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Malaysia steps up anti-tobacco legislation

Ashraf H

Lancet, 2002 Aug 24;360(9333):627.
PMID: 12241947
Matched MeSH terms: Tobacco Industry/legislation & jurisprudence*
TPPA and tobacco control: threats to APEC countries

Sy DK, Stumberg RK

Tob Control, 2014 Nov;23(6):466-70.
PMID: 25170023 DOI: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2014-051900

Twelve-member countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) are negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), a free trade agreement to facilitate international trade and investment. As reported by multiple sources, the TPPA would grant the same trade benefits and legal protections to tobacco products, services and investments that it would provide to other sectors. Malaysia proposed excluding tobacco control measures from the scope of all TPPA chapters while the US proposed only to establish a consultation process in tobacco-related disputes and to declare that tobacco control measures serve a health objective within the scope of the general exceptions.

Matched MeSH terms: Tobacco Industry/legislation & jurisprudence*
Fulltext Industry sponsored youth smoking prevention programme in Malaysia: a case study in duplicity

Assunta M, Chapman S

Tob Control, 2004 Dec;13 Suppl 2:ii37-42.
PMID: 15564218

OBJECTIVE: To review tobacco company strategies of using youth smoking prevention programmes to counteract the Malaysian government's tobacco control legislation and efforts in conducting research on youth to market to them.
METHODS: Systematic keyword and opportunistic website searches of formerly private internal industry documents. Search terms included Malay, cmtm, jaycees, YAS, and direct marketing; 195 relevant documents were identified for this paper.
RESULTS: Industry internal documents reveal that youth anti-smoking programmes were launched to offset the government's tobacco control legislation. The programme was seen as a strategy to lobby key politicians and bureaucrats for support in preventing the passage of legislation. However, the industry continued to conduct research on youth, targeted them in marketing, and considered the teenage market vital for its survival. Promotional activities targeting youth were also carried out such as sports, notably football and motor racing, and entertainment events and cash prizes. Small, affordable packs of cigarettes were crucial to reach new smokers.
CONCLUSION: The tobacco industry in Malaysia engaged in duplicitous conduct in regard to youth. By buying into the youth smoking issue it sought to move higher on the moral playing field and strengthen its relationship with government, while at the same time continuing to market to youth. There is no evidence that industry youth smoking prevention programmes were effective in reducing smoking; however, they were effective in diluting the government's tobacco control legislation.

Matched MeSH terms: Tobacco Industry/legislation & jurisprudence
"The world's most hostile environment": how the tobacco industry circumvented Singapore's advertising ban

Assunta M, Chapman S

Tob Control, 2004 Dec;13 Suppl 2:ii51-7.
PMID: 15564221

To review how tobacco transnational companies conducted their business in the hostile environment of Singapore, attempting to counter some of the government's tobacco control measures; to compare the Malaysian and the Singaporean governments' stance on tobacco control and the direct bearing of this on the way the tobacco companies conduct their business.

Matched MeSH terms: Tobacco Industry/legislation & jurisprudence
Fulltext A mire of highly subjective and ineffective voluntary guidelines: tobacco industry efforts to thwart tobacco control in Malaysia

Assunta M, Chapman S

Tob Control, 2004 Dec;13 Suppl 2:ii43-50.
PMID: 15564220 DOI: 10.1136/tc.2004.008094

OBJECTIVE: To describe tobacco industry efforts in Malaysia to thwart government efforts to regulate tobacco promotion and health warnings.
METHODS: Systematic keyword and opportunistic website searches of formerly private tobacco industry internal documents made available through the Master Settlement Agreement and secondary websites; relevant information from news articles and financial reports.
RESULTS: Commencing in the 1970s, the industry began to systematically thwart government tobacco control. Guidelines were successfully promoted in the place of legislation for over two decades. Even when the government succeeded in implementing regulations such as health warnings and advertising bans they were compromised and acted effectively to retard further progress for years to come.
CONCLUSION: Counter-measures to delay or thwart government efforts to regulate tobacco were initiated by the industry. Though not unique to Malaysia, the main difference lies in the degree to which strategies were used to successfully counter stringent tobacco control measures between 1970 and 1995.

