scholarly journals Tobacco industry’s elaborate attempts to control a global track and trace system and fundamentally undermine the Illicit Trade Protocol

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna B Gilmore ◽  
Allen W A Gallagher ◽  
Andy Rowell
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Regulatory Capture ◽  
Excise Tax ◽  
Illicit Trade ◽  
Philip Morris ◽  
Tax Payments ◽  
Data Investigation ◽  
Front Groups ◽  
T System

BackgroundThe Illicit Trade Protocol (ITP) requires a global track and trace (T&T) system to reduce tobacco smuggling. Given the tobacco industry’s (TI) historical involvement in tobacco smuggling, it stipulates that T&T ‘shall not be performed by or delegated to the tobacco industry’. This paper explores the rationale for & nature of the TI’s effors to influence the ITP & its T&T system.MethodsAnalysis of leaked TI documents and publicly available data; ,investigation of front groups, trademark and patent ownership.FindingsGrowing & diverse sources of evidence indicate that the TI remains involved in tobacco smuggling and that TI cigarettes account for around two-thirds of the illicit cigarette market. The TI therefore has a vested interest in controlling the global T&T system aimed to curtail this behaviour. To this end, Philip Morris International (PMI) adapted its pack marker system, Codentify, to meet T&T requirements, licensed it for free to its three major competitors who then collectively promoted it to governments using front groups and third parties including companies claiming to be independent despite clear TI links. PMI also sought to suggest Codentify was independent by selling some parts of its intellectual property on Codentify while retaining others, leaving a complex web of shared interests. In Africa, British American Tobacco used payments to obtain data suggesting its smaller competitor companies were evading taxes and secure influence with tax authorities. Regulatory capture has been enhanced by a public relations effort involving TI funding for conferences, training, research, and international police and anti-corruption organisations. Collectively this has created public messaging and a powerful network of organisations supportive of the TI’s misleading postion on illicit.ConclusionsGovernments should assume the TI seeks to control T&T systems in order to avoid scrutiny and minimise excise tax payments and that any T&T system based on Codentify, on intellectual property currently or previously owned by the TI, or being promoted or implemented by companies with TI links, is incompatible with the ITP and would not serve to reduce illicit trade.

scholarly journals Tracking and tracing the tobacco industry: potential tobacco industry influence over the EU’s system for tobacco traceability and security features

2019 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2019-055094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen William Andrew Gallagher ◽  
Anna B Gilmore ◽  
Michael Eads
Keyword(s):  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
Data Repository ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Technical Standards ◽  
Illicit Trade ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Philip Morris ◽  
History Of ◽  
Transnational Tobacco Companies ◽  
T System

BackgroundSubsequent to the transnational tobacco companies’ (TTC) history of involvement in tobacco smuggling, the Illicit Trade Protocol (ITP) requires that tobacco tracking and tracing (T&T) systems be established independent of the industry. In response, TTCs developed a T&T system, originally called Codentify, promoting it via an elaborate set of front groups to create a false impression of independence. The European Union (EU) is one of the first and largest jurisdictions to operationalise T&T. We explore how industry efforts to influence T&T have evolved.MethodsAnalysis of tobacco industry documents, policy documents, submissions to a relevant consultation and relationships between the tobacco industry and organisations proposed by it and approved by the European Commission to provide a data repository function within the EU’s T&T system.Findings17 months after TTCs sold Codentify to Inexto and Philip Morris International claimed Inexto was independent, leaked documents suggest TTCs and Inexto continued to have a financial and operational relationship. Inexto’s meetings with TTCs, engagement with EU Member States and promotion of industry-favoured technical standards suggest TTCs influenced Inexto’s activities, using the company to undermine EU T&T. The EU’s T&T system appears to be inconsistent with the ITP due to its ‘mixed’ governance and seven of eight organisations approved as data repository providers having pre-existing industry business links.ConclusionsTTC’s efforts to maximise their control and minimise external scrutiny of T&T systems seriously limit attempts to address tobacco smuggling. Countries implementing T&T should be alert to such efforts and should not replicate the EU system.

