[Intl-tobacco] BAT slated for 'violating' its under-age smoking policies

[Robert Weissman]

The Independent (UK)

BAT slated for 'violating' its under-age smoking policies


     By Abigail Townsend


       17 April 2005

British American Tobacco has been slammed by a leading ethical
investment firm over under-age smoking in developing countries.

Sweden's GES Investment Services surveyed some of the world's biggest
tobacco companies on the back of the World Health Organisation's
recently introduced convention on tobacco.

The report, "Tobacco Firms and the WHO Convention - sales and marketing
towards minors", singled out BAT, the owner of Lucky Strike and Kent, as
having some of the most extensive compliance procedures among its peers.
But it also criticised the FTSE 100 giant, claiming that it
"continuously violates its own policy in less regulated/ supervised
countries".

In particular, it said BAT had "flooded" Pakistan with advertising and
sponsorships that appealed to teenagers. It also accused the group of
appealing to teenagers in Russia and Nigeria, and using promotional
"gimmicks" that could be attractive to under-age smokers in Uganda.
Russia is seen as a particularly troublesome market, with youth smoking
increasing rapidly in the past 15 years.

"Under-age smoking is a high-risk factor for the tobacco industry and
its investors," said Magnus Furugard, managing director of GES. "Despite
this, many companies have inferior systems to handle the issue, which
also means that it will be difficult for them to comply with the new
tobacco convention."

The convention, which came into effect in February, forces companies to
comply with international standards in a variety of areas of tobacco
sales and marketing. However, a BAT spokeswoman vigorously denied the
claims made in the GES report. She disputed the conclusions on BAT's
activities in Pakistan, Russia, Nigeria and Uganda, adding: "We have
international marketing standards - developed with our competitors and
first published in 2002 - which state nothing that we do should appeal
to youths." She said the cut-off age was 18, even for countries such as
the UK, where smoking is legal from the age of 16.

She also criticised the report: "We find it deeply frustrating that
these concerns are not brought to us directly."

GES surveyed 13 of the world's largest tobacco companies. As well as
BAT, British rivals Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher were included in the
report, as were Marlboro owner Altria, Swedish Match and Spanish firm
Altadis.

It found that 38 per cent of companies lacked a policy guarding against
sales and marketing to minors, while 69 per cent had only a vague
programme on how to implement such a policy, or none at all. All
companies were criticised for not meeting GES's standards on
transparency, although the UK firms had the most favourable ratings
overall. Altadis, which was recently rumoured to be considering a bid
for Imperial Tobacco, had one of the worst.