Dr Kaul, who maintained a regular blog as CBC Director General, previously had a long career as an adviser to governments and corporations in India and South Africa as well as working with the Commonwealth Secretariat.²

References

The post Dr Mohan Kaul appeared first on TobaccoTactics.

• IP Associations’ strong concerns with the Irish Government’s decision to proceed with plain packaging legislation– June 2014
• Reflexion on the adoption of ‘plain packaging’ legislations – March 2014
• Objections to the adoption of ‘plain packaging’ and excessive measures restricting normal use of trademarks – July 2013
• Objection to the adoption of restrictive legislation or policy options frequently referred to as ‘generic’ or ‘plain packaging’ – April 2012

It is worth noting that each of the groups listed here has some kind of connection with the tobacco industry. Tobacco companies are fee-paying members of BMM, CSZV, ICC, MARQUES, and Unifab; ECTA receives indirect industry monies via members that are in-house employees of big tobacco, and Union-IP, ECTA,APRMA, BMM, AND MARQUES are affiliated Sister Associations.For more information, see:

• Association of Trademarks and Designs Rights Practitioners (APRAM)
• Beneluxvereniging voor Merken-en Modellenrecht (BMM)
• Czech Association for Branded Products (CSZV)
• European Communities Trademark Association (ECTA)
• International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
• MARQUES (European Association of Trademark Owners)

References

The post Global Trademark and Intellectual Property Rights Groups appeared first on TobaccoTactics.

The TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) was set up in 1995 by the American Department of Commerce and the European Commission to act as a go-between for American and European business leaders and America cabinet secretaries and European Union (EU) commissioners.
The Transatlantic Policy Network, a free market think tank aimed at strengthening political and corporate links between Europe and America, claims credit for helping set up TABD and says it: “is still actively supporting its development”.³
TABD says that its goal is to achieve “the freest possible exchange of capital, goods, services, people and ideas across the Atlantic”.⁴
To achieve its aim the TABD says: “We advocate these positions based on issue-specific policy recommendations developed by TABD Working Groups, reviewed by the Joint Policy Committee and endorsed by the Executive Board.”⁴ There are also the typical networking conferences, seminars and business lunches which bring corporate and political representatives together.
On 1 January 2013, the TABD merged with the European-American Business Council (EABC) and became known as the Transatlantic Business Council (TBC).

A Successful Business Advocate

Murphy and Levidow, in their study on EU/US trade disputes over genetically modified (GM) crops, cited the TABD and the Transatlantic Economic Partnership as “created in the mid to late 1990s to encourage and facilitate transatlantic trade liberalisation” and a constant and effective voice for corporations in that particular battle.⁵
Indeed the TABD was so successful in its business advocacy that a counterweight organisation was launched. The Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) which links consumer groups in the EU and the US. Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of National Consumers League, described the TACD as vital because: “TABD has a powerful voice at the European Union meetings”.⁶

A History of Tobacco Links

Documents from the tobacco archive show that within months of opening in 1995 the TABD had written to British American Tobacco asking for support.⁷
Well-known tobacco lobbyist Stanley Crossick⁸ identified the TABD as an important organisation in a presentation in 1995 to RJ Reynolds.⁹
In 1997 the then BAT chairman Lord Simon Cairns attended a TABD meeting in Rome, where he was to brief EU Commissioner (and one of the original drivers behind the TABD) Sir Leon Brittan and “other senior US politicians” on “US extraterritorial legislation in general and Helms Burton in particular”.¹⁰ A communique setting out core areas of concern for the TABD was subsequently issued.¹¹
A meeting of the European Policy Centre‘s Forum on Risk in 1998 was attended by Vickie Curtis from BAT.¹² The focus of the meeting was how the science of risk as perceived by EU legislators might be influenced in terms favourable to corporate members of the Forum.
It resolved:

The target audience to influence was agreed as EU institutions (the Parliament, Council and Commission) and national decision-makers, international organisations (such as the WTO, OECD and TABD); industry and trade associations; NGOs and other pressure groups including trade unions, the scientific, academic and technical communities and the media. There is a need to define the “hot buttons” of each of these groups at an early stage.¹²

Philip Morris also took an interest in the possibilities of the TABD. A meeting of the lobby group in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1998, involving senior US and EU executives and government trade officials was highlighted as an opportunity “to promote industry positions on issues raised by the pending Biosafety Protocol” and “industry attendance or participation may be warranted”.¹³
BAT’s continued interest in the TABD’s activities was highlighted in 2000 in a report from management consultancy C & M International,¹⁴ to BAT’s International Political Affairs Manager Andreas Vecchiet. The consultancy said it would monitor TABD discussions relevant to its tobacco client.