scholarly journals Analysis of the illicit tobacco market in Georgia in response to fiscal and non-fiscal tobacco control measures

2021 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2020-056404
Author(s):  
Megan Little ◽  
Hana Ross ◽  
George Bakhturidze ◽  
Iago Kachkachishvili
Keyword(s):  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
Tobacco Consumption ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Cigarette Consumption ◽  
Control Law ◽  
Excise Tax ◽  
Cigarette Taxes ◽  
Illicit Trade ◽  
Cigarette Pack

BackgroundGeorgian illicit cigarette consumption was 1.5% in 2017. In 2018, a new tobacco control law took effect followed by a substantial cigarette excise tax increase in 2019. Research shows these policies reduce tobacco consumption, but the tobacco industry argues they increase illicit trade. There is limited evidence on this, particularly from developing countries.MethodsA panel household survey in Georgia obtained data over three waves: 2017 baseline, 2018 after the tobacco control law took effect and 2019 after taxes increased. A sample of 1578 smokers (and quitters in later waves) from five regions reported their tobacco use and were asked to present a cigarette pack in their possession. These were examined for tax stamps and health warnings to establish legality.FindingsThere was no evidence of an increase in illicit cigarette consumption in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Akhaltsikhe or Gori in any wave. In Zugdidi, near the Russian-occupied Abkhazia, illicit cigarette consumption was increasing even prior to the tax increase, reaching 30.9% by wave 3. A country-wide shift occurred from manufactured cigarettes to roll-your-own tobacco (whose tax remained unchanged) between waves 2 and 3.ConclusionNo evidence of a country-wide increase in illicit cigarette trade was found after non-fiscal tobacco measures took effect and cigarette taxes increased. Relatively high illicit cigarette consumption in Zugdidi highlights the role of disputed territories and border administration in illicit cigarette supply. Substitution towards roll-your-own tobacco after manufactured cigarette taxes increased demonstrates the importance of equalising taxes on tobacco products to maximise public health benefits.

scholarly journals Analysis of submissions to the EU’s public consultation on tobacco traceability and security features

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Gallagher ◽  
K A Evans-Reeves ◽  
A B Gilmore ◽  
A Joshi
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
Public Consultation ◽  
Multiple Choice Questions ◽  
Consultation Process ◽  
Trade Associations ◽  
Policy Positions ◽  
Illicit Trade ◽  
Lobbying Effort ◽  
T System

Abstract Background The Illicit Trade Protocol (ITP) requires all Parties to establish a tobacco track and trace (T&T) system. In 2016, the European Commission held a public consultation on T&T implementation in which interested parties were asked to respond online to 22 multiple-choice questions and were given additional opportunities to leave comments if desired. In May 2019, the EU's T&T system became operational. This paper explores tobacco industry influence over and policy positions within the consultation process. Methods The Illicit Trade Protocol (ITP) requires all Parties to establish a tobacco track and trace (T&T) system. In 2016, the European Commission held a public consultation on T&T implementation in which interested parties were asked to respond online to 22 multiple-choice questions and were given additional opportunities to leave comments if desired. In May 2019, the EU's T&T system became operational. This paper explores tobacco industry influence over and policy positions within the consultation process. Results Of the 197 consultation responses analysed, 131 (66.4%) had financial links to the tobacco industry. 89 respondents were trade associations, 74 of which were financially linked (33 had TTC members). 29 (22.1%) of the financially-linked respondents were not transparent about their links. There was a clear divide in the policy preferences of respondents with and without a financial link. Collectively, respondents with a financial link supported an industry-operated solution. Conclusions There was an extensive lobbying effort by the tobacco industry over the EU's T&T system, with TTCs' interests being represented repeatedly through multiple trade associations. The transparency requirements regarding consultation respondents' affiliations with relevant stakeholders (such as tobacco manufacturers) should be improved for future tobacco-related consultations. Key messages There was an extensive lobbying effort on the part of the tobacco industry Several respondents with financial links to the tobacco industry did not disclose these. Collectively, respondents with a financial link to the tobacco industry supported an industry-operated solution which would not have met the requirements of the ITP.

