[Intl-tobacco] BAT's 'report to society' -- ASH UK's preemptive response

[Robert Weissman]

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:33:00 -0400
From: Anna White <awhite@essential.org>

Dear Friends,

A month or so ago we forwarded you an appeal from ASH-UK for examples of
egregious British American Tobacco conduct around the world -- to
counter a "report to society" that the company is expected to release in
June.  ASH-UK's preemptive report is now available on-line. It includes
several examples submitted by GPTC participants. THIS EXCELLENT REPORT
IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED READING!

For a more detailed description and links, please see below.

Anna
Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control
Essential Action

#####
NOTE FROM CLIVE BATES, DIRECTOR, ASH-UK RE: "THE OTHER REPORT TO
SOCIETY"

Dear friends

You may know that British American Tobacco, the worlds most
international tobacco company, is going through a 'stakeholder dialogue'
involving many countries.  It is preparing what it calls a 'report to
society' in which auditors will appraise its social and ethical
performance - that report is expected in June.  This is part of the
company's strategy to be seen as a 'responsible company in a
controversial industry'.

In response and so that we will be prepared for BAT's report when it is
published, ASH with input from several organisations has prepared 'the
other report to society' which aims to describe what's anti-social and
unethical about BAT,  all in a handy 46 page report with extensive links
to source material. This is now available on our web site at:

Summary with section-by-section links to the main report
http://www.ash.org.uk/html/conduct/html/reporttosocietysum.html

HTML for detail and sources
http://www.ash.org.uk/html/conduct/html/reporttosociety.html

PDF for printing and reading at leisure
http://www.ash.org.uk/html/conduct/pdfs/reporttosociety.pdf

Please feel free to use these in any way you see fit.

Regards

Clive Bates
ASH
-----------------

The main headings are as follows....

BAT’s social auditing initiative and ASH’s response.
Deceit about BAT’s core business.
Harm caused by BAT’s products.
Quantifying the impact of BAT’s business on human health.
Harm caused to non-smokers.
BAT’s approach to passive smoking.
BAT’s scientific PR effort on passive smoking.
Negative economic impacts.
Value of tobacco employment
Impact on poverty and hunger
Negative environmental impacts.
Misleading branding - lights
False youth smoking prevention initiatives.
Smuggling.
Racketeering and money laundering.
Price fixing.
Shredding documents.
Unethical public relations.
Human and labour rights.

BAT in action.
1. Malaysia – World Cup 2002.
2. Niger – World Cup 2002.
3. Beach volleyball in Gambia.
4. Smoking parties in South Africa.
5. Legal action against tobacco legislation in Saskatchewan.
6. Action against smoke-free initiatives in Uganda.
7. Australian hotels.
8. Threats and alarmism in Ukraine about the World Health Organisation.
9. Stakeholder research in Uganda.
10. Mauritius: a microcosm of bad practice.
11. Hypocrisy in Australia.
12. Claiming safer cigarettes without any evidence

Recommendations.
References and links.


Enjoy!


Clive Bates
Director
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
102 Clifton Street
London EC2A 4HW
T: +44 (0)20 7739 5902
M: +44 (0)77 6879 1237
F: +44 (0)20 7613 0531
W: www.ash.org.uk
E: clive.bates@dial.pipex.com