Recent Tobacco Activities

British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International are currently TABC members.¹⁵
The organisation’s Director General is Tim Bennett. Its EU executive director is Jeffries Briginshaw who previously worked at BAT for more than a decade. ¹⁶
In 2011 TABD wrote to the US trade representative and EC Commissioner for Trade Karel de Gucht protesting at Australia’s plain packaging plans and asking them to pass on their concerns.¹⁷ The letters argued that the move was wrong on intellectual property grounds – a constant concern for TABD. The organisation also raised these concerns in letters to various members of the Australian government.
A year later, the announcement of plain pack consultation in the UK stirred the international business community. The April 2012 statement expressing deep concern about possible “curtailing intellectual property rights (IP) and branding” was a joint initiative of the TABD, the US Chamber of Commerce, the Emergency Committee for American Trade, the National Association of Manufacturers, the United States Council for International Business and the National Foreign Trade Council.
The statement emphasised the importance of the “rule of law and legal certainty” not just for the business community, but also to ensure innovation and create meaningful jobs. The other issue was the possible increase in smuggling. Furthermore, illicit activity in the tobacco sector that robs the government of revenue, undermines public health objectives, impairs legitimate business and enriches organized crime ought to be a major concern in considering this public consultation.¹⁸
In April 2013, the TABD joined forces with the same collective of US trade associations to challenge the revision of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). In a letter ¹⁹ to Mr. João Vale de Almeida, from 2010 EU ambassador to the US and before that Head of Cabinet of the European Commission President ²⁰, TABD and its allies criticise the validity of the TPD review process. Furthermore, they argue that the revised TPD provides for “arbitrary product prohibitions, stymie the very innovation that could reduce harm to consumers and would, if adopted, potentially violate international trade obligations”. Along the same lines of their opposition to the UK plain packaging proposals, the collective argues that the revised TPD will infringe intellectual property rights and “stimulate even more illicit trade with all its attending damaging consequences”.

TobaccoTactics Resources

• EU Tobacco Products Directive Revision

References

The post TransAtlantic Business Dialogue appeared first on TobaccoTactics.

Background

The Mentor Group has founded the following policy platforms:

• Forum for EU/US Legal-Economic Affairs.²²²³
• Central European Forum for Legal-Economic Affairs (established in 2004). ²³
• Forum for Russian Legal-Economic Affairs (1993-2000).²³
• Library of Economic Freedom and Administrative Power.²²

The Group has also organised high level policy events, including:

• Symposium on Statecraft and the Armed Forces at the Supreme Court of the United States (since 2009). ²⁴ The 2017 event was attended by the Swedish Ambassador to the US. ²⁵
• Seminar for the European Union Judiciaries.²²
• Harvard Seminar on the European Political Economy.²²

Relationship with the Tobacco Industry

British American Tobacco has been a member of the Mentor Group’s Forum for EU/US Legal-Economic Affairs since 1992.
Internal BAT documents show that the Forum served as a platform for large corporations, including BAT, to access senior European Union (EU) decision makers, and attempt to influence EU legislation and regulations that have the potential to harm their business interests.²⁶²⁷²⁸ The Forum has attracted high profile EU speakers in the past. For more information, go to: Forum for EU/US Legal-Economic Affairs.

Funding

The Mentor Group’s 2014 financial filing for the IRS shows that the Group had an income of US$1,085,000 in 2014; US$1,035,000 from membership fees and US$50,000 from a symposium event.²⁹ It employed 8 people that year.²⁹
In its 2017 entry on the EU Transparency Register, the organisation reported to have spent between €600,000 and €699,999 on EU lobbying that year.³⁰

High Level Access to EU Policymakers

In May 2018, Mentor Group representatives met with the most senior EU civil servant, Martin Selmayr.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss “Keynote address; the renewed EU and its relationship with the US: unity trust and the need to preserve the rules based international order”.³¹
The “keynote address” is likely to have been for the 2018 Forum for EU/US Legal-Economic Affairs event. Selmayr has participated in previous Forum meetings, notably in 2013 and 2017.³²³³

TobaccoTactics Resources

• Forum for EU/US Legal-Economic Affairs
• British American Tobacco

References

The post The Mentor Group appeared first on TobaccoTactics.

