A country that frequently tops the list at Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index, Bangladesh is no stranger to concerted disinformation campaigns of the tobacco industry.
As per the 2023 country report on tobacco industry (TI) interference, Bangladesh, despite being a party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), failed to make any significant progress in adopting global best practices regarding tobacco control and appears to be stuck in a state of policy stagnation. The 2013 amendment of the Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) Act 2005 has largely put an end to direct advertisement of tobacco products at mainstream media platforms.
Against such a backdrop, the TI, over the years, has strengthened its focus more on influencing policy talks surrounding tobacco control in its favour and keeping tobacco products widespread and affordable. The pattern of such TI-sponsored media contents, be it editorials, articles, or event reports, are all but same.
A recent article published in a national daily can be considered as a “poster child” of TI-sponsored media contents. The article propagates the same worn-out claims of the tobacco industry: That strengthening of tobacco control law will lead to significant revenue loss for the government, cause loss of livelihood of millions, and flood the local market with counterfeit tobacco products. It also alleges that the amendment initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) is “rushed, non-inclusive, and inconsiderate,” and will have severe detrimental effects on the country’s “health and economic goals.”
Needless to say, such claims, often used in big tobacco’s fear-mongering tactics, have long been refuted by respected academics in both health and economics.
Forcing a seat at the table
The ongoing amendment initiative of the Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) (Amendment) Act 2013, which has dragged its feet into the third year, is anything but “rushed.” The draft, prepared by a committee of senior government officials from different ministries, members from inter-governmental organizations, local and international anti-tobacco organizations, was published for public opinion on June 19, 2022. However, pro-tobacco articles penned by industry-loyalist “economists” that surfaced following the publication of the draft amendment, demand that TI be considered as a “stakeholder” and consulted accordingly prior to such policy formulation.
Such a claim is at odds with the very spirit of Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC, which binds signatory states to insulate their public health policies with respect to tobacco control from the commercial and other vested interests of the TI.
On government revenues
Pro-tobacco pieces defending the status-quo frequently boast about the government revenue earning from TI. The aforementioned article, for example, argues that 10-14% of government earnings comes from the TI alone. This conveniently hides the devastating reality that tobacco has been ranked as the fifth major contributing factor behind premature deaths in Bangladesh.
A study published by Bangladesh Cancer Society says that in 2017, the total economic cost of tobacco use from lost productivity and direct healthcare costs of smoking-related illnesses was estimated at Tk305.6 billion in 2017-18, meanwhile tobacco tax revenues from supplementary duty and VAT were only Tk228.1bn in the same year.
In addition, the information provided by the NBR shows that following the passage of the first tobacco control law in 2005, revenue earning from cigarette sector increased by 17.97% (Tk4774.70 million) and 37.52% (Tk9969m) in FY 2005-06 and FY 2006-07 respectively.
Similarly, following the 2013 amendment of the tobacco control law, the cigarette sector generated additional revenue of Tk25,253.60m (25.51% jump) and Tk46,049.70m (46.52% jump) in FY 2013-14 and FY 2014-15 respectively.
So, it is quite evident from NBR data that amendment of tobacco control law has no real impact on revenue loss from tobacco sector.
Policymakers must not allow themselves to be derailed by the concerted disinformation campaign of tobacco companies
On the workforce
The article also claims that the proposed amendment, if realized, is likely to have a detrimental impact on the employment, lives, and livelihoods of approximately 1.5 million low-income retailers. However, according to a survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) titled “Report on Wholesale and Retail Trade Survey 2021,” there are only 1,96,341 retail shops in the country selling food, beverages, and tobacco products.
Simultaneously, the report titled, The Revenue and Employment Outcome of Biri Taxation in Bangladesh, published by the National Board of Revenue, reveals that there are 46,916 full-time equivalent workers, comprising regular, irregular, and contractual employees in the biri industry. Alarmingly, 60-65% of these workers are children.
Hence, the tobacco companies' baseless and deceptive claims about significant job losses due to the proposed amendment are merely ill tactics to mislead policymakers and hinder the amendment process.
On illegal trade
The argument that the passage of the proposed amendment would cause a spike in the influx of counterfeit tobacco products from neighbouring countries is also a baseless one.
According to the World Bank report titled, Confronting Illicit Tobacco Trade: A Global Review of Country Experiences: Bangladesh’s illicit cigarette trade incidence is roughly estimated at about 2% of total cigarettes sold in the market, as compared with 50% for Latvia, 38% for Pakistan, 36% for Malaysia and 17% for India. The report also says that the illicit tobacco trade stands at $4m a year in Bangladesh, less than 4% of total tobacco revenue.
According to The GATS Atlas data, the average cost of 20 manufactured cigarettes among current smokers, based on PPP (purchasing power parity), is much lower in Bangladesh than in other countries. In Bangladesh, the cost stands at $1.2 where the cost is $2.9 in India, thus invalidating the claim of illicit tobacco trade.
The issue of counterfeit and tax-evaded tobacco products does not call for a lax attitude towards the tobacco industry; rather it only highlights the need for adopting stern monitoring mechanisms.
Keeping firm
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has taken the initiative to strengthen the existing tobacco control law with a view to protecting non-smokers from the harms of second-hand smoke by banning Designated Smoking Areas (DSAs) in all public places, workplaces, and public transport.
Moreover, the amendment aims at safeguarding our youth from the poisonous clutch of tobacco addiction through total ban on tobacco advertising and promotion, the import, manufacturing, and sale of e-cigarettes and emerging tobacco products (ETPs), retail or loose tobacco sales, along with mandates for larger graphic health warnings (GHW) and standard packaging.
Policymakers must not allow themselves to be derailed by the concerted disinformation campaign of tobacco companies and instead must ensure the rapid passage of the law.
ABM Zubair is Executive Director of PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress). Email: [email protected]
