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The Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) is a trade association for convenience stores in Scotland.1 Its main website states that “The central aim of SGF is to work with policy makers and decision takers in order to help deliver policies that create the right trading environment for all involved in our industry”.2 SGF has campaigned against several public health…

Background In September 2013, the Scottish Government announced that it would press ahead with plans to introduce plain packaging. Also see: * Plain Packaging Opposition in Scotland * Legal Threats * Will O’Reilly By the summer of 2013, the industry and its front organisations had already started scaremongering over illicit tobacco and cigarettes in Scotland.

Background In September 2013, the Scottish Government announced that it would press ahead with plans to introduce plain packaging. See also: * Plain Packaging Opposition in Scotland * Scaremongering over Illicit Tobacco * Will O’Reilly Philip Morris International Threatens to Sue Scottish Government In February 2014, The Scotsman newspaper revealed that PMI was also privately…

Schur Star Systems is one of a number of packaging companies which has been lobbying MEPs in Brussels regarding the EU Tobacco Products Directive. “Significant Economic Consequences” In a letter sent to MEPs in September 2013, the German subsidiary of Schur Star reiterated the tobacco industry line that the TPD would have “significant economic consequences” for the…

This page was archived on 10 January 2020 and is not actively maintained SABMiller was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) on 10 October 2016 and no longer exists as an independent company.94 * For more information on Altria Group investments in the alcohol industry see: Altria Background SABMiller is the world’s second largest beer company, making more…

Rwanda is an East African country with a population of 12.6 million.149 Smoking in Rwanda The 2019 World Health Organization (WHO) report on the global tobacco epidemic, reported that 10.2% of men and 2.2% of women used tobacco daily.150 Tobacco use kills over 2,000 people a year in Rwanda, according to the Tobacco Atlas report.151 Tobacco, Poverty…

Russell and Hart is a communications and public relations company that worked for the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA). It is run by John Russell, who used to work for Bell Pottinger. A TMA document about its budget for 2001 said: “John Russell’s departure from Bell Pottinger has led to the activities undertaken by Bell Pottinger…

The Rural Shops Alliance (RSA) is a national trade association working to support the owners of 8,000 independent rural shops in the United Kingdom.173 Both Imperial Tobacco and BAT are corporate partners to the RSA. They are two of the few large corporations partnering – alcoholic drinks producer Diageo another one – which indicates they are two of…

Background Roy Morgan Research (RMR) is an Australian market research company which has offices throughout Australia as well as in New Zealand, the USA, the UK, and Indonesia. According to its website, RMR is a “proudly independent” company.186 This claim is echoed by the tobacco industry, with British American Tobacco’s (BAT) website describing RMR as “wholly independent” with…

Screengrab of the Common Sense Alliance homepage (April 2013) Roy Ramm was listed as one of the founding members of The Common Sense Alliance. The Common Sense Alliance was founded in August 2012, at the time when the EU Tobacco Products Directive Revision was being debated and the UK was at the close of its first consultation…