CCC has stated that it lobbies against “paternalistic” government regulations,³⁶ covering “food and agriculture policies, fat/sugar tax, soda tax, food labelling, health care and harm reduction, trade initiatives (TTIP/TTP), transportation and aviation regulations”.³⁷ It describes itself as a “consumer advocacy group” and a “grassroots movement”³⁸ which “represents consumers in over 100 countries”.³⁹

It has lobbied against the regulation of tobacco products in the EU and other countries, including against plain packaging. In May 2020 CCC set up the World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA), which lobbies for the promotion of e-cigarettes and against their regulation.⁴⁰

Background

CCC’s parent organisation is Students For Liberty (SFL),⁴¹ an American libertarian organisation linked to billionaires Charles and David Koch and partner of the Atlas Network.⁴²⁴³ CCC was listed as a partner of the Atlas Network in its 2018 Annual Report.⁴⁴

In 2017, SFL launched CCC with a budget of  $210,296.⁴⁵ CCC describes itself as “totally open” to corporate donations.⁴⁶

On the EU transparency register, CCC declared total income of close to €7.8 million in its first two years of operation, in the form of donations from unspecified sources.⁴⁷⁴⁸ In 2019 this fell to around €1,000,000.⁴⁹⁵⁰ Its declaration for 2021, published in March 2022, declared no funding.³⁷

The organisation states that it has received financial support from consumer goods, energy, manufacturing, digital, healthcare, cryptocurrency and fin-tech industries.⁵¹ It has also received funding from the Atlas Network (and associated company the Atlas Project), the Geneva Network,⁵² and directly from transnational tobacco companies (see below).³⁹⁵³ An investigation by Le Monde and The Investigative Desk revealed that CCC received a EU€14,000 grant from the Atlas Network in 2018.⁵⁴ According to CCC’s own code of ethics, published on its website, its “campaigns, op-eds, and videos are not sent to supporters before they are released. Partners see our content and outputs at the same time as the general public.”³⁹ It does not detail what other input any supporters might have up to the point of release.

Staff

CCC’s Managing Director is Frederik Roeder.⁵⁵⁵⁶ Prior to working for CCC, Roeder worked for SFL where he co-founded their European Branch.⁵⁴

Other persons that work for, or have previously worked for the CCC:

• Adam Cleave, Senior Adviser (previously worked for Imperial Tobacco)⁵⁷⁵⁸
• Jeff Stier, Senior Fellow, tobacco harm reduction advocate⁵⁹⁶⁰
• Bill Wirtz, Policy Analyst
• Luca Bertoletti, European Affairs Manager
• Yaël Ossowski, Deputy Director⁵⁶
• Maria Chaplia, Research Manager

Many CCC staff have previously held, or currently hold, roles within SFL.⁶¹⁵⁶

Roeder, Bertoletti and Chaplia were registered EU lobbyists in 2017/18.⁴⁸ Bertolleti is also a Director of a public relations company called B&K Agency.⁶²

LATAM Policy Fellow Antonella Marty is the Associate Director of the Center for Latin America at Atlas Network.⁵⁶⁶³ As of March 2022, CCC also had Policy Fellows for South Africa, Nigeria, Taiwan and Indonesia.⁵⁶

Connections with Governments

Peter Liese, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), collaborates with the World Vapers’ Alliance.⁶⁴⁶⁵ In 2022, CCC’s website stated that it was the ‘secretariat’ for a cross party group in the EU Parliament called “Innovation, Brands, and IP – The future of Europe group”, also referred to as “MEPS4Innovation”.⁶⁴⁶⁶ Claiming over 30 members “representing most EU states”, its work areas were listed as: “Digital; Healthcare; Agriculture; Harm Reduction; Consumer Goods” (all of potential interest to tobacco companies).⁶⁶ Despite claims to and the use of the EU Parliament logo on its webpage, this group was not on the list of parliamentary ‘intergroups’ and appeared to have no official role.⁶⁴⁶⁷

In January 2022, Lord Wharton joined CCC as a Strategic Adviser.⁵⁶⁶⁸ James Lord Wharton is a member of the UK House of Lords, was previously an adviser to Boris Johnson and, as of 2022, is Chair of the Office for Students. He lists CCC as one of his Directorships on the UK Government register of interests.⁶⁹

