The Tobacco Industry: 
 who are they?

See these useful  RESOURCES  about the tobacco industry

The tobacco industry in Australia is dominated by three transnational corporations with billions in assets: British American Tobacco (BAT), Philip Morris and Imperial Tobacco.  

The Australian companies are all wholly owned subsidiaries of their overseas parents. The subsidiaries are not listed on the Australian stock exchange; the Big 3 have shareholders, and hold annual general meetings - but not in Australia.

Many other stakeholders and players support the industry and benefit directly or indirectly from sales of its addictive products. 

The industry and those furthering its interests include:

1.         The Big 3 tobacco companies: BAT, Philip Morris, Imperial. 

2.         Smaller tobacco companies: e.g. Richland Express, Stuart Alexander, Swedish Match and smaller importers.

3.         Tobacco company shareholders and interrelated companies: For example, pension and superannuation funds are major investors in tobacco companies.    See  study

4.         Former tobacco company directors and executives: Including influential figures like  Nick Greiner, Rupert Murdoch  and Carla Zampatti

5.         Tobacco retailers: Including duty free stores like  Nuance Group  - and retailer organisations.

          See how some retail and other business groups allied themselves with the tobacco industry to oppose plain packaging

6.         Associated  hospitality and gaming interests: including Hotel and Club associations. 

7.         Front groups: e.g. BAT’s Butt Free Australia, formerly Butt Littering Trust.

8.         Lobbyists: BAT uses Intermediary Consulting P/L, Philip Morris uses Inside Out Strategic and Imperial uses Jackson Wells P/L.    See  Lobbyists Register

9.       Legal advisers: Clayton Utz and now Corrs Chambers Westgarth act for BAT; Allens Arthur Robinson act for Philip Morris Australia. See  Ethical minefields in working for the tobacco industry

10.     Ad agencies: Often cagey about tobacco links, but one known is Grey G2 (owned by global media company WPP) who ran recent anti-health policy campaigns for BAT.  See  The Australian 18/7/11    

11.     Consultants: Tame scientists and well-known companies like  PriceWaterhouse Coopers  and  Deloittes  - paid handsomely by the industry to produce reports for government and MPs, usually opposing tougher tobacco regulation.  

12.       Supporters in governments and political parties: Some parties accept large  political donations (search here not just for tobacco companies but their allies in hotels, clubs, gaming, retail etc); and see this list of tobacco's party people.

13.       Think tanks, e.g. the Institute of Public Affairs  and the  Centre for Independent Studies. Both have accepted tobacco funding - it's admitted IPA have been funded by both Philip Morris and BAT and it has had a tobacco executive on its board; while CIS admits Philip Morris funding and blithely asks "Why not?". These think tanks often make public/media comment critical of tobacco regulation, without mentioning these links.  

14.       Charities and educational institutions  that accept tobacco dollars and are publicly associated with claims by the industry that they are “socially responsible”.  
See below under the Big 3's "Associated entities and activities" 

15.       Governments that  collect billions  in tobacco excise duties, GST from tobacco sales and from  investment strategies  that don’t exclude tobacco companies on ethical grounds.  

16.    Tobacco growers: A dying industry in Australia, as most growers supported government buyout in 2006 to encourage moves to viable crops that don’t kill people.  Although some growers now want to grow tobacco again for export to Vietnam, they'd need to obtain a licence from the Australian Tax Office. ATO's Tobacco Industry Forum includes tobacco company reps.  See Feb 2010 meeting minutes

1.   The companies – the Big 3 in Australia

The faces behind tobacco's deadly addiction
Read this devastating piece of sarcasm by Richard Cohen in the Washington Post - proposing to take "naming-and-shaming" of tobacco executives a step further.  Washington Post op-ed 16/11/10  

BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO (BAT)  website         

BAT Australia formed from amalgamation of Rothmans and W.D. & H. O. Wills in 1999. 
Wholly owned by BAT Plc based in UK - BAT Australasia its regional office.

