Interference of tobacco industry in the traceability system in Africa

The tobacco industry is gaining ground on the African continent. The governments of Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso have entrusted Philip Morris International with the management of the traceability of cigarette packets on their territory. The major cigarette producers have in fact developed an internal traceability system, the Codentify system, which they are promoting by all means to African governments. The latter makes it possible to control the cigarette supply chain from the manufacturer to the consumer, including transporters and distributors. According to the online newspaper Tribune Ouest, this system does not contribute to regulating and limiting the tobacco market in these countries. On the contrary, it promotes the control of parallel markets by the major industrialists in the sector. In a context where tobacco manufacturers have repeatedly been implicated in smuggling cases, the traceability system can prove counterproductive if it is organized by entities that are both judges and parties.[1]. The independence of the traceability system is essential to ensure an effective fight against smuggling, counterfeiting and cross-border purchases of tobacco. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control addresses traceability in its Article 15. It is supplemented by the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. Paragraph 13 of Article 8 of this text stipulates that "Each Party shall ensure that its competent authorities, in their participation in the monitoring and tracing regime, have relations with the tobacco industry and those representing the interests of the tobacco industry only to the extent strictly necessary to implement this Article". The independence of the traceability system from the tobacco industry is essential to ensure the protection of the health interests of the population. In a context where the smoking rate is set to explode in Africa by 2025[2], the fight against the insidious tobacco lobby on the continent is a priority for some African countries. ©Tobacco Free Generation

---

[1] https://cnct.fr/communiques/la-tracabilite-des-produits-du-tabac-simpose/ [2] https://www.jeuneafrique.com/459595/societe/tabac-envahit-lafrique/ || ©DNF For a Zero Tobacco world