discourage them from removing their masks. The Belgian Pro-League has now announced that it will become totally tobacco-free from the start of the 2021 season.²⁵¹

• For more information go to our COVID 19 resources page.

Related links

Healthy Stadia: Tobacco-Free Stadia Guidance

World Health Organization: FIFA World Cup 2022 resources

TobaccoTactics Resources

Motorsports Sponsorship

CSR Strategy

References

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On 7 July 2020, the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) announced its ruling.^255256257  It granted an ‘exposure modification’ order, which allows PMI to market IQOS in the U.S. using the following claims:²⁵⁵

• “The IQOS system heats tobacco but does not burn it”
• “This significantly reduces the production of harmful and potentially harmful chemicals”
• “Scientific studies have shown that switching completely from conventional cigarettes to the IQOS system significantly reduces your body’s exposure to harmful or potentially harmful chemicals”

The FDA denied PMI a ‘risk modification’ order, for which PMI originally applied. A ‘risk modification’ order requires the applicant to demonstrate  that products “(1) Significantly reduce harm and the risk of tobacco-related disease to individual tobacco users; and (2) Benefit the health of the population as a whole taking into account both users of tobacco products and persons who do not currently use tobacco products”. PMI “did not demonstrate” that IQOS met these standards. The exposure modification standard that the FDA authorised “establishes a lower standard” than that of risk modification.²⁵⁸

PMI’s press release and a statement from then CEO André Calantzopoulos hailed the ruling as a “historic public health milestone”. PMI focussed on the granted exposure modification order while limiting reference to the denied risk modification order.²⁵⁶

In July 2020, the Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) at the University of Bath produced a STOP briefing, summarising the evidence from academic research on IQOS, and highlighting the potential for the misrepresentation of the partial approval applying to the marketing of IQOS, which only applies in the US.²⁵⁹ In September 2020, TCRG researchers additionally published a peer-reviewed paper in BMJ highlighting how the decision increases confusion around the safety of HTPs.²⁶⁰

The FDA decision has been quoted in news media worldwide, with examples collected by TobaccoTactics from the following countries: Algeria,²⁶¹ Argentina,^262263264 Bahrain,²⁶⁵ Canada,²⁶⁶ Colombia,²⁶⁷ Costa Rica,²⁶⁸ Croatia,²⁶⁹ Cyprus,^270271272 Ecuador,²⁷³ Egypt,^274275276277 France,²⁷⁸ Georgia,²⁷⁹ Honduras,²⁸⁰ Hong Kong,^281282283284 Indonesia,²⁸⁵²⁸⁶ Italy,²⁸⁷ Jordan,²⁸⁸ Kenya,²⁸⁹ Lebanon,²⁹⁰ Malaysia,²⁹¹²⁹² Malta,²⁹³ Mexico,^{294295296297298299} Moldova,³⁰⁰ Nigeria, ^{301302303304305306} Palestine,³⁰⁷³⁰⁸ Pakistan,³⁰⁹ Philippines,^{310311312313314315316} Romania,³¹⁷ Russia,³¹⁸³¹⁹ Rwanda,³²⁰ Spain,³²¹ South Africa,^322323324 South Korea,^325326327328 Sweden,³²⁹ Tanzania,³³⁰ United Arab Emirates,³³¹ United States,³³²³³³ Uruguay,³³⁴ Vietnam,^335336337 Zambia,³³⁸ Zimbabwe.^339340341 This list it not exhaustive, and it is important to note that any inaccuracies in articles authored by international journalists do not represent violations of the granted exposure order by PMI.

Decision misconstrued in global news media

Many of these reports mimic the celebratory, but technically FDA-compliant, narrative provided in PMI’s media releases and interview statements. However, there are multiple instances of inaccurate journalistic reporting. Duty Free News International ran an article on 14 July 2020 with the headline “Milestone’ decision as FDA Approves IQOS as Modified Risk Tobacco Product”; the FDA has not “approved” IQOS (see above).³⁴² Various other publications in trade journals (Market Watch ²⁵⁷), investor publications (The Motley Fool³⁴³ – later retracted) local news outlets (Honduras’ La Prensa,²⁸⁰ Hong Kong’s The Standard,²⁸¹ Moldova’s KP,³⁰⁰ Nigeria’s The Sun³⁰¹; and broadly, coverage across EMR in Algeria,²⁶¹ Bahrain,²⁶⁵ Egypt,^275276277 and Jordan²⁸⁸) and pro-tobacco industry think tanks (US-based Reason Foundation³³²) made similar claims about the product being “safer” than cigarettes. It is incorrect to say IQOS is “safe”, or to imply that IQOS poses a reduced risk of harm when in fact it has only been shown to reduce exposure.

PMI uses FDA decision to lobby for regulatory change

In addition to calling the decision a “historic public health milestone”,²⁵⁶ PMI is transparent in its desire to use the FDA decision to advocate for legislative change. In its press release immediately following the decision, PMI CEO Calantzopolous said:²⁵⁶

“The FDA’s decision provides an important example of how governments and public health organizations can regulate smoke-free alternatives to differentiate them from cigarettes in order to promote the public health.”

Countries are at different stages in their regulation of HTPs; some have banned them outright, many have allowed their sale under certain regulatory conditions, and in others the regulatory position remains unclear. There are also wide variations in taxation rates.³⁴⁴ At COP 8 in 2018, parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) agreed to regulate HTPs as tobacco products.³⁴⁵ For more information and links to external resources, see the main page on Heated Tobacco Products.