At the same time, Alexander Kvitashvili joined CCC as Public Health Advisor. An independent consultant to the World Health Organization, Kvitashvili was Minister of Healthcare of Ukraine (to 2016), and prior to that Minister of Health of Georgia.⁵⁶⁶⁸

Relationship with the Tobacco Industry

CCC has received funding from Japan Tobacco International (JTI), who co-funded its launch event,⁵¹⁷⁰ JTI was a member of CCC in 2017.⁷¹⁷²³⁹ Upon request, JTI declined to disclose what this membership entailed and how much financial support was linked to it.⁷³

In addition, Roeder contributed to “Regulating Consumers?”, a Euractiv Special Report sponsored by JTI for €10,000.⁷⁴⁷⁵

In 2018, CCC stated that it had received funding from Philip Morris International.⁵¹

Altria has donated an unspecified amount of money to CCC annually from 2018.^76777879

CCC has received funding from British American Tobacco (BAT) since 2019, in support of CCC’s “tobacco harm reduction advocacy”.³⁹⁵⁴

See below for CCC’s outputs relating to e-cigarettes and harm reduction.

• For more on BAT’s commercial interests in this area see Newer Nicotine and Tobacco Products: British American Tobacco.

Attempt to Discredit World Health Organisation (WHO) and IARC

In September 2018, in the run up to the meeting of the 8th Conference of the Parties (COP 8) of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), CCC scheduled three strongly biased roundtables to discuss “WHO’s shortcomings in working towards better global public health and how the WHO actively blocks healthier technologies in the area of harm reduction”.⁸⁰ The events also condemned the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) assessment of the pesticide glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen. None of the invited speakers had public health qualifications.

London, 6 September 2018

Scheduled presentations at the London roundtable included:⁸⁰

• Bill Wirtz, CCC: “Too busy with the wrong Priorities: Does the WHO suffer from Mission Creep?”
• Frederick Roeder, CCC: “Foreign Aid for Public Health and Clandestine Maneuvering: Insights from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control”
• Christopher Snowdon, Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA): “Public Funding of Public Health Activists”
• Daniel Pryor, Adam Smith Institute “How the UK can become a leader in tobacco harm reduction”

Brussels, 10 September 2018

At the Brussels roundtable, the following presentations were on the agenda:⁸¹

• Bill Wirtz, CCC: “Too busy with the wrong Priorities: Does the WHO suffer from Mission Creep?”
• Frederick Roeder, CCC: “Foreign Aid for Public Health and Clandestine Maneuvering sic: Insights from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control”
• “The WHO and The International Agency for Research and Cancer (IARC): How evidence based policies are sabotaged by those who ought enforce them”, by Professor David Zaruk, Odisee University College

Rome, 18 September 2018

The focus of the roundtable in Italy seemed to be on E-cigarettes and the product’s future in Italy. Listed external speakers were:

• Carolina Pellegrini (Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori di Milano)
• Daniele Capezzone (New Direction Italia)
• Alessandro Colucci (Camera dei Deputati)

Lobbying for Newer Nicotine and Tobacco Products

Research with Twitter data by Bath TCRG highlighted the nature of CCC’s activity around meeting of the 8th Conference of the Parties (COP 8), and those of other tobacco industry allies.⁸²

The researchers concluded that:

The nature of the activity on Twitter around COP8, including a substantial online presence by PMI executives and NGP [Next Generation Products, also referred to as newer nicotine and tobacco products] advocates with links to organisations funded directly and indirectly by PMI, is highly consistent with PMI’s 2014 corporate affairs strategy, which described engaging tobacco harm reduction advocates to ‘amplify and leverage the debate on harm reduction’ around events such as the COP.⁸²

After this CCC continued to direct its lobbying efforts to the promotion of e-cigarettes, which it frames as “harm reduction advocacy”. It became more active from 2020, in the run up to COP 9, when it received further funding from BAT.

2018: COP 8

During the meeting of the 8^th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the WHO FCTC in October 2018, the CCC organised the “Nicotine is Not Your Enemy Soirée”. The event advertisement criticised the WHO for “condemning nicotine” and refusing to “support harm reduction” and stated its “hope to convince delegates of COP8 to join us and learn more about harm reduction”.⁸³ Professor Bernd Mayer, who sits on the World Vapers’ Alliance’s advisory board, spoke at the event which also included “live demonstrations of harm-reducing technologies.”⁸³⁸⁴⁸⁵

CCC Director Roeder and Co-Director Ossowski registered as journalists at COP 8, citing their contributions to libertarian news sites, which gave them access to the events sessions. However, their press badges were later suspended for “misrepresentation.”⁵⁴⁸⁵

This lobbying continued after COP 8 and in the run-up to COP 9.

