Articles

Pakistan Alliance for Nicotine and Tobacco Harm Reduction (PANTHR) is a project of Alternative Research Initiative (ARI). Its stated aim is to promote “innovative solutions for smoking cessation”.12 PANTHR’s website  states that the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW), a foundation wholly funded by Philip Morris International (PMI), is its sole partner.1 ARI has…

Issue at a glance The definition of noncriminal corruption is “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain”.27 Criminal corruption are illegal acts of corruption, as defined by each country’s domestic laws (e.g., bribery, fraud and trading in influence). There are grey areas of corruption: some practices can be considered unethical or dishonest (i.e. noncriminal corruption), such as industry…

Issue at a Glance The “Tobacco Transformation Index” (TTI) is a project of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW). It describes itself as an “objective” index for measuring the corporate transformation of the tobacco industry.6465 However, FSFW is wholly-funded by Philip Morris International (PMI), the second-largest transnational tobacco company in the world. The lack of…

Jody Begley was appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Altria in September 2020.142 Long Career with Altria Begley joined Philip Morris USA, an Altria company, in 1995, where he held various positions including:143 Vice President, Brand Management Vice President, Strategy & Business Development Vice President, Marketing & Promotion Services Vice President: Brand Management, Smokeless Vice President, Brand…

Gregoire Verdeaux was appointed Senior Vice President External Affairs at Philip Morris International (PMI) in September 2020. His appointment followed the retirement Marc S. Firestone as SVP External Affairs and General Counsel. Firestone was succeeded by Suzanne Rich Folsom as General Counsel.148 Revolving Door Verdeaux began his career in 1995 in the French civil service as an adviser…

Philip Morris International (PMI) was the last of the transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) to enter the market for e-cigarettes (also known as electronic nicotine delivery systems, or ENDS). In November 2013, the company announced that it was going to produce its own e-cigarette.154 By 2020, PMI had several e-cigarette brands in its product portfolio: Nicocigs, Solaris, IQOS Mesh (later…

Tobacco industry corporate social responsibility (CSR) donations and programmes often focus on education. This type of CSR is part of a longstanding industry strategy recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having “no beneficial outcomes for youth” and that enables tobacco companies to “gain the mantle of good corporate citizenship”.238 Publicly, the tobacco industry has always maintained that…

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes with a focus on health, both public and personal, are a key aspect of the tobacco industry’s CSR activity. Few tactics are more “cynical” or more of an “inherent contradiction”, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).253 CSR in the field of health allows the industry to gain reputational legitimacy,254 access policy…

Background Latin America and the Caribbean is composed of 33 countries, covering the territory from Mexico to Argentina, including the Caribbean islands.281 The region includes some of the countries with the highest population in the world, such as Mexico and Brazil. In 2018, the total population for the region was more than 641 million people, according to World Bank…

Child labour is a prevalent and long standing issue in the tobacco growing sector.372 The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations (UN) agency that establishes labour standards, policies and programmes. ILO Convention No.182, which was adopted in 1999 and bans the “worst forms of child labour”, put pressure on the tobacco industry to address the issue of…