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Serious Fraud Office closes bribery probe into British American Tobacco
The UK Serious Fraud Office has closed its investigation into corruption at British American Tobacco after finding insufficient evidence to bring charges against the tobacco company, its subsidiaries or related individuals. The agency began investigating the cigarette group in 2017 after claims it had bribed officials in east Africa to undermine anti-smoking laws.
The SFO said on Friday that the evidence gathered “did not meet the evidential test for prosecution as defined in the Code for Crown Prosecutors”. To bring charges, the agency must uncover proof that supports a realistic chance of conviction and the prosecution must be in the public interest for it to pursue a case.
The claims against BAT first surfaced in a BBC Panorama programme in 2015, when former employee Paul Hopkins said he had been paying bribes to gain a foothold in the fast-growing east African market. He had worked for BAT in Kenya for 13 years.
The SFO’s decision to drop the case echoes difficulties it has faced in other cross-border probes. In 2019, director Lisa Osofsky closed its investigations into GlaxoSmithKline and individuals associated with Rolls-Royce after concluding neither met the test for prosecutors. It underlined the challenges faced by the agency in securing convictions against companies and bringing prosecutions against executives for financial crime.
Source: FT, 15 January 2020
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Think tank finds council tax and levies on fuel, alcohol and tobacco hit poorer regions harder
A centre-right think tank is lobbying Boris Johnson to make tax reform part of his “levelling up” agenda, after a new report revealed that people in the UK’s poorer regions lose a greater share of their incomes than Londoners to council tax and “sin taxes” on alcohol, tobacco and fuel.
A new report by the centre-right think tank Onward, produced for the levelling-up taskforce of Conservative MPs, argues that a faster impact can be produced through the tax system, by targeting levies that impose a disproportionate burden on poorer parts of the country.
The group’s director, former Downing Street aide Will Tanner, identified reforms to council tax, capital allowances and personal income tax allowances as measures that could boost regional opportunity and growth.
The average Londoner pays £210 a year in tobacco and alcohol duties, compared with £469 in Northern Ireland, according to the report.
Editorial note: Onward’s corporate funders include Juul Labs - Thank you to our supporters | ukonward.com
Source: The Independent, 18 January 2020
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US: FSFW accused of serving interests of tobacco industry
The controversial Foundation for a Smoke-Free World is being sued by a former employee, who claims she was fired for raising concerns about its ties with the tobacco industry. The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World was set up in 2017 with a mission to “end smoking in this generation”. The New York-based group was backed financially by Philip Morris International, one of the world’s largest tobacco groups, which originally pledged to contribute $80m annually to the tax-exempt organisation.
Lourdes Liz, who until February last year worked as the foundation’s director of social media, filed a lawsuit in a New York court on Wednesday alleging that her former employer had carried out activities “designed to increase the profits of and to do the bidding of” Philip Morris and its former parent company, Altria. The lawsuit claimed that Ms Liz had been forced out of her job after she questioned why the foundation was promoting vaping in the name of tobacco reduction.
The lawsuit filed by Ms Liz claimed that the foundation’s president Derek Yach had together with advertising firm Ogilvy proposed campaigns featuring Instagram influencers performing vaping tricks, such as blowing bubbles. The campaign, which never went live, was “clearly targeted at teenagers and adolescents”, the lawsuit read.
The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World said it had not yet filed a formal response to the complaint but added it intended to “deny the material allegations and defend against it vigorously”. The group said it was funded by “annual gifts” from Philip Morris but stated that it remained independent from the tobacco group. Philip Morris declined to comment.
Source: FT, 16 January 2020
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Canada: Anti-smoking group focuses on digestive cancers related to cigarettes for tobacco-free week
The Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health is raising awareness of the unknown impacts of cigarettes on the digestive system in its 44th ‘Week for a tobacco-free Quebec’, particularly on digestive cancers - liver, colorectal, pancreas, stomach and oesophagus.
At a news conference on Sunday morning, gastroenterologist Nicolas Benoit stressed that these cancers are particularly problematic because they are often diagnosed too late. For example, in the case of pancreatic cancer, in more than eight out of 10 cases, the patient cannot be operated on because the cancer is already too advanced. For this specific cancer, 20 to 25 per cent of diagnoses are linked to tobacco.
In the case of oesophageal cancer, one in two cases is linked to smoking, according to Benoit. The gastroenterologist insisted that it is never too lat to quit smoking, since over time the risk of developing cancer will decrease.
"There are even studies that show us that after five to 10 years, our risk can return to a risk like the general population," he said.
Source: The Canadian Press, 17 January 2021
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US Study: Vaping reduces inflammatory biomarkers, compared to smoking
A new study has found that vaping reduces inflammatory biomarkers associated with smoking tobacco. The research, reported in the journal Circulation, used a study conducted in the US. The Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) was administered in cycles beginning in 2013. The dataset is from this first cycle using data of participants' smoking habits along with blood samples. The researchers looked specifically at metabolites, biomarkers, of inflammation and oxidative stress – the culprits felt to underlie tobacco's harmful effects. In addition to the usual demographic data, there was specific information on the use or non-use of tobacco, vaping, and cigarette smoking.
Results reflect findings for adults age 18 or older, where data on biomarkers and tobacco use were available – 7130 participants overall. Exclusive and dual smokers had the highest inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers relative to nonusers. Exclusive vapers had "significantly lower levels" than smokers. While vaping inflammatory biomarkers were elevated compared to nonusers, those differences were not statistically significant. There was also no significant difference in the elevation of biomarkers between the exclusive smokers and dual smokers - the additive effect of e-cigarettes was low if present at all.
E-cigarettes appear to have little impact on inflammatory biomarkers, certainly not as great as smoking tobacco. The author said that the results "…highlight the importance of completely replacing cigarette smoking with e-cigarettes or quitting the use of both products for cigarette smokers to derive potential health benefits."
Source: American Council on Science and Health, 15 January 2021
Circulation. Association of Cigarette and Electronic Cigarette Use Patterns With Levels of Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress Biomarkers Among US Adults. 4 January 2021.
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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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