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British American Tobacco has been accused of “complete double standards” for opposing anti-smoking regulations in Africa which are already enforced in the UK.

Zambian lobbying efforts

Documents seen by journalists sent from the company’s subsidiary in Zambia to the African officials asks for proposals to prohibit tobacco marketing and promotional activities to be abandoned or delayed.

The company is attempting changes to a proposed legislation that include reductions in the suggested dimensions of graphic health warnings on cigarette packaging, the removal of restrictions on flavoured tobacco products, and watered-down penalties for any companies violating the new laws.

Health advocate reaction

“If I was a politician, I would say that they allow the safeguarding of the British people and perpetuate the death of the Zambian people,” said the anti-tobacco campaigner.

Thousands of residents a year die from smoking-associated diseases, according to global health agency statistics.

The advocate mentioned the letter was understood to have been copied to multiple official agencies and was in circulation among public interest organizations.

International corporate influence worries

This occurs during broader worries about industry interference with health policies. Recently, international health experts raised concerns that the tobacco industry was escalating campaigns to weaken global control measures.

“There is proof of industry lobbying globally. Corporate signatures are on postponed duty hikes in Indonesia, stalled legislation in Zambia and even a compromised resolution at the UN international gathering,” stated the corporate monitoring director.

Possible outcomes

“Should anti-smoking legislation fails to be approved because of this letter, the price could be paid in lives of people who might otherwise quit smoking.”

The public health measure progressing through Zambia’s parliament includes regulations surpassing UK legislation by including provisions for e-cigarettes, and requiring that pictorial cautions cover seventy-five percent of product packaging.

Business countermeasures

Via documentation, the company recommends this be reduced to 30% or 50% “following international recommended threshold”, postponed for minimum one year after the legislation is approved.

The WHO actually suggests a warning should cover at least fifty percent of the product container front “and aim to cover as much of the main visible surfaces as possible”. Within Britain, warnings are required to occupy nearly two-thirds of a packet’s front and back.

Flavor restrictions debate

The company seeks the withdrawal of extensive controls on flavoured tobacco products, arguing that it would lead smokers to “illegally traded” products. The corporation recommends prohibiting a smaller list 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 proposed legislation proposes sanctions for multiple violations “varying from a portion of yearly revenue to a decade in prison”.

Corporate defense

Through correspondence, the corporate leader of the Zambian branch says the firm is “committed to ethical business practices” and “endorses the aims of governments to lower tobacco use and the connected wellbeing effects” but claims that “some regulations can have undesirable and unforeseen outcomes.”

Campaigner rebuttal

The campaigner argued the corporation's recommended amendments would “undermine this law so much that the impact needed for it to produce permanent improvement in society will not be achieved”.

The circumstance that multiple comparable regulations were present in the UK, where the corporation is based, was “complete contradiction”, he said.

“We live in a international community. If I plant tobacco in my garden and collect the yield and market the products – and my children do not consume tobacco, but my neighbour’s children do … to profit individually and all the future family lines while my neighbor's family are perishing … is in itself complete moral bankruptcy.”

Tobacco control legislation in the UK or elsewhere had not caused companies to close, Chimbala said. “Legislation never shuts down the industry. It only protects the people.”

Standard business position

The corporate communicator commented: “BAT Zambia conducts its operations according with current country statutes. Further, the corporation engages in the nation's lawmaking procedures in line with the relevant frameworks which provide for stakeholder participation in policymaking.”

The corporation remained “not opposed to regulation”, the representative commented, adding that young individuals should be protected from acquiring smoking products and nicotine.

“We advocate for evolving legislation to achieve intended population health targets, while accepting the variety of privileges and responsibilities on industry, consumers and related stakeholders,” the spokesperson stated, mentioning that the corporation's recommendations “represent the situation of the African nation's economy and tobacco industry, which includes rising levels of illicit trade”.

Zambia’s department of economic activities and commercial operations was solicited for statement.