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** 2 March 2020
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** International
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** Ireland: Records not kept of meetings with lobbyists (#1)
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** US: Ban on sale of flavoured e-cigarettes and tobacco products passes House (#2)
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** Imperial Tobacco Canada under fire for 'misinformation' ad campaign (#3)
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** US: Mike Pence appointment criticised by health experts (#4)
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** International
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Senior public officials are not keeping records of meetings with lobbyists seeking to influence government policy, according to the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) and the Irish Cancer Society. The charity made the claim in its submission to a review of the state’s lobbying legislation, describing the lack of records as a “grave flaw”.

Despite this, the government has decided not to amend the legislation, concluding that “the regulatory system is generally seen as robust, with compliance the norm”.

The IHF made a number of freedom of information requests for records relating to meetings about the sugar tax between Ibec, an industry lobby group, and government officials last year. Ibec declared in a filing with the lobbying register that it had met officials from departments including agriculture, business, public expenditure and justice. When the IHF sought records relating to the meetings, none of the five departments could find any.

The Irish Cancer Society said in its submission that it had written to Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo) to complain that some lobbying by the tobacco industry might not have been documented in lobbying returns.

Itmac, which represents the tobacco industry insisted that all its lobbying activity was recorded on the register. In its own submission to the review, Itmac complained it was unable to lobby officials in the Department of Health, who cite Article 5.3 of the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which recommends against holding such meetings. It claimed this refusal to meet “violates the spirit” of lobbying legislation, which allows for engagement between private and public officials as long as it is done transparently.

Source: The Times, 1 March 2020
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A bill banning the sale of flavoured e-cigarettes and tobacco products was passed in the House of Representatives on Friday (28 Feb).

In addition to banning the sale of all flavoured items, including menthol, the bill would also place restrictions on marketing for e-cigarettes and some tobacco products, and increase taxes on nicotine. Under the bill, e-cigarette products would be categorized the same as tobacco products and fall under the same marketing guidelines, meaning that advertising could not be aimed at children.

The bill will now head to the Senate, but it's considered unlikely that it will pass. President Donald Trump's administration opposes the bill, the White House said in a statement.

Source: The Sun, 28 February 2020
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** A major Canadian tobacco company has come under fire for a national advertising campaign on e-cigarettes that accuses the media and anti-tobacco groups of intentionally spreading false information. Imperial Tobacco Canada, which sells the Vype brand of e-cigarette and is owned by the world's second largest tobacco company, British American Tobacco, recently launched the campaign in major Canadian newspapers, on billboards and websites across the country.

The Canadian Press reported earlier this month that the campaign was under investigation by Health Canada and health officials in Quebec to determine if it violated advertising rules. The ads show headlines from news stories about vaping, with one of three slogans superimposed over them: "hypocrisy kills," "quit the lies" and "the dangers of misinformation." The headlines used in the campaign are from media outlets largely in the US, with none from Canada.

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Health Canada said it advises Canadians to seek out information from sources that are independent and rely upon scientific evidence, such as a physician or local, provincial or federal government health officials.

"The department recognizes that vaping is a less harmful alternative to smoking for adults who have a dependence on nicotine," the statement says. "However, it is important for Canadians to know that vaping does pose health risks and that the potential short- and long-term effects of vaping remain unknown."

Source: CBC, 29 February 2020
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Donald Trump’s appointment of Vice President Mike Pence to lead the US response to the coronavirus has been met with outrage from health specialists, with one epidemiology professor comparing the appointment to “putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department”.

As an aspiring congressman, Mike Pence once claimed “smoking doesn’t kill”. As governor of the midwestern state of Indiana, he faced heavy criticism for his handling of the situation when the state experienced the worst HIV crisis in its history.
“Time for a quick reality check,” Pence wrote in a post on his website back in 2000, the year he was elected to the House. “Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn’t kill.”

Scientists had long concluded that exactly the opposite was true. When Pence became governor of Indiana, in 2013, he slashed funding for programs designed to prevent smoking and help people quit.

As of 2018, Indiana had the eighth highest rate of cigarette smokers in the country.

Source: The Guardian, 27 February 2020
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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