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Editorial

WHO FCTC article 5.3: promise provides an enormous opening for the
industry to undermine public health

but little progress through working laterally. In fact, ALL gov-

ernment departments of countries that are
Parties to the FCTC, including those that
Ruth E Malone, Stella Aguinaga Bialous negotiate trade treaties, are subject to the
provisions of Article 5.3. They can have
discussions with the industry, as long as
Six years after the Third Session of the control efforts as government personnel these follow a set of rules of interaction,
Conference of the Parties to the WHO develop ‘partner’ relationships with and above all, are fully transparent so that
Framework Convention on Tobacco tobacco industry employees. While illicit the longstanding patterns of secrecy favour-
Control (FCTC) adopted strong imple- tobacco trade is a significant issue for gov- ing the industry are not perpetuated.
mentation guidelines for the treaty’s ernments, research has shown that major In one example of a government pro-
Article 5.3,1 that article’s promise for pro- multinational tobacco companies have viding clear guidance to overseas embas-
tecting tobacco control policymaking themselves been involved in tobacco sies and posts regarding Article 5.3, the
from tobacco industry interference smuggling.8–11 The illicit trade issue is UK bars ‘activities with the specific
remains almost entirely unrealised. While also used as a threat in order to keep purpose of promoting the sale of tobacco
some government agencies, mostly health- cash-strapped governments from enacting or tobacco related products; encouraging
focused, have instituted policies about stronger tobacco control policy measures. investment in the tobacco industry;
contact with industry representatives, no Research has demonstrated that tobacco attending or otherwise supporting recep-
government has fully publicised and companies are funding surveys of ques- tions or high profile events, especially
implemented policies throughout govern- tionable methodological quality which those where a tobacco company is the
ment to insulate the policymaking process inevitably show large increases in illicit sole or main sponsor and/or which are
from tobacco company shenanigans. In trade associated with tobacco control that overtly to promote tobacco products or
fact, in some cases governments seem to are inconsistent with independent the tobacco industry; endorsing or recom-
be moving backward as they develop new surveys.12 13 mending any tobacco company; endorsing
‘partnerships’ with tobacco companies The tobacco companies are also using projects which are funded directly or indir-
around illicit trade issues, particularly international trade treaties to bully ectly by the tobacco industry; etc.’15 This
during negotiations for and adoption in national governments and threaten their may be the first such guidance not devel-
November 2012 of the WHO FCTC sovereignty over their own public health oped primarily via the health sector of a
Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in policies, increasingly in the implementa- government, and it is significant in light of
Tobacco Products. The protocol has spe- tion of packaging and labelling policies stories of embassies protecting the interests
cific language about respecting implemen- (Article 11 of the WHO FCTC). Philip of the multinationals against domestic
tation of Article 5.3 and explicitly Morris International sued Uruguay over policy in host countries, or ignoring the
cautions that obligations under the proto- its large graphic pack warnings and public health implications of industry
col should not be performed by or dele- restrictions on brand variants under a policy involvements. For example, in a
gated to the tobacco industry.2 bilateral trade and investment treaty; the reported recent visit by the Turkish ambas-
For examples of backward-facing initia- company has also sued Australia, Norway sador to Jordan to the Philip Morris
tives, in Azerbaijan, Japan Tobacco and Ireland over attempts to institute International Jordan headquarters, the
International organised a seminar for the plain packaging and retail display bans. company shared with the ambassador its
States Customs Committee to discuss pro- The tobacco industry has also sued Nepal ‘proactive’ strategy on illicit trade, which
gress in addressing cigarette smuggling.3 In and Thailand, and it lost in Sri Lanka but was to reduce tobacco prices!16
Mali, BAT and Imperial tobacco companies it is appealing the Court’s decision. Other countries that are taking Article
are jointly supporting an awareness cam- Tobacco companies are aggressively using 5.3 at least somewhat seriously include
paign on illicit trade with the National the threat of infringement of trade agree- New Zealand, which has a strong code of
Directorate of Trade & Competition4; in ments as a deterrent or negotiating point, conduct that is government wide; Finland,
Namibia, the Ministry of Finance signed a which may have a chilling effect on which has severe restrictions on govern-
Memorandum of Understanding with the tobacco control implementation or at a ment representatives meeting with indus-
Tobacco Institute of South Africa to collab- minimum, as in Namibia, Jamaica, try, and the Philippines, which has
orate in combating illicit trade.5 6 In the Solomon Islands and Sri Lanka, result in a developed ethical guides on tobacco
Caribbean, British American Tobacco weakening or nonenforcement of policies industry interaction that apply to all gov-
hosted an event to discuss contraband for (eg, decrease in the size of warning labels, ernment sectors, although it is unclear
Customs and other government agencies.7 lack of implementation).14 how well implemented these have been.17
These partnerships not only breach the To date, few trade agreement infringe- However, in all cases, the issue is whether
intent and the letter of Article 5.3, they ment arguments have been successful in well-intentioned policies are aggressively
create additional complexity for tobacco international courts (pending several promulgated and enforced.
cases); but it is important to remember that Full implementation of the FCTC is a
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School while issues of trade and trade agreements role of all government agencies—it is not
of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, are important for many countries, as with optional for some and required for
San Francisco, California, USA illicit trade, Parties to the FCTC do not others. Every time a department, agency,
Correspondence to Professor Ruth E Malone, have carte blanche to simply ignore the or any government representative engages
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School
treaty and its Article 5.3. Trade depart- in any activity that breaches Article 5.3, it
of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco,
San Francisco, California 94118, USA; ments may think they are ‘exempt’ from risks setting back progress on all the other
ruth.malone@ucsf.edu Article 5.3, and that mistaken belief provisions of the Treaty. The first

Malone RE, et al. Tob Control July 2014 Vol 23 No 4 279

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Editorial

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280 Malone RE, et al. Tob Control July 2014 Vol 23 No 4

 Downloaded from http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/ on March 31, 2018 - Published by group.bmj.com

WHO FCTC article 5.3: promise but little

progress
Ruth E Malone and Stella Aguinaga Bialous

Tob Control2014 23: 279-280

doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2014-051817

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