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Critics have charged British American Tobacco with “complete double standards” for campaigning against tobacco control measures in Africa that currently exist in the UK.

African regulatory opposition

Correspondence acquired by reporters sent from the firm's affiliate in Zambia to the country’s government ministers demands proposals to prohibit tobacco marketing and promotional activities to be canceled or deferred.

The corporation is pursuing modifications of a pending law that include reductions in the suggested dimensions of graphic health warnings on cigarette packaging, the withdrawal of controls on flavoured tobacco products, and watered-down penalties for any companies violating the new laws.

Anti-tobacco campaigner response

“Were I in government, I would say that they allow the safeguarding of the British people and continue the mortality of the Zambian people,” said the anti-tobacco campaigner.

More than 7,000 Zambians a year die from cigarette-linked health conditions, according to WHO calculations.

The campaigner stated the letter was understood to have been copied to several government departments and was in circulation among civil society groups.

Global industry interference concerns

The situation emerges alongside wider concerns about industry interference with medical guidelines. Last month, international health experts raised concerns that the cigarette manufacturers was intensifying efforts to undermine international regulations.

“There is proof of business advocacy worldwide. Tobacco company fingerprints are on postponed duty hikes in Indonesia, halted laws in Zambia and even a weakened declaration at the UN international gathering,” stated the corporate monitoring director.

Potential consequences

“When public health regulation isn’t passed because of this letter, the consequences may be suffered in lives of people who might otherwise quit smoking.”

The public health measure being considered by Zambia’s parliament includes measures that exceed UK legislation by also applying to e-cigarettes, and requiring that visual health alerts cover 75% of product packaging.

Company alternative suggestions

In the letter, the company recommends this be reduced to thirty to fifty percent “following international recommended threshold”, deferred for no less than 12 months after the legislation is approved.

International experts in fact recommends a warning should cover at least fifty percent of the front of a pack “and seek to occupy as much of the main visible surfaces as possible”. In the UK, warnings are required to occupy nearly two-thirds of a packet’s front and back.

Flavored tobacco discussion

The corporation requests the elimination of comprehensive limitations on scented smoking items, suggesting that it would drive users to “illicitly sold” products. The company proposes banning a limited selection of “flavours based on desserts, candy, energy drinks, soft drinks and alcohol drinks”. Each flavored smoking item have been outlawed across the UK since 2020.

The proposed legislation recommends punishments for various offences “ranging from a percentage of annual turnover to a decade in prison”.

Business explanation

Via documentation, the managing director of British American Tobacco Zambia says the company is dedicated to responsible corporate conduct” and “supports the objectives of governments to decrease cigarette consumption and the related medical consequences” but claims that “certain measures can have negative and unanticipated results.”

Activist reaction

Chimbala said the company's suggested modifications would “weaken this legislation so much that the necessary effect for it to cause long-term change in society will not be achieved”.

The reality that many such provisions were present in the UK, where the corporation is based, was “utter hypocrisy itself”, he stated.

“We reside in a connected world. Should I grow cigarettes in my property and gather the crop and sell it out – and my children do not consume tobacco, but my neighbour’s children do … to profit individually and all the subsequent offspring while my community's youth are perishing … is in itself total emotional failure.”

Tobacco control legislation in the UK or elsewhere had failed to shutter businesses, the campaigner stated. “Legislation never shuts down the industry. Measures simply defend the people.”

Official corporate statement

The company representative said: “The corporation runs its operations according with applicable local laws. Additionally, the company participates in the state's regulatory development in line with the appropriate structures which provide for relevant group engagement in policymaking.”

The corporation remained “not opposed to regulation”, the representative commented, noting that young individuals should be protected from obtaining cigarettes and nicotine.

“We support evolving legislation to achieve intended population health targets, while recognizing the range of entitlements and duties on businesses, users and involved parties,” the spokesperson stated, noting that the corporation's recommendations “reflect the realities of the local commercial environment and tobacco industry, which includes increasing amounts of black market activity”.

The country's office of trade, commerce and industry was solicited for statement.