Market share (Australia):   40.6%  VCTC

Employees (Australia):  BAT  claim  to employ over 1,000 fulltime

Who’s who

BAT Australasia (parent of BAT Australia)  – its board :

·         Denis Thom, Chairman

·         Tim Every-Burns, Non-Executive Director

·         Duncan Fischer, Non-Executive Director
    - former CEO, Tattersalls (gaming) company    See  ABC interview 2003

·         John Daly, Non-Executive Director

·         Maurice Tsangaris, Executive Director – Finance

·         Marcio Salgado, Executive Director – Marketing

·         Graeme Amey, Executive Director - South Pacific

and

Associated entities and activities

Founder and major funding source for  Butt Free Australia  (formerly the Butt Littering Trust)  
See how BAT used this group to try to derail smokefree dining reforms by local councils   Excerpts from BATA letter to WAGGA council 2008  - and ASH response  

BAT is a longtime sponsor of the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) – including  AHA Annual Convention 2009  The AHA has lobbied long and hard against smokefree workplaces.

BATA publicises  its  charitable involvements  as part of its marketing strategy under the guise of "Corporate Social Responsibility".   Some staff, via a workplace giving program,  donate pre-tax dollars to several high profile charities including: Mission Australia, Conservation Volunteers Australia, The Surf Life Saver Rescue Helicopter, Lifeline, Northcott, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, Barnardos and ACT for Kids. Meanwhile the company continues to expand marketing of its deadly products into low to middle income countries.   

PHILIP MORRIS        website  

Wholly owned subsidiary of Philip Morris International, based in the US

Market share (Australia):  40.6%    VCTC
Philip Morris claims the world’s leading brand, Marlboro

Employees (Australia)
Philip Morris claim to employ 700 in Australia, including around 200 at Moorabbin, Victorian manufacturing plant. 

Who’s who

Management (PM International)  www.pmi.com/eng/about_us/our_management/pages/our_management.aspx 

Philip Morris meeting glosses over record of "bullying, subversion"

May 2011: Philip Morris International, at its annual shareholder's meeting on May 11,  celebrated another year of record profits - while another five million plus died from tobacco. 

UK Daily Mail report with damning quotes and photo

A report released on the same day by Corporate Accountability International documents how PMI lines its coffers at the expense of people’s health and their lives - exposing "the dark truth behind how PMI earns billions of dollars from coercion, political manipulation, and legal bullying, to outright subversion of public health laws." Read CAI alternative report on Philip Morris, May 2011

Big tobacco buys up    From Sunday Age, Melbourne    www.theage.com.au     6 June 2010:   TALK about gamekeepers turned poachers. Ozan Ibrisim, adviser to Health Minister Daniel Andrews, has joined tobacco giant Philip Morris as manager of regulatory affairs. Ibrisim, a one-time stalwart of the left, declined to discuss any ethical conflicts in his move, or if he would be lobbying his old boss to relax anti-smoking restrictions. The move follows a long tradition of big tobacco largesse towards state staffers — he works under Nerida White, former adviser to Jeff Kennett. Kennett's old staff still talk longingly of the fancy lunches and event invitations showered on them by White (she took a busload to see U2 at the MCG). Around that time Kennett embarked, to the surprise of many, on an action that would have delighted his former adviser, launching a one-man campaign against federal moves to increase the warnings on cigarette packaging.

Former executives

Geoffrey Bible
After running Philip Morris Australia, became CEO and chairman of their global operations. Also a director of News Corporation for a decade until 2004 move to US   Mayne Report "rich list"

William (Bill) Webb 
Former vice chair and chief operating officer of Philip Morris where he worked for 35 years, including heading the huge international division from 1993 to 1997   Mayne Report "rich list"

Associated entities and activities

Philip Morris Ltd runs a number of websites dedicated to defending its deadly and addictive products against regulation and control, by inciting smokers to lobby governments that they've "had enough" - of tobacco tax increases, out of sight retail laws, smokefree public places and plain packaging   In April 2011 PML launched its latest  "smokers' rights" site,  www.ideservetobeheard.com.au - combining all these issues.

At the same time, the company pushes a "Corporate Social Responsibility" image - supporting hunger and poverty charities, education, environmental sustainability, domestic violence and disaster relief including bushfires.   See  details

Philip Morris was multi-million-dollar co-funder of the Alliance of Australian Retailers campaign against plain packaging of tobacco, 2010-11. 