FDA’s reduced exposure marketing order for IQOS: why it is not a reliable global model

2021 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2020-056316
Author(s):  
Lauren Kass Lempert ◽  
Stella Bialous ◽  
Stanton Glantz
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Tobacco Product ◽  
Tobacco Products ◽  
Sales And Marketing ◽  
Philip Morris ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Difference

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued orders in July 2020 authorising Philip Morris Products S.A. to market its heated tobacco product (HTP) IQOS inside the USA with claims that it reduces exposure to some dangerous substances. FDA’s ‘reduced-exposure’ orders explicitly prohibit the marketing of IQOS with claims that IQOS will reduce harm or the risk of tobacco-related diseases. Under US law, FDA’s IQOS orders are problematic because FDA disregarded valid scientific evidence that IQOS increases exposure to other dangerous toxins and that Philip Morris Products S.A. failed to demonstrate that consumers understand the difference between reduced-exposure and reduced-harm claims. Unfortunately, both ‘reduced-exposure’ and ‘reduced-harm’ are classified as ‘modified risk tobacco products’ under US law. Exploiting this confusion, Philip Morris International used the FDA decision as the basis for marketing and public relations campaigns outside the USA to press governments to reverse policies that ban or regulate the sales and marketing of HTPs, including IQOS. Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control should reject tobacco companies’ unsubstantiated explicit or implied claims of reduced harm associated with HTPs and resist Philip Morris International’s and other companies’ calls to relax HTP regulations based on the FDA’s actions. Instead, parties should adopt policies aligned with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control when dealing with HTPs and other novel tobacco products.

scholarly journals Intellectual property law in the field of sports: specifics of manifestations and features of legal regulation

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (69) ◽  
pp. 530-546
Author(s):  
Evgen Kharytonov ◽  
Olena Kharytonova ◽  
Maxym Tkalych ◽  
Inna Bolokan ◽  
Hanna Samilo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Property Law ◽  
Sports Law ◽  
Intellectual Property Law ◽  
Legal Method ◽  
Wide Range

The article aims to explore the relationships that arise with respect to intellectual property rights in sports. The objectives of the article are to establish points of contact between intellectual property law and sports, as well as a detailed analysis of relevant public relations in terms of intellectual property law and sports law. To achieve the objectives of the article, the authors used a number of scientific methods, among which the main methods are analysis, synthesis and comparative-legal method. The authors of the study concluded that modern sport is developing in close intertwining with intellectual property rights, because only in this way can a sports spectacle be conveyed to a wide range of spectators and consumers in a broad sense. In addition, the range of points of contact between intellectual property and sports law is constantly growing and such can now be called not only patents and trademarks in sports, but also copyright, "image" rights, know-how in sports and the like.

scholarly journals Turning a threat into an opportunity: British American Tobacco’s weakening of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products

2021 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2020-055837
Author(s):  
Benoît Gomis ◽  
Allen William Andrew Gallagher ◽  
Andy Rowell ◽  
Anna B Gilmore
Keyword(s):  
Tobacco Products ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Illicit Trade ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Tobacco Taxes ◽  
Philip Morris ◽  
National Implementation ◽  
Legal Costs ◽  
Illicit Tobacco Trade ◽  
Final Text

