An alarming level of clout

Interference of tobacco companies in government activities on tobacco control is the second highest in Bangladesh among Asian countries, according to a recent study.

Progotir Jonno Gyan (PROGGA), an anti-tobacco research organisation in Bangladesh conducted the study titled “Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2018” between January and April this year, with technical support of Thailand-based Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance.

The findings of the study were unveiled at a seminar jointly organised by PROGGA and Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) at Cirdap conference centre in Dhaka yesterday.

The companies mostly interfere in taxation and policymaking activities of Bangladesh government, and the ministries for finance, agriculture and industries as well as National Board of Revenue (NBR) get interfered with the most, said the study.

Among 10 Asian countries included in the study, Indonesia faces the highest interference, while Brunei is the lowest, it said. The other countries are: Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines.

PROGGA conducted the study analysing various events of interference done by tobacco companies over the government in 2016 and 2017. It also analysed what actions the government took to deal with the interferences.

Then, it prepared an index comparing recent data of the nine other countries, where such study has also been conducted. The organisation claimed to have conducted this type of study in Bangladesh for the first time.

The study said the interferences significantly hamper the progress of tobacco control initiatives of Bangladesh. If such situation continues, it will be tough for the country to achieve the goal of being free of tobacco within 2040.

The focus of the study was on the progress which the government made in implementing Article 5.3 of World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2004.

In the article, WHO asks all governments which ratified FCTC to stay free of interference of the tobacco industry while taking measures for tobacco control.

Indonesia, the only country that ranks worse than Bangladesh as per the study, is a non-party to the FCTC.

The study said Bangladesh government is supposed to take specific measures and formulate a policy to be free of interferences of tobacco companies, as it adopted the guidelines of the article in 2008. But, those are yet to be implemented.

Providing examples of the interferences, PROGGA said the government reduced the proposed tax on biri (locally made cigarette) from 35 percent to 30 percent in the budget of 2017-18 fiscal, because the finance ministry was influenced by recommendations from the tobacco industry.

Besides, NBR has approved a 25 percent tax waiver on export of tobacco products by factories located in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs), it added.

The study said several high government officials hold positions in British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) as the government owns 10.85 percent shares in BATB, which is self-contradictory.

Although the country's tobacco control act requires pictorial health warnings to be printed on top 50 percent space of tobacco packs, the tobacco industry received permission to print the warnings on the less effective lower half of the packs, it said.

Contrary to the WHO article's guidelines, several government officials are engaged in tobacco companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.

To overcome the present situation, the study suggested the government remove all taxation privileges for tobacco companies, disclose all interactions with tobacco companies, impose a ban on using subsidised fertiliser for tobacco cultivation.

It also recommended formulation of a code of conduct for all government officials in dealing with the tobacco industry, and a ban on participation of government officials in CSR activities and award ceremonies of the tobacco industry.

Presenting the study findings, Hasan Shahriar, one of its lead researchers, said the implementation of the guidelines of the Article 5.3 in Bangladesh is “not satisfactory”, as the country scored 78 out of 100.

“The government should implement the recommendations to accelerate the country's tobacco control activities as well as to be free of interferences of tobacco companies,” said Hasan, a project coordinator of PROGGA.

Citing recent studies, he also said tobacco kills over 1,62,100 people in Bangladesh every year, and the financial losses of tobacco use here is around Tk 158.6 billion annually.

Speaking as chief guest at the programme, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said they will consider the recommendations of the study and its reflection will be found in the next budget.

Inter-Parliamentary Union President Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Chief Coordinator for SDG affairs at the Prime Minister's Office Abul Kalam Azad and Dhaka University's former Vice-Chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique also spoke at the programme.