In some regions, local PMI directors and managers have used the FDA decision to explicitly lobby for changes to regulations of tobacco products:

• Canada: Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc. (PMI affiliate) in Canada used the decision to advocate for “risk-based regulation” of tobacco products in the country, where it claimed “[r]egulation in Canada has not kept pace with innovation of smoke-free technologies”.²⁶⁶
• Hong Kong: The manager of PMI Hong Kong & Macau, Brett Cooper, said that he hoped to have “dialogue” and “conversation” on the regulation of “alternative smoking products”. An article in The Harbour Times suggested that the FDA decision would encourage legislators reconsider a proposed ban on these products.²⁸³ The Standard reported, quoting CEO Calantzopolous, that PMI “urged authorities worldwide to ‘maximize adoption of these products by adult smokers,’ adding that if not, ‘we would be missing an enormous public health opportunity’”.²⁸²
• Latin America: In an interview with Forbes in Mexico, Mario Masseroli, President of PMI Latin America and Canada, said PMI had “been in contact with the Mexican authorities trying to show the difference between IQOS and conventional cigarettes”. He also said that “We believe that it is something that cannot be ignored if you are an authority in any country seriously thinking about solving the problem of public health, such as diseases related to smoking, you cannot ignore a decision like the FDA” (translated from original Spanish).²⁹⁹ HTPs were banned in Mexico in February 2020, by presidential order.³⁴⁶ Masseroli made similar statements in Argentina,²⁶² Colombia,²⁶⁷ Honduras²⁸⁰ and Uruguay.³³⁴ On 1 September 2020, the Mexican government put out a statement in response to the FDA decision and PMI statements made in the country, which reaffirmed its decision to ban the import of HTPs and clarified that IQOS was not granted “reduced risk” status, in the US or in Mexico.³⁴⁷
• Nigeria: An interview with Bahman Safakish, Managing Director for PMI Sub-Saharan Africa, began to appear in Nigerian news media at the end of July. In what appears to be its first run in The Sun, the article was briefly titled “Why we can’t stop selling cigarettes – Philip Morris Int’l” (30 July) before changing to “Our plans to end cigarette smoking – Philip Morris Int’l” (31 July), and stated that ending cigarette sales “would automatically create a niche market for competitors and illicit trades who do not appreciate the need replace the combustible hazardous smoking with the electronic vapour-producing device that is much safer health-wise”, giving this as the reason why the company would not stop selling cigarettes “despite global health concerns”.^301305304348 Note that the FDA decision did not conclude that IQOS was “safer” than traditional cigarettes, or that it reduces risk.
• Philippines: An article detailing an interview with PMI Asia director Stacey Kennedy encouraged the country to adopt the US FDA decision as a “starting block” to provide “the basis of public health policymaking”.³¹⁶ The article also claimed IQOS was a “reduced risk” product, and is “less harmful than traditional cigarettes”. This is false; FDA actually denied PMI’s reduced risk application (see above).
• South Africa: PMI used the FDA decision as an additional argument against the ban on tobacco products that was imposed in the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Philip Morris South Africa (PMSA) that said that the continuing ban on tobacco products was a “missed opportunity to make smoke-free alternatives available for 11-million South African smokers”, citing the FDA decision as evidence that IQOS is a “much better choice than continued smoking”.³²² A comment from PMSA in the online magazine TWFLD said that it encouraged the South African government to follow a “science-based approach” in its policy-making and advised it adopt “a similar regulatory approach to the U.S. FDA”.³²³
• South Korea: An article titled “Following FDA’s decision, PMI repeats need for differentiated policies” appeared in The Korea Herald on 13 July 2020, again quoting the CEO: “Making a comparison to fossil fuels and coal, Calantzopoulos urged that governments around the world should provide differentiated policies for conventional cigarettes and heated tobacco products”.³²⁵ PMI Korea CEO Paik Young-jay held an online news conference in September 2020, in which he said: “The FDA’s decision is an important example of how governments and public health agencies can regulate heat-not-burn products and cigarettes differently to improve public health” and recommended “rational regulation”.³²⁶ A further article in The Korea Herald covering the conference, initially titled “Philip Morris Korea says Iqos brings ‘reduced risk’”, included both modified and reduced risk claims, misrepresenting the FDA decision.³²⁷ Within hours, this article was corrected, instead appearing as “Philip Morris aims to acquire ‘risk modification’ nod from FDA”.³²⁸

PMI disputes some of the facts and statements in this report.

Relevant Links

• STOP/TCRG, FDA does not rule that IQOS reduces tobacco-related harm, yet PMI still claims victory, Issue brief, July 2020
• WHO statement on heated tobacco products and the US FDA decision regarding IQOS, July 2020

TobaccoTactics Resources

• Philip Morris International
• Heated Tobacco Products
• Heated Tobacco Products: Philip Morris International
• Newer Nicotine and Tobacco Products: Philip Morris International
• Harm Reduction

TCRG Research

• US regulator adds to confusion around heated tobacco products, A.B. Gilmore, S. Braznell, BMJ, 2020;370:m3528
• Understanding the emergence of the tobacco industry’s use of the term tobacco harm reduction in order to inform public health policy, S. Peeters, A. Gilmore, Tobacco Control, 2015;24(2):182-189

References

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