BackgroundPrevious research has outlined transnational tobacco company (TTC) efforts to undermine implementation of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (Protocol) and evidence of ongoing TTC complicity in the illicit tobacco trade (ITT). However, the industry’s views on the Protocol and role in its development are not well understood.MethodsSystematic searching and analysis of leaked documents—approximately 15 000 from British American Tobacco (BAT) and 35 from Philip Morris International, triangulated via searches of online resources and interviews with five stakeholders across academia, international organisations, governments, civil society and the private sector.FindingsEvidence indicates that after privately viewing the Protocol as a significant threat (2003), BAT worked to influence its content, while publicly signalling support for it (2007–2012), and was largely satisfied with the final text. BAT successfully pushed for a non-prescriptive text which enabled further country-level TTC influence during the Protocol’s implementation phase. The final text also reflected other BAT policy preferences, including preventing outright bans on duty-free sales and intermingling, and making it difficult to sanction and hold tobacco companies accountable for ongoing involvement in the ITT. TTC representatives were present during early Protocol negotiations, despite rules against this, and BAT obtained draft texts before they were public and paid at least one delegate to support its position.ConclusionsBAT’s primary interest in shaping the Protocol was to minimise its financial and legal costs for BAT while maximising potential costs to small competitors. These findings raise concern about the Protocol’s ability to control the ITT, particularly given TTCs’ intention to influence ongoing national implementation. An effective Protocol is vital to controlling both the ITT and ongoing tobacco industry involvement in it and, in turn, governments’ ability to increase tobacco taxes and thereby save lives.

Measuring illicit cigarette trade in Colombia

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (Suppl 4) ◽  
pp. s260-s266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Maldonado ◽  
Blanca Amalia Llorente ◽  
Roberto Magno Iglesias ◽  
Diego Escobar
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Simple Random Sample ◽  
Consumption Pattern ◽  
Sampling Frame ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Sampling Weights ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Excise Tax ◽  
Illicit Trade

BackgroundBy 2016, tobacco industry provided the only illicit trade estimates in Colombia and used these to discourage tax increases since the 1990s. To establish the viability of a threefold hike in the excise tax, policy makers needed unbiased estimates of the illicit cigarette.ObjectiveTo estimate the size of illicit cigarette trade in five Colombian cities (63% of the market), analyse characteristics of smokers of illicit cigarettes and compare market share results with one industry-funded survey.MethodsStreet cross-sectional survey with smokers’ self-report on consumption pattern, last purchase information and direct observation of smoker’s packs. Sampling frame: smokers, men and women, 12 years old or older, all income levels, resident in five Colombian cities (Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Cartagena and Cúcuta) with 1 733 316 smokers in 2013. Sample size 1697, simple random sample by city, sampling weights based on age groups and cities. Confidence level 95%, margin of error 3.5% for Bogotá and Medellín and 5% for the other three cities. Data collection period: 24 August–14 September 2016.ResultsIllicit cigarettes represent 3.5% of consumption in the five cities, a much lower estimate than the industry data. There are significant differences across cities, with Bogotá at the bottom (1.5%) and Cúcuta at the top (22.8%).ConclusionThe low overall penetration of illicit cigarettes in Colombia indicates that the industry’s warnings against tax increases are not justified. The limited importance of tax levels as determinant of consumption of illicit cigarettes is also suggested by the differences across cities, all of them with the same tax regime.

scholarly journals ADMINISTRATIVE OFFENCE IN THE FIELD OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AS THE GROUND FOR ADMINISTRATIVE LIABILITY

2020 ◽  
pp. 19-29
Author(s):  
Andrii Khridochkin ◽  
Petro Makushev
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
Social Harm ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Objective Side ◽  
Subjective Side ◽  
Legal Consequences

