SFP denounces the organisation of an event by the tobacco industry in the European Parliament, hijacking World No Tobacco Day

The Smoke Free Partnership coalition warns about the holding, within the European Parliament, of an event organized on May 31, 2023 by the tobacco industry to promote oral tobacco products. This proximity of the European Parliament with the tobacco industry is however contrary to article 5.3 of the FCTC, ratified by the European Union and all its Member States.

“Recipe for a Smoke-Free Europe: Learnings from the Swedish Experience” ("Recipe for a Smoke-Free World: Lessons from the Swedish Experience")[1], this is the title of the event organized by We Are Innovation[2] and The Parliament Magazine, which is scheduled to take place on 31 May 2023 at the European Parliament. Under the guise of reducing the risks and harms associated with tobacco, this is in fact an operation designed to promote oral nicotine products, such as nicotine pouches (" pouches ”) and their original model, snus.

A tobacco pouch that is placed between the lip and the gum, snus, of Swedish origin, is only authorized in Sweden and Norway but remains prohibited throughout the European Union. Nicotine pouches, which do not contain tobacco, benefit from a legal loophole authorizing their sale in most European countries; the Netherlands and Luxembourg are already considering banning them, while sales in Belgium will cease on 1^er October 2023.

Swedish MPs suspected of links to tobacco industry

The Smoke Free Partnership (SFP) coalition, which brings together 50 European anti-smoking organisations, has condemned the holding of such an event for several reasons.[3] :

• It contravenes Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), an international health treaty ratified by the European Union and each of its 27 states. This article, however, requires that public health policies are not influenced by the commercial interests of the tobacco industry.

• It occurs precisely on World No Tobacco Day, a widely publicized initiative organized each year by the World Health Organization (WHO). Denouncing the actions of the tobacco industry and strongly encouraging people to quit smoking, this World Day is traditionally the target of manufacturers. Planning an event on this day to promote tobacco and nicotine products is therefore a counter-communication operation, designed to renormalize the place of tobacco in our society.

• Several Swedish parliamentarians scheduled to speak at the event are said to have links to the tobacco industry. Sara Skyttedal met this year with Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and the European Cigar Manufacturers Association, and addressed five written questions to the European Parliament using tobacco industry terminology. Johan Nissinen, for his part, has participated in seven meetings with various tobacco manufacturers over the past seven months. Tomislav Sokol, for his part, has spoken at several similar events in 2020 and 2022, including one held within the European Parliament.

Oral tobacco products, the new spearhead of the industry

The tobacco industry's offensive on oral tobacco and nicotine products has intensified in recent months. The acquisition of Swedish Match, the world leader in oral tobacco, by Philip Morris International (PMI) at the end of 2022 for more than 15 billion euros was followed by a sudden promotion of a "Swedish model" for smoking. For its part, British American Tobacco (BAT) has strongly activated the promotion and marketing of its nicotine pouches from the Velo brand.

Already weakened by the Qatargate revelations, the European Parliament also seems very listening of the tobacco industry. A proximity which, according to Smoke Free Partnership, would explain the delay in the revision of the European directive on tobacco products (TPD).

Keywords: European Parliament, World No Tobacco Day, Smoke Free Partnership, snus, nicotine pouches.

M.F.

[1] May/31 “Recipe for a Smoke-Free Europe: Learnings from the Swedish Experience”, We Are Innovation, published May 26, 2023, accessed May 30, 2023.

[2] A similar but apparently unrelated term is also used by BNP Paribas to refer to a start-up financing programme. https://group.bnpparibas/actualite/lancement-label-wai-we-are-innovation

[3] Event hosted by European Parliament promotes harm reduction narrative of tobacco industry - Smoke Free Partnership, SFP, published May 26, 2023, accessed May 30, 2023.