Many NGOs were invited to the stakeholder dialogue session as part of BAT’s 2006 Social Reporting process but most of them did not attend.
Before the holding of the event some Europe’s leading health organizations [1] sent a letter of concern to the MEPs hosting the meeting in order to get it canceled.
Despite the well reasoned arguments put forward in this letter (see below) the request was ignored and the event took place. However, it should be noticed that one of the MEPs, Jules Maaten, decided not to attend the meeting.
In the invitation to the meeting public health NGOs were encouraged to engage with BAT’s social responsibility process even if they ‘regard the tobacco industry with deep suspicion and are extremely wary of any involvement with its representatives’.
It has been well proved that tobacco industry has not exactly been the most trustworthy industry in recent decades and it certainly does not have the best reputation when it comes to corporate social responsibility. Many reports carried out by health organizations show the lack of commitment of the tobacco industry with social responsibility (see below).
Cancer Research UK press release
Australia takes legal measures against BAT
Two recent events in Australia support that BAT continues to breach laws aimed at reducing the harm caused by tobacco around the world.
In November 2006, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission instituted court proceedings against BAT for its failure to comply with Australian legislation on warning labels on cigarette packs.
In December 2006, an internal inquiry carried out by the Australian Supreme Court Judge found that two BAT lawyers had incurred in professional and potentially criminal misconduct relating to the destruction of documents prejudicial to BAT’s defense in a claim for damages from a lung cancer patient.
Ten days before the inquiry published this information, BAT’s lawyers threatened legal action against the Director of Legal Affairs at the Cancer Council of Victoria. They were attempting to stop him, and the family of the now deceased cancer patient, from making public the findings of the internal inquiry.