The article deals with homogeneous group of administrative offences - administrative offences in the field of intellectual property as a basis of administrative liability. It is emphasized that the objective features of this administrative offence are its social harm, wrongfulness and punishment, and subjective ones are guilt and subjectivity. It is emphasized that only in the presence of all these features can one speak of qualifying an individual’s act as an administrative offence and resolving the issue of bringing him to administrative liability. The definition of the term “administrative offence in the field of intellectual property” is proposed as envisaged by the legislation on administrative liability of socially harmful, unlawful, guilty act, committed by the subjects of such unlawful acts that encroach on the set of property and personal non-property rights to the intellectual results. It is established that all warehouses of administrative offences in the field of intellectual property (art. 51-2, 107-1, 156-3 (in the part concerning intellectual property objects), 164-3, 164-6, 164-7, 164-8, 164-9, 164-13) there are such elements as objective signs and subjective features, which in their unity form the composition of administrative offences of this group. It is noted that the only generic object of these administrative offences is the group of public relations of intellectual property, which are protected by the law on administrative liability, and the subject of this group of public relations are objects of intellectual property. It is proved that the objective side of administrative offences in the field of intellectual property is a set of ways of infringement of intellectual property rights. Attention is drawn to the fact that in practice the violation of intellectual property rights to different objects has different economic, social and legal consequences, and therefore the degree of their social harm is different, and therefore there is a need to differentiate administrative liability depending on the intellectual property. Subjective signs of the administrative offences of this group, which are represented by their subject, are established, and the subjective side is characterized by the fact that they are committed only intentionally.

scholarly journals Criminal law problems in determining the object of intellectual property crimes

2019 ◽  
pp. 110-118
Author(s):  
M. A. Zheludkov ◽  
V. N. Chernyshov ◽  
M. N. Kochetkova
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Property Ownership ◽  
Conceptual Apparatus

Currently, due to the rapid development of information technology, there is an urgent need to protect public relations of property from crimes committed in the intellectual rights area. The absence of conceptual apparatus consolidated in laws or supported by the scientific community complicates determination of interrelations between the concepts of “property”, “ownership”, “intellectual property” and “right of ownership,” which subsequently determines the classification of acts as different objects of protection under criminal law. The article examines the complex of topical issues related to the protection against crimes in the field of intellectual property in Russia, the analysis of the ratio of crimes against property and crimes affecting intellectual property, the study of the features of the objects protected under criminal law.

scholarly journals IMPROVED METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE PROCESS OF COMMERCIALIZATION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, AS A TOOL FOR REPUTATION MANAGEMENT OF A TOURIST DESTINATION

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (30) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olena M. Chernega ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Reputation Management ◽  
Digital Products ◽  
Tourist Destination ◽  
Wide Audience ◽  
New Business ◽  
The Impact

The article considers the importance of the process of commercialization of intellectual property for the formation of reputable management of a tourist destination and provides an improved methodological approach to the process of commercialization of intellectual property on the example of the concept of creating a unique tourist product by a business entity. The reputation management of a tourist destination – a set of socio-economic processes of targeted influence on stakeholders of a tourist destination in order to improve their perception of its reputation characteristics, which aims to increase the importance of reputation and form sustainable long-term relationships with stakeholders.The reputation of a tourist destination directly proportionally influences the formation of tourist flow, and, accordingly, the growth of financial revenues, active development of the territory and improvement of the economic climate. With effective reputation management of a tourist destination, a strategic vision of development is formed, investment proceeds are attracted to new business projects and events, to the tourist infrastructure, to job creation. This is achieved through the creation of organizations that can bring together stakeholders and professionals to further promote resources and unique tourism offerings in the tourism arena. Its priority areas are determined by the impact on the formation of reputation through the elements of branding and image, research, analytics, the formation of services and tourism products. And most importantly, promotion through communication channels, which include: public relations (PR), interaction with the media, the involvement of promoters, experts, ambassadors, influencers of the destination through modern Internet technologies. One of the most effective channels of communication today is the Internet and the development of digital products, which include travel portals, mobile applications, digital channels, and more. By certain advantages, such channels are ahead of traditional channels, namely due to: rapid dissemination of information with a wide audience and distribution geography, with less costly control, because monitoring and openness of data simplifies the processes and global digitization of the widespread and tourism industry. And in such conditions, one of the priority steps in creating a tourist product – a unique tourist offer is its copyright protection under current legislation. This advanced method allows the tourism entity or destination as a whole to commercialize and further benefit, and thus improve its reputation in the tourism market by having unique protected tourism offerings within both the regional and national destinations.

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