2020

In June 2020, CCC called for the “liberalisation of vaping”.⁸⁶ It also put out a statement arguing that the US State of Georgia’s proposed tax on e-cigarettes would “harm poor consumers”.⁸⁷ CCC also lobbied politicians in Alaska to reject a proposed e-cigarette tax.⁸⁸

In September 2020, CCC published a report called “Why Vape Flavors Matter”, co-written with the WVA. The report argued against proposals to ban e-cigarette flavours in the US and EU.⁸⁹ CCC also lobbied against proposed flavour bans in California, Connecticut and Maine.⁹⁰⁹¹⁹²

In October 2020, CCC published a report called “Vaping and the Gateway Myth”, also co-written with the WVA⁹³⁹⁴ It also recommended that e-cigarette advertising should be allowed.⁹³

Neither report stated that CCC receives tobacco industry funding.

2021: COP 9

CCC submitted evidence to the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for Vapings COP 9 inquiry. The submission said the UK should object to the FCTC’s e-cigarette treaty proposals and instead “champion… harm-reducing technologies such as vaping.” Adding: “with the United Kingdom’s influence, the FCTC could once more achieve its purpose of reducing tobacco consumption around the world.”⁹⁵

In October 2021, a month before COP 9, CCC co-signed a letter “calling on the Biden administration’s WHO delegation to recognise the value of tobacco harm reduction.” The letter said the WHO pursued “quit or die” policies that “keep people using cigarettes.”⁹⁶

The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) launched in May 2020, initially presented as an independent partner organisation of CCC.⁹⁷ WVA later acknowledged it had been established by CCC.⁹⁸ It is linked to Red Flag Consulting a lobbying company which has BAT and CCC as clients.

Investigations by Le Monde and The Investigative Desk showed that WVA was actively lobbying against the regulation of e-cigarettes before and during COP 9, in November 2021.⁵⁴ Videos on the WVA YouTube channel depicted the organisation’s activities, including its “Back Vaping Beat Smoking” branded campaign van and its presence in Geneva (although COP was held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic).⁹⁹

2022

In January 2022, Ossowski wrote an article for CCC’s website, blaming “the public health lobby” for a rise in smoking rates.¹⁰⁰ David Clement, CCC’s North American Affairs Manager, wrote an op-ed in the Financial Post in June 2022 that argued “heavy-handed vaping regulations and taxation do nothing but create more smokers”.⁵⁶¹⁰¹

Lobbying against proposed US menthol ban

Seminar organised by Americans for Tax Reform

In May 2022, Ossowski took part in a virtual seminar, titled “The Devastating Impact of the FDA’s Proposed Menthol & Flavored Cigar Ban”, convened by the Americans for Tax Reform (ATR).¹⁰² All but one of the panellists represented organisations which have accepted tobacco industry funding:

• Tim Andrews represented ATR, which has accepted money from RJ Reynolds (a subsidiary of BAT), Altria, JTI and BAT. ^767779103
• Guy Bentley represented The Reason Foundation, which has accepted money from Altria and is an Atlas Network partner^{4276777879103}
• Major Neill Franklin, represented the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, which in 2019 received more than a third of its funding from RJ Reynolds American.¹⁰⁴ It has also accepted money from Altria.^76777879
• Lindsey Stroud represented the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA), which does not reveal its funding sources. TPA is an Atlas Network⁵⁴Stroud worked for the Heritage Foundation from 2016 to 2020, which has received funding from Altria.¹⁰³¹⁰⁵

CCC Session: “FDA’s Menthol Melee”

In June 2022 CCC hosted a session called “the Menthol Melee” which was chaired by Ossowski.¹⁰⁶ The session included contributions from former law enforcement officers and Micheal Landl (Director of the World Vapers’ Alliance), Jeff Stier (Senior Fellow at CCC and Taxpayers Protection Alliance) and Dr Prritika Kumar (Senior Fellow at R Street Institute).

