Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Multinational cigarette companies are not only breaking advertisement laws by targeting youth, but also taking benefit of the unregulated cigarette industry through pressure tactics. Resultantly, these manufacturers are reaping billions, while cleverly diverting the attention of the Government Agencies away from them.

In a recent incident, Karachi based multinational cigarette manufacturing company Philip Morris (Pakistan) Ltd has confessed to illegal use of its machinery installed in the unregistered cigarette factory in Buner (KP). Well-placed sources in FBR told Daily Times that the tax department has initiated an inquiry against the company and owner of the factory who were trying to install the machinery in the unregistered cigarette factory.

Officials of the Multinational Company have accepted that this was their machinery. The owner Waheed Khan, of the illegal manufacturing unit, when interviewed, was unaware of the name of their factory and the brands of cigarettes being manufactured, which reveals the hidden motives of acting like a facilitator for concealed manufacturing for one of the big cigarette manufacturers.

Sources said that when the ongoing investigating would be completed, the directorate would act against the company according to Federal Excise Act 2005. “We can impose the fine and capture machinery according to law but this will only happen after the directorate fixes responsibility.”

The Buner illegal factory case sheds light on the fact that there might be a bigger game at play over here. This finding hints that big tobacco manufacturers have been “crying wolf” in the media, to shift the agencies’ attention away from their own wrongdoing. At the same time, these manufacturers are completely disregarding the ban on tobacco advertisement.

These multinational manufacturing companies are systematically targeting children as young as six by using aggressive marketing techniques and placement of advertisements close to schools. This was the crux of a national survey titled “Monitoring of Tobacco Advertising, Promotion, Sponsorship and Point of Sale Advertising” conducted by the Network for Consumer Protection. The survey was conducted in six major cities including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi, and Quetta with 500 sales points monitored overall.

The report stated that advertisements are placed on shops selling sweets and chocolates as well as directly outside the gates of primary and secondary schools throughout the country.

The spokesperson for the network Dr. Maria Qureshi said that “the egregious marketing tactics used by multinational manufacturers was a clear violation of the law.”

Senator Nasreen Jalil speaking at the event said: “It is an uphill task to control tobacco use and to take action against multinational cigarette manufacturers, but we have to do it at any cost.”