Matched MeSH terms: Tobacco Industry/legislation & jurisprudence
The tobacco industry and pesticide regulations: case studies from tobacco industry archives

McDaniel PA, Solomon G, Malone RE

Environ Health Perspect, 2005 Dec;113(12):1659-65.
PMID: 16330343

Tobacco is a heavily pesticide-dependent crop. Because pesticides involve human safety and health issues, they are regulated nationally and internationally; however, little is known about how tobacco companies respond to regulatory pressures regarding pesticides. In this study we analyzed internal tobacco industry documents to describe industry activities aimed at influencing pesticide regulations. We used a case study approach based on examination of approximately 2,000 internal company documents and 3,885 pages of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. The cases involved methoprene, the ethylene bisdithiocarbamates, and phosphine. We show how the tobacco industry successfully altered the outcome in two cases by hiring ex-agency scientists to write reports favorable to industry positions regarding pesticide regulations for national (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) and international (World Health Organization) regulatory bodies. We also show how the industry worked to forestall tobacco pesticide regulation by attempting to self-regulate in Europe, and how Philip Morris encouraged a pesticide manufacturer to apply for higher tolerance levels in Malaysia and Europe while keeping tobacco industry interest a secret from government regulators. This study suggests that the tobacco industry is able to exert considerable influence over the pesticide regulatory process and that increased scrutiny of this process and protection of the public interest in pesticide regulation may be warranted.

Matched MeSH terms: Tobacco Industry/legislation & jurisprudence*
How the Malaysian tobacco industry exploits loopholes in pictorial health warnings

Tan YL, Foong K

Tob Control, 2012 Jan;21(1):55-6.
PMID: 21803928 DOI: 10.1136/tc.2011.042713
Matched MeSH terms: Tobacco Industry/legislation & jurisprudence*
Fulltext Linking data to tobacco control program action among students aged 13-15 in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states, 2000-2006

Sirichotiratana N, Sovann S, Aditama TY, Krishnan M, Kyaing NN, Miguel-Baquilod M, et al.

Tob Control, 2008 Dec;17(6):372-8.
PMID: 18669557 DOI: 10.1136/tc.2007.024190

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has made tobacco use prevention a primary health issue. All ASEAN countries except Indonesia have ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), the world's first public health treaty on tobacco control.

Matched MeSH terms: Tobacco Industry/legislation & jurisprudence
A grim contradiction: the practice and consequences of corporate social responsibility by British American Tobacco in Malaysia

Barraclough S, Morrow M

Soc Sci Med, 2008 Apr;66(8):1784-96.
PMID: 18304713 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.01.001

In the wake of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is among the few remaining mechanisms for tobacco corporations publicly to promote their interests. Health advocates may be unaware of the scale, nature and implications of tobacco industry CSR. This investigation aimed to construct a typology of tobacco industry CSR through a case study of the evolution and impact of CSR activities of a particular tobacco corporation in one country - British American Tobacco, Malaysia (BATM), the Malaysian market leader. Methods included searching, compiling and critically appraising publicly available materials from British American Tobacco, BATM, published literature and other sources. The study examined BATM's CSR strategy, the issues which it raises, consequences for tobacco control and potential responses by health advocates. The investigation found that BATM's CSR activities included assistance to tobacco growers, charitable donations, scholarships, involvement in anti-smuggling measures, 'youth smoking prevention' programs and annual Social Reports. BATM has stated that its model is predominantly motivated by social and stakeholder obligations. Its CSR activities have, however, had the additional benefits of contributing to a favourable image, deflecting criticism and establishing a modus vivendi with regulators that assists BATM's continued operations and profitability. It is imperative that health advocates highlight the potential conflicts inherent in such arrangements and develop strategies to address the concerns raised.

Matched MeSH terms: Tobacco Industry/legislation & jurisprudence
Fulltext Levels and correlates of awareness of tobacco promotional activities among adult smokers in Malaysia and Thailand: findings from the International Tobacco Control Southeast Asia (ITC-SEA) Survey

Yong HH, Borland R, Hammond D, Sirirassamee B, Ritthiphakdee B, Awang R, et al.

Tob Control, 2008 Feb;17(1):46-52.
PMID: 18218808 DOI: 10.1136/tc.2007.021964

To examine the impact of tobacco advertising policy on adult smokers' awareness of tobacco promotion in two developing countries--Malaysia and Thailand.

Matched MeSH terms: Tobacco Industry/legislation & jurisprudence
Tobacco control and gender in Southeast Asia. Part I: Malaysia and the Philippines

Morrow M, Barraclough S

Health Promot Int, 2003 Sep;18(3):255-64.
PMID: 12920146 DOI: 10.1093/heapro/dag021

In the World Health Organization's Western Pacific Region, being born male is the single greatest risk marker for tobacco use. While the literature demonstrates that risks associated with tobacco use may vary according to sex, gender refers to the socially determined roles and responsibilities of men and women, who initiate, continue and quit using tobacco for complex and often different reasons. Cigarette advertising frequently appeals to gender roles. Yet tobacco control policy tends to be gender-blind. Using a broad gender-sensitivity framework, this contradiction is explored in four Western Pacific countries. Part I of the study discusses issues surrounding gender and tobacco, and analyses developments in Malaysia and the Philippines. Part II deals with Singapore and Vietnam. In all four countries, gender was salient for the initiation and maintenance of smoking, and in Malaysia and the Philippines was highly significant in cigarette promotion. Yet, with a few exceptions, gender was largely unrecognized in control policy. Suggestions for overcoming this weakness in order to enhance tobacco control are made in Part II.
Study name: National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS-2006)

