|
|
Special Pre FCTC COP 9 & ITP MOP 2
Edition
4 November 2021
|
|
|---|
|
|
#BIGTOBACCO21 The Vapor Trail
Who is behind the e-cigarettes promotion?
|
|
|---|
|
Under the guise of defending individual freedom, fake consumer organisations are promoting e-cigarettes. They are an illusion to the public and decision-makers, aiming to influence regulation of these new products and to hamper tobacco control. They are secretly funded by the tobacco lobby and the networks of American oil billionaires. The stakes are not just financial. This elusive nebula is working to disseminate a radical right-wing ideology, hostile to government intervention, in the heart of Europe: libertarianism. |
|
|---|
|
"Vaping: The real dollars behind fake consumer organisations" is a newly-published investigation by “Le Monde” and “The Investigative Desk” (Netherlands) that reveals the alliance between the tobacco lobby and the networks of American oil tycoons to prevent regulations on electronic cigarettes. The authors follow the trail of "the minibus of deceit", an electric minibus of the World Vapers’ Alliance touring around European cities since September 2021, with misleading promo messages on e-cigarettes claiming they can
“save 19 million lives” in Europe or calling vaping
“95% less harmful than smoking”. |
|
|---|
|
Journalists discovered that World Vapers’ Alliance is only "the front" for campaigning used by the Consumer Choice Center (CCC) an organisation financially supported by Japan Tobacco International, British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International and Altria. British American Tobacco specifically funds the organisation to support its
“tobacco harm reduction advocacy.” The industry is now using “harm reduction” as a Trojan horse to present itself as a credible interlocutor with the public authorities, without however giving up selling cigarettes, which bring in 596 billion euros each year. One of the industry’s preferred tactics is to set up front groups that carry its message in a more presentable guise.
These front groups manage to interfere with the EU politics in the heart of Europe. The CCC is involved in all legislative processes affecting the interests of the tobacco industry. To inject its ideas into the meanders of European decision-making, the organisation also uses more traditional lobbying actions, devoting about a third of its budget of nearly one million euros to this. They participate directly in the law-making process through written contributions to public consultations organized by the Commission to guide its decisions. In October 2020, the CCC criticized the report of a scientific committee on e-cigarettes, while in June 2021, the CCC was against any form of taxation of tobacco and e-cigarettes. All under the same message of smoking being
“a matter of consumer choice and personal responsibility.” |
|
|---|
|
Sign an Open Letter to the delegates of COP9 to the WHO FCTC: "Harm-reduction" maintains the global tobacco epidemic
|
|
|---|
|
Ahead of the Ninth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP9) to the WHO FCTC, "A Non Smoking Genration" from Sweden has prepared a letter addressed to the delegates, which is endorsed by the ENSP.
|
|
|---|
|
“Tobacco Harm-Reduction Experts” are pushing WHO to loosen its stance on new tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches. These products are falsely marketed as safer and more sustainable options to deadly cigarettes, misleading consumers, media and international institutions. Prior to COP9 to the WHO FCTC, organizations and professors from all continents urge delegates and policymakers to acknowledge nicotine addiction – in all forms – as a threat to global sustainable development, and to protect the future of the world´s young generation.
The purpose of the COP9 is to promote a healthier and more sustainable world through comprehensive tobacco control. There is no time or room for a more tolerant stance towards any types of tobacco and nicotine products. Organizations and professors – working to protect children and youth from nicotine addiction around the world – urge delegates and policymakers to commit to the following actions:
- Strict implementation of the WHO FCTC worldwide
- Strict regulation of all tobacco and tobacco-related products in national legislations
- Exclusion of tobacco industry interference from public health policy
- Exclusion of tobacco and tobacco-related companies from investment portfolios.
|
|
Do not forget to register for upcoming COP9/MOP2 side events!
|
|
|---|
|
5 November: COP9/MOP2 side event "Maximizing Transparency in the lead up to COP9/MOP2 - Milestones & Challenges"
|
|
|---|
|
On 5 November 2021, from 12:30 to 13:30 CET, the Article 5.3 Task Force will host a webinar on the topic of Maximizing Transparency in the lead up to COP9/MOP2 - Milestones & Challenges
. Among other key experts, ENSP Secretary General Cornel Radu-Loghin will participate in the event panel.
The webinar will feature panelists who will discuss:
- Countering tobacco industry interference in the lead up to COP9/MOP2
- Background on tobacco industry interference in relation to COPs
- Maximizing transparency decisions
- Harm reduction: Health argument or another tobacco industry interference tactic
- Profiting from COVID-19: Tobacco Industry and vaccine development (case study)
|
|
|
9 November: ENSP virtual side event during COP9 of the WHO FCTC on implementation of Articles 9 and 10
|
|
|---|
|
|
On 9 November, from 13:00 to 14:00 CET, ENSP organises a side event during COP9 of the WHO FCTC on implementation of Articles 9 and 10.
Under Articles 9 and 10 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), Parties are called to regulate contents and disclosure of tobacco products. A key element entails prohibiting or restricting ingredients that may be used to increase palatability in tobacco products, including flavourings. Effective implementation of this measure requires a greater understanding of the different regulatory approaches, what challenges Parties may be faced with, and how documents for the Ninth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the WHO FCTC can be used to facilitate progress.
The objectives of this session are:
1) To guide Parties on how to use COP documents to maximise implementation of measures to regulate tobacco contents, including flavourings;
2) To help Parties gain an understanding of the nuances of a ban on characterising flavours vs a total ban on flavour additives in tobacco products;
3) To provide Parties with country examples and recommendations for how to mitigate industry challenges surrounding the regulation of flavours in tobacco products, and
This virtual side event of the Ninth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), organized by the European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention*, will feature expert speakers followed by a Q&A session.
|
|
|---|
|
Do you have an event coming up or content to promote?
Would you like to share your best practices or inform about local initiatives?
Share your work and promote you activities among 2.400+ colleagues in Europe and around the globe via
The Network - ENSP monthly newsletter |
|
|
| |
|
|