The speakers argued banning menthol cigarettes would incentivise the illicit tobacco trade and bring police departments into further conflict with black communities. The latter of these arguments is the same used by RJ Reynolds consultants.¹⁰⁴

• See also the long read on Racism and the Tobacco Industry

Lobbying on illicit trade around MOP 2

CCC also lobbies on illicit trade, including the illicit trade of tobacco products.¹⁰⁷ In a July 2020 EU policy paper, “Illicit Trade is Dangerous for Consumers”, CCC argued that to prevent the illicit trade of tobacco products, plain packaging should be rejected, taxes should be limited and there should be no further restrictions on their marketing and advertisement.¹⁰⁸

In November 2021, around the time of the second meeting of the Members of the Parties (MOP 2) to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, CCC organised a webinar on the topic.¹⁰⁹¹¹⁰ This was introduced by the Irish MEP Sean Kelly. Although CCC promoted this as a live event, Mr Kelly’s statement was pre-recorded and he did not take part in the discussion.¹⁰⁹ The other speakers were from a Spanish business forum and a UK based brand consultancy.¹¹⁰

CCC submitted a response to the EU consultation on tobacco taxation in 2021, citing the risk of illicit trade ¹¹¹ Its submission stated that:

“Smoking should be seen as a matter of consumer choice and personal responsibility. Tobacco products should not see any further scrutiny”.¹¹¹

Citing concern over illicit trade is a well-documented industry argument against taxation.

Opposing intellectual property wavier on COVID 19 vaccines

CCC has opposed attempts by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to improve access to COVID-19 vaccines. WTO has considered temporarily waiving intellectual property rights relating to the prevention, containment or treatment of COVID-19, which would allow WTO member countries to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines to cope with demands.¹¹² CCC published an article in May 2021 criticising President Biden’s support of the waiver,¹¹³ and another in June 2022 arguing that the “TRIPS waiver will cost us decades of progress”.¹¹⁴ CCC has also advocated for Germany and Canada to oppose the waiver,¹¹⁵¹¹⁶ and appears to have attempted to influence Members of the European Parliament on the subject, predominantly through its “Innovation, Brands and Intellectual Property- The Future of Europe” group.¹¹⁷

Tobacco companies that are financially linked to CCC have significant investments in COVID-19 vaccine development. BAT announced in April 2020 that its subsidiary, Kentucky BioProcessing, is developing a COVID 19 vaccine, and has since launched a new company, KBio Holdings Limited, to accelerate this development.¹¹⁸ Philip Morris International is a major shareholder in Medicago, a Canadian biotechnology company whose COVID 19 vaccine was approved for use in Canada in February 2022.¹¹⁹

The tobacco industry has a history of using intellectual property arguments to oppose new tobacco control regulations, such as the introduction of plain packaging and graphic health warnings.¹²⁰

• For more information on tobacco industry COVID-19 vaccines see Tobacco Company Investments in Pharmaceutical & NRT Products.

Lobbying against plain packaging

CCC called on EU policymakers to reject plain packing in a July 2020 policy paper, arguing that it “increased the presence of illicit tobacco in all the countries which implemented it.”¹⁰⁷

In March 2021, CCC made a submission to the UK Governments consultation on the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 and the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015. CCC argued “tobacco products should not see any further scrutiny”, that plain packaging “hasn’t proved to be effective” and nor have health warning labels “in helping smokers quit”.¹²¹

CCC also argued that “further bans of vaping products will drive more consumers to illegal products on the unregulated black market, where there is no guarantee of safety or quality. A larger black market will make it even easier for minors to purchase vaping products with no age verifications at all.”¹²¹

Opposed tobacco endgame

CCC has lobbied against proposed tobacco endgame policies in the UK.¹²² For details see Tobacco Industry Interference with Endgame Policies. 

Other Affiliations

• In addition to being scheduled to speak at the anti-WHO event, the IEA was involved in launching the CCC in April 2017. Christopher Snowdon, the IEA’s “Head of Lifestyle Economics”, featured in the promotional video for the CCC’s launch event.¹²³
• At its launch event, the CCC disclosed that it “collaborated with” EPICENTER, a free-market think tank collective, set up and funded by the IEA.¹²⁴
• CCC was represented by Jeff Stier at the launch of Forest EU, a tobacco industry-funded pro-smoking group.¹²⁵

Relevant Links

• Consumer Choice Center website

TobaccoTactics Resources

• Institute of Economic Affairs
• Atlas Network
• World Vapers’ Alliance
• EPICENTER
• Forest EU
• Jeff Stier
• Christopher Snowdon
• Lobby groups

TCRG Research

Exploring the Twitter activity around the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, L. Robertson, A. Joshi, T. Legg et al, Tobacco Control, 11 November 2020, doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2020-055889

References

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