Big Tobacco lobby group quits smoking industry

A lobby group for Big Tobacco has cut its ties with the industry following criticism over its attempts to influence tax policy in the sector, in a move that has been cheered by health campaigners. 

The International Tax and Investment Center, which describes itself as a “non-profit research and educational organisation”, has been sponsored by major tobacco companies including British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International.

Representatives of tobacco companies have also sat on its board of directors, and ITIC has published numerous reports arguing for lower taxation in the industry. 

But following criticism from the World Health Organisation and demands from groups including Nestlé and the World Bank that it stop claiming ties to them, ITIC has written to its directors to inform them that it will no longer maintain its links with the sector. 

ITIC has asked tobacco representatives to resign from its board, and will no longer accept sponsorship contributions from tobacco companies. 

“The anti-tobacco campaigns became too great a distraction from ITIC’s mission, and this was a necessary step to safeguard ITIC’s reputation and ensure its long-term effectiveness,” Daniel Witt, president of ITIC, told the Financial Times. 

In 2014, ITIC was publicly rebuked by the WHO for promoting “false” information on behalf of the tobacco industry. In the same year it attempted to derail a WHO summit aimed at increasing taxes on smoking. 

In November last year a host of groups including Nestlé and the World Bank demanded that ITIC stop claiming links to them. ITIC claimed it “worked closely” with the World Bank, and listed Nestlé, law firm Pinsent Masons and the UK Department for International Development as its sponsors — despite all groups insisting they had no ongoing relationship with ITIC. 

ITIC also lobbies for the extractive sector, and said it would continue to work on tax policy in other industries. “Since our founding in 1993, ITIC has worked on a wide range of taxation issues in transition economies, from corporate tax and transfer pricing to indirect tax and VAT, and sectors such as financial services, natural resources and digital,” said Mr Witt. 

“Given the many tax reforms under way at the country, regional and international levels, we will have plenty of interesting issues to keep us busy.” 

Health campaigners celebrated the decision to cut ties with the tobacco industry. “This is a major blow to Big Tobacco’s modus operandi of covert lobbying under neutral-sounding cover,” said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of antismoking charity ASH. 

“We’ve eliminated what is big tobacco’s main lobbying channel in many lower-income countries,” said Alex Cobham, chief executive of the Tax Justice Network. “ITIC will no doubt seek to take credit for this shift — but nobody should forget that this is an organisation that has lobbied for big tobacco for decades.”