Latest African tobacco industry interference news
Announcing the winners of the 2020 ATIM-BETA competition to expose Big Tobacco’s influence on health policies in Africa
The Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research (ATIM) Building Effective Tobacco Control Advocates in Africa (BETA) project is glad to announce the winners of the 2020 ATIM-BETA competition to expose Big Tobacco’s influence on health policies in Africa. In July 2020, ATIM-BETA in collaboration with the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), sent […]
ATIM Press release: New South African studies support the urgent need to regulate e-cigarettes
Research on e-cigarettes conducted by prominent public health researchers has emphasised the need to speedily pass the Control of Tobacco and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill (2018) into law. Two years have passed since the Bill closed for public comments in August 2018, during which time the e-cigarette industry, currently largely unregulated, has further taken hold […]
Press Release: ATCA and CSO’s ask Google to ban apps that encourage purchase and consumption of smoking and vaping products
The Africa Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) and 178 other Civil Society Organizations have made a call to Google to implement a policy that forbids applications on the Google Play store that support the buying and consumption of smoking and vaping products. The call is made in line with the view that vaping products are being […]
Uganda Tobacco Industry Monitoring Report
The Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research (ATIM) has published the Uganda Tobacco Industry Monitoring report. This is one of a series of reports on tobacco industry monitoring in Sub-Saharan Africa prompted by the need to provide a structured report of country experiences of tobacco industry interference and tobacco control. The aim […]
Nigeria Tobacco Industry Interference Report launched
On the 20th of September, the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) and the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) launched the 2020 tobacco industry interference index report for Nigeria. The report covering the 2018 and 2019 period shows that Nigeria has an overall score of 49. In the report, tobacco control advocates state that […]
South Africa needs to curb Illicit cigarette trade
South Africa has an illicit cigarettes trade problem. The tobacco industry has always used the threat of illicit trade as the rationale to request government not to increase excise taxes and more recently, even suggested to the standing committee on finance to freeze excise tax for three years which was rejected. The Tobacco industry is […]
South Africa Tobacco Industry Interference report launched
The South Africa National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) together with the Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research (ATIM) and the University of Capetown Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products (REEP) launched the South Africa Tobacco Industry Interference report on Thursday 13 August 2020. The report forms part of the Global Tobacco […]
Exposer l’influence du tabac sur les politiques de santé dans votre pays
SMU-ATIM vous invite à participer à un appel candidature pour exposer les tactiques de l’industrie du tabac pendant la pandémie COVID-19 en Afrique. L’interférence de l’industrie du tabac est l’un des principaux obstacles à la lutte antitabac sur le continent africain. L’industrie du tabac est connue pour ses nombreuses tactiques visant à décourager l’adaptation et […]
Expose Big Tobacco’s influence on health policies in your country
SMU-ATIM invites you to participate in an open call to expose the tobacco industry tactics during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. Tobacco industry interference is one of the major barriers of tobacco control in the African continent. The tobacco Industry is known to adopt several tactics to deter the adaptation and implementation of effective tobacco […]
What is Article 5.3 and why is it important?
Understanding the convention articles
Article 5.3 is the section of the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control which provides guidance on how to handle interference from the tobacco industry. There are four principles:
* There is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry’s interests and public health policy interests.
* Parties, when dealing with the tobacco industry or those working to further its interests, should be accountable and transparent.
* Parties should require the tobacco industry and those working to further its interests to operate and act in a manner that is accountable and transparent.
* Because their products are lethal, the tobacco industry should not be granted incentives to establish or run their businesses.
Under these guidelines, there are eight recommendations. These include:
* Raise awareness about tobacco industry interference among all those working in all branches of government and among the public.
* Avoid any interaction with the tobacco industry except where necessary to enable them to effectively regulate tobacco products and the tobacco industry. Where interactions do take place, they must be conducted transparently.
* Reject partnerships, non-binding or non-enforceable agreements with the industry, including voluntary codes of conduct, industry-sponsored tobacco control initiatives or industry offers to assist with the development of tobacco control legislation or policy.
* Develop clear policies on avoidance of conflicts of interest for government officials, employees, consultants and contractors. A wide range of specific steps are recommended within the guidelines.
* Require disclosure of information by the tobacco industry to promote transparency. This must include tobacco production, manufacture, sales and content, as well as industry lobbying, philanthropy, political donations.
* Denormalise and regulate activities described by the industry as “socially responsible” and expose the real intent – such as making the industry seem benevolent towards the population – behind these activities. ‚
* Do not give any benefits, tax exemptions or other incentives to the tobacco industry.
* Treat any state-owned tobacco industry no differently from privately-owned tobacco companies