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British American Tobacco has been accused of “complete double standards” for lobbying against anti-smoking regulations in Africa that currently exist in the UK.

Zambian lobbying efforts

Documents seen by journalists dispatched by the company’s subsidiary in Zambia to the country’s government ministers requests measures restricting tobacco marketing and promotional activities to be scrapped or postponed.

The corporation is pursuing changes to a pending law that include decreasing the suggested dimensions of pictorial cautions on cigarette packaging, the removal of restrictions on scented cigarette varieties, and diminished punishments for any firms breaking the new laws.

Activist commentary

“Were I in government, I would say that they permit the protection of the British people and sustain the fatalities of the Zambian people,” stated the anti-tobacco campaigner.

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

The advocate mentioned the letter was believed to have been distributed to several government departments and was in circulating through civil society groups.

Worldwide lobbying patterns

This occurs during broader worries about corporate intervention with medical guidelines. Recently, global health authorities issued a warning that the cigarette manufacturers was intensifying efforts to weaken global control measures.

“Evidence exists of corporate influence worldwide. Tobacco company fingerprints are on postponed duty hikes in Indonesia, stalled legislation in Zambia and even a diluted statement at the UN high-level meeting,” stated the corporate monitoring director.

Likely impacts

“If a tobacco control measure isn’t passed because of this letter, the price could be paid in human lives who might otherwise quit smoking.”

The tobacco control bill going through Zambia’s parliament includes regulations surpassing UK legislation by also applying to e-cigarettes, and stipulating that visual health alerts cover seventy-five percent of product packaging.

Business countermeasures

Via documentation, BAT suggests this be decreased to thirty to fifty percent “according to global suggested parameters”, postponed for minimum one year after the bill passes.

International experts in fact recommends a warning should cover at least half of the cigarette package face “and aim to cover as much of the principal display areas as possible”. In the UK, warnings are required to occupy 65% of a cigarette pack surfaces.

Flavored tobacco discussion

The corporation requests the removal of broad restrictions on scented smoking items, suggesting that it would drive users to “illegally traded” products. The corporation recommends restricting fewer varieties of “flavours based on desserts, candy, energy drinks, soft drinks and alcohol drinks”. Each flavored smoking item have been prohibited in Britain since 2020.

The draft bill proposes sanctions for multiple violations “varying from a fraction of annual sales to ten-year jail sentences”.

Business explanation

In the letter, the corporate leader of British American Tobacco Zambia claims the company is dedicated to good corporate behaviour” and “endorses the aims of governments to lower tobacco use and the related medical consequences” but asserts that “specific rules can have negative and unanticipated results.”

Activist reaction

The advocate stated the corporation's recommended amendments would “dilute these regulations so much that the impact needed for it to create lasting transformation in society will not be achieved”.

The fact that multiple comparable regulations were present in the UK, where BAT is headquartered, was “utter hypocrisy itself”, he said.

“We live in a international community. If I plant tobacco in my back yard and gather the crop and market the products – and my family members avoid tobacco, but my neighbour’s children do … to enrich myself and all the future family lines while my neighbor's family are succumbing … is in itself absolute spiritual failure.”

Public health laws in the United Kingdom or other countries had failed to shutter businesses, Chimbala said. “Laws don't eliminate the industry. It only protects the people.”

Official corporate statement

The corporate communicator said: “The corporation runs its operations according with current country statutes. Moreover, the corporation engages in the state's regulatory development in line with the relevant frameworks which allow for stakeholder participation in regulation development.”

The company was “not resisting legislation”, the spokesperson stated, noting that minors should be shielded from access to tobacco and nicotine.

“We support evolving legislation to achieve intended public health goals, while acknowledging the spectrum of entitlements and duties on corporations, customers and associated groups,” they said, adding that BAT’s proposals “mirror the circumstances of the African nation's economy and smoking product business, which includes increasing amounts of illicit trade”.

The country's office of business, commercial affairs and industrial development was approached for comment.