Matched MeSH terms: Tobacco Industry/legislation & jurisprudence*
Tobacco control and gender in south-east Asia. Part II: Singapore and Vietnam

Morrow M, Barraclough S

Health Promot Int, 2003 Dec;18(4):373-80.
PMID: 14695368

In the World Health Organization's Western Pacific Region, being born male is the single greatest risk marker for tobacco use. While the literature demonstrates that risks associated with tobacco use may vary according to sex, gender refers to the socially determined roles and responsibilities of men and women, who initiate, continue and quit using tobacco for complex and often different reasons. Cigarette advertising frequently appeals to gender roles. Yet tobacco control policy tends to be gender-blind. Using a broad, gender-sensitivity framework, this contradiction is explored in four Western Pacific countries. Part I of the study presented the rationale, methodology and design of the study, discussed issues surrounding gender and tobacco, and analysed developments in Malaysia and the Philippines (see the previous issue of this journal). Part II deals with Singapore and Vietnam. In all four countries gender was salient for the initiation and maintenance of smoking. Yet, with a few exceptions, gender was largely unrecognized in control policy. Suggestions for overcoming this weakness in order to enhance tobacco control are made.

Matched MeSH terms: Tobacco Industry/legislation & jurisprudence*
Fulltext Tobacco Industry Fingerprints on Delaying Implementation of Pictorial Health Warnings in the Western Pacific

Tan YL, Mackay J, Kolandai MA, Dorotheo EU

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2020 Jul 01;21(S1):23-25.
PMID: 32649167 DOI: 10.31557/APJCP.2020.21.S1.23

OBJECTIVE: This case series describes tobacco industry tactics and strategies used to interfere, derail, delay, and weaken the development of effective health warning regulations in Malaysia, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong.
METHODS: A historical review of official reports, news articles, and gray literature was undertaken to identify tobacco industry tactics and strategies to hamper government efforts in implementing stronger pictorial health warning regulations in four Asian jurisdictions (Cambodia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the Philippines).
RESULTS: Nineteen countries/jurisdictions in the WHO Western Pacific region currently require pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs, including some of the world's largest, in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 11 Guidelines. In the four jurisdictions examined, tobacco industry interference consisted of lobbying and misinformation of high-level government officers and policy-makers, distributing industry-friendly legislative drafts, taking government to court, challenging government timelines for law implementation, and mobilizing third parties. Strong political leadership and strategic advocacy enabled governments to successfully overcome this industry interference.
CONCLUSION: The tobacco industry uses similar tactics in different jurisdictions to derail, delay, and weaken the implementation of effective health warning policies. Identifying and learning from international experiences can help anticipate and defeat such challenges.

Matched MeSH terms: Tobacco Industry/legislation & jurisprudence
Fulltext SEATCA Tobacco Industry Interference Index: a tool for measuring implementation of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 5.3

Assunta M, Dorotheo EU

Tob Control, 2016 May;25(3):313-8.
PMID: 25908597 DOI: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2014-051934

OBJECTIVE: To measure the implementation of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Article 5.3 at country level using a new Tobacco Industry Interference Index and to report initial results using this index in seven Southeast Asian countries.
METHODS: Score sheet based on WHO FCTC Article 5.3 Guidelines sent to correspondents in seven Southeast Asian countries, using a scoring system designed with the help of tobacco control experts and validated through focused group discussions.
RESULTS: The seven countries ranked from the lowest level of interference to the highest are Brunei, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. Countries that face high levels of unnecessary interaction with the tobacco industry also face high levels of tobacco industry influence in policy development. Most governments do not allow any tobacco industry representatives on their delegation to sessions of the Conference of the Parties or its subsidiary bodies nor accept their sponsorship for delegates, but most governments still accept or endorse offers of assistance from the tobacco industry in implementing tobacco control policies. Most governments also receive tobacco industry contributions (monetary or in kind) or endorse industry corporate social responsibility activities. Governments do not have a procedure for disclosing interactions with the tobacco industry, but Lao PDR, Philippines and Thailand have instituted measures to prevent or reduce industry interference.
CONCLUSIONS: This Tobacco Industry Interference Index, based on the WHO FCTC Article 5.3 Guidelines, is a useful advocacy tool for identifying both progress and gaps in national efforts at implementing WHO FCTC Article 5.3.

Matched MeSH terms: Tobacco Industry/legislation & jurisprudence*

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