Tobacco industry interference on Bangladesh’s health policies increases: Report 

The tobacco industry seems to have enhanced interference in Bangladesh's public health policies during the Covid-19 pandemic, limiting the efforts to build a tobacco-free nation by 2040, according to a report.

The report entitled "Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2021" – that measured efforts by governments to address tobacco industry interference by the Global Centre for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC), a partner of the Stopping Tobacco Organisations and Products (STOP) – was released on Tuesday. 

This year, Bangladesh's score on the index has deteriorated by four points compared to the previous year, reaching 72 out of 100 – higher than any other country in South Asia.

The country with a score of 68 was the worst performer in the region last year as well. 

The lower the score indicates the lower the overall level of tobacco industry interference.  

The country is ranked 62nd among 80 countries in the 2021 index. Its rank lies not only at the bottom in the region but also among the bottom twenty countries globally.

The report focuses on the progress in the implementation of Article 5.3 of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).

Among other things, Article 5.3 of the Convention requires a country to protect its public health policies with respect to tobacco control from commercial or other vested interests of the tobacco industry.

With a score of 44, Nepal topped the index among the six South Asian countries reviewed in the report and was ranked 13th globally. 

With just one point more than Nepal, Sri Lanka was placed in the 2nd position in the region and was ranked 15th globally.

The Maldives, Pakistan and India ranked third, fourth and fifth in the region, scoring 48, 48 and 57, respectively.

ABM Zubair, executive director of Dhaka-based research and advocacy organisation PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress), said "The interference of the Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh in regards to the taxation policies is one of the two major reasons behind the deterioration of the score."

"The ambassador had literally threatened the finance minister that Japanese FDI flow would be hampered for taking such policy measures," he added.

He further said, "We were also fighting against tobacco use during the pandemic, and the Ministry of Health had responded to our request with a special letter." 

"But eventually, nothing happened due to the special grants made to the tobacco companies."

"Tobacco companies had requested a special grant to continue operations during the lockdown period whereas the WHO strictly mentioned that tobacco users would have a higher risk of being infected with the coronavirus."

How tobacco industry interferes in tobacco control, health policies 

The index is based on seven indicators of tobacco industry interference.

Bangladesh's score deterioration has mainly been driven by the first indicator of the index – industry participation in policy development – where its score deteriorated to 10 out of 20 this year from 6 last year.    

The report highlighted a letter addressed to the finance minister by the Japanese envoy who expressed discontent regarding taxation changes in 2019. 

The ambassador warned that such tobacco control measures – import restrictions on finished goods and selling of flavored capsule products – would thwart the flow of Japanese foreign direct investment to the country. This led to deterioration in the first indicator.

The National Board of Revenue's (NBR) VAT department was later assigned to address the Ambassador's grievances.

Another incident that affected the indicator was the endorsement from ten Members of Parliaments (MPs) to the bidi industry's demand for tax reduction in a Demi Official (DO) letter addressed to the Finance Minister in September 2020, the report mentioned.

However, these demands were not met in the finalised budget.

Special facilities for tobacco industry

During the nationwide Covid-19-induced shutdown in April 2020, British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) and Japan Tobacco International (JTI) hinged on an old Bangladesh law -- the Control of Essential Act 1956, which classifies cigarettes as "essential" goods -- to continue operations. 

The two companies were then granted special permission for manufacturing, purchasing leaves, supplying and distributing finished goods.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was requested to withdraw the special permission, but it turned down the request immediately.

Meanwhile, local bidi manufacturer, Akij Bidi Industry, had also managed to acquire a special permission.

The Article 5.3 guidelines suggest exclusion of cigarettes from the list of essential commodities by amending the Act 1956.

Lack of transparency

The transparency indicator suggested that the government has not been transparent about the interactions with the tobacco industry. 

The report mentioned a pre-budget meeting of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) where some budget proposals were made by the Bangladesh Cigarette Manufacturers Association (BCMA) to the NBR chairman. The details of the proposal were not officially disclosed later on.

It has also been said that rules for the disclosure or registration of tobacco industry entities do not exist in the country.

To fulfill the requirements of Article 5.3, it is necessary to expedite the adoption of a code of conduct for all government officials in dealing with the tobacco industry, and to disclose all interactions.