IMPERIAL TOBACCO     website

Wholly owned by Imperial Tobacco based in the UK 
  

Market share (Australia):   18.8%   VCTC

Quotable quote   
Despite overwhelming medical evidence, Imperial claim at their website :
We recognise concerns that other people’s tobacco smoke may be harmful, unpleasant or annoying. However, it is our view that the scientific evidence, taken as a whole, is insufficient to establish that other people’s tobacco smoke is a cause of any disease.

Who’s who

Management (international)    See  www.imperial-tobacco.com/index.asp?page=189

Iain Napier FCMA Chairman from January 2007; non-Executive Director from March 2000     Alison Cooper IT's Chief Executive 2010- Reported as still refusing to accept unequivocally that smoking causes cancer Guardian 27/4/10

Melvin Ruigrok   
General Manager, Imperial Tobacco Australia

Pardeep Grewal  has at times acted as Australian spokesperson for Imperial. Group Corporate Affairs Development Manager; formerly Imperial’s Director, Legal & Corporate Affairs Australasia and Senior Manager, Industry Affairs International  See  Adelaide Now report 20/12/08

Associated entities and activities

Imperial is busy reinventing itself as "socially responsible" by supporting charities including  Freedom from Hunger, a charity working to help women in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  Meanwhile the company continues to expand its marketing in low to middle income countries of products killing over five million people a year worldwide. 

 

 

5.       Tobacco retailers

You can’t have a tobacco industry without selling the stuff. An estimated 35,000 retail outlets are selling tobacco in prime front-of-shop positions all over Australia – ranging from big supermarkets to service stations, convenience stores, tobacconists, newsagents and corner shops. 

"Retailer" campaigns often funded by tobacco companies oppose evidence-based measures to regulate sale of tobacco sale and end its display promotion in shops; against raising tobacco taxes; and against mandatory plain packaging of tobacco.  

Prominent pro-tobacco retail groups have included the Alliance of Australian Retailers (AAR), Australasian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS), National Association of Tobacco Retailers (NATR), National Association of Retail Grocers of Australia (NARGA), Australian Retailers Association, Australian Newsagents' Federation, Council of Small Business in Australia, Free Choice Stores, Master Grocers Australia, Tobacco Station Group, Independent Retailers Association, Retail Confectionery and Mixed Business Association, Service Station Association, and supermarket chains (Coles, IGA).

See  AACS release Nov 2009  claiming huge losses from putting tobacco out of sight;    
NATR submission, admitting funding from BAT and Imperial, to  NSW parliamentary review 2007  

See AAR mass media campaign  against plain packaging, 2010-11 - funded by Big Three tobacco companies to the tune over over $10m.

 

 

6.      Associated hospitality and gaming interests

These include:  

• The Australian Hotels Association (AHA), long  sponsored by tobacco company BAT 
  (2011 conference flyer - spool to bottom to see sponsors). BAT annual reports as far back as 2003 showed BAT sponsorship.

• Pubs and gambling venues with tobacco vending machine business arrangements.

• Registered clubs associations, with a history of past tobacco sponsorship and tobacco vending machine business arrangements.

 

 

 

International campaign against plain packaging

An array of influential organisations and companies has lined up with tobacco giants Philip Morris, BAT and Imperial to oppose the Australian government's decision to mandate plain tobacco packaging by July 2012.

Overseas-based opponents making submissions against plain packs or lobbying the Australian government have included: AIPPI (world intellectual property organisation); American Legislative Exchange Council; Brazil Intellectual Property Association; Business Civil Liberties; Democracy Institute; Economiesuisse; Emergency Committee for American Trade; European Cigar Manufacturers' Association; Filtrona C&SP (UK);  Habanos SA (Cuba), Indonesian government; International Association for Protection of Intellectual Property; International Chamber of Commerce; International Trade Mark Association; Japan Tobacco International; Mexican government; National Association of Manufacturers (US);  National Foreign Trade Council (US); Nicaraguan government; Pacific Cigar Co; Property Rights Alliance (US); Richland Express (tobacco company), Scandinavian Tobacco, Transatlantic Business Dialogue; US-ASEAN Business Council; USA Chamber of Commerce; Washington Legal Foundation.

Australian retailer and business groups opposing plain packaging have included: 
Amcor (packaging company), APCO Service Stations; Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers' Association; Australian Association of Convenience Stores, Australian Industry Group, Australian Newsagents' Federation, Australian Retailers Association, Cigar Retailers' Association, Council of Small Business in Australia, CTC (tobacconists), Free Choice Stores, IGA (supermarkets), Independent Retailers Association, Master Grocers - Liquor Retailers Australia, National Association of Manufacturers, Retail Confectionery and Mixed Business Association, Ritchies Supermarkets and Liquor Stores, Service Station Association, Smokelovers Australia (tobacconists), Tobacco Station (tobacconists).

Sources:  Senate inquiry 2010 submissions    
Plain Packaging of tobacco consultation submissions, June 2011   
House of Reps inquiry submissions, August 2011

 

 

RESOURCES on the TI

WHAT ARE THEY UP TO LATELY?  Our chart of latest TI tactics in Australia

TI-CRITICAL SITES

ASH Australia's Countering Tobacco Tactics : a guide to identifying, monitoring and preventing tobacco industry interference in public health.
October 2010: Step by step guide to the industry's current tactics in Australia and how to expose and counter them. Tobacco industry watch  - ASH's latest news, marketing, strategies, myths, history & background

Australian brands, manufacturers, production, market share:  VCTC  
VCTC's 2003 report on  The tobacco industry in Australia
More on the industry and its links in  Tobacco in Australia: Facts and Issues
More background on people involved in the TI at  Sydney Uni tobacco supersite

Tobacco's hard sell in a dark market
TI resorts to new under-the-radar tactics.  See  SMH feature with ASH Australia comment 24/4/10

Tobacco industry sites
The Big 3:  BAT website    Philip Morris website    Imperial website
Major tobacco groups and their brands at  Convenience and Impulse Retailing  
Comprehensive news and updates from the industry at  Tobacco Reporter  
New products, updates, launches  at  Moodie Report
Industry blog  Tobacco Today
Russian-based brand info site  Popsop

Tobacco industry meetings with Australian government
TI meets regularly with the Australian Taxation Office in its Tobacco Forum - 
Sept 2009 minutes    Feb 2010 minutes

Dept of Health and Ageing now gives public notification of its meetings with the TI on its  website 

INTERNATIONAL

World Health Organization (WHO), Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)
WHO treaty. Parties’ obligations include protecting all against secondhand smoke (Art. 8), comprehensively banning all tobacco advertising and promotion through all media (Art. 12), and resisting tobacco industry interference in health policy (Art. 5.3).  Treaty; implementation guidelines

WHO (2009), Tobacco Industry Interference with Tobacco Control
Comprehensive report on what the industry is doing to block, delay, weaken and undermine public health policy - and how it can be stopped.

Corporate Accountability International (2008), Protecting Against Tobacco Industry Interference: 2008 Global Tobacco Treaty Action Guide
Comprehensive guide to identifying and protecting against tobacco industry interference using the FCTC treaty.

Global Smokefree Partnership (2009), Rebutting the Tobacco Industry, Winning Smokefree Air
Status report on TI interference to delay and undermine public health reforms. Details the industry’s worldwide tactics of fear and misinformation, countered by the positive impact of governments, organisations and individuals taking them on – backed by the FCTC. 

Freeman B, Chapman S (2009), “British American Tobacco on Facebook: undermining article 13 of the global World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control” 
Article in Tobacco Control  journal outlining tactics of BAT tobacco company employees in using online messaging network to promote company products and events. abstract

Chapman, S (2007), Public Health Advocacy and Tobacco Control: Making Smoking History
Wiley, ISBN: 978-1-4051-6163-3     overview and orders
History and issues in tobacco control. 

Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids
US-based NGO’s Tobacco industry watch  resources.

 

Asia-Pacific Region

South East Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) 
Preventing Tobacco Industry Interference  - excellent 2010 toolkit for policymakers and advocates;  see also other useful SEATCA materials under RESOURCE CENTER at www.seatca.org/

Page last updated 1/12/11