Tobacco industry interference: still going strong

Throughout 2012, tobacco industry interference received significant attention from the tobacco control community. It was a prominent focus of the World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Singapore in March 2012, as well as the 2012 World No Tobacco Day theme. While these efforts increased awareness among governments and policy makers about Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the industry continues to find new avenues for subverting tobacco control—most notably by placing itself at the heart of policy making. In this issue, we highlight a number of recent examples of tobacco industry interests having access to the highest levels of government, and contrast this with some success stories of low and middle income countries implementing strong measures to resist tobacco industry influence and interference.

Paraguay: tobacco manufacturer wins presidential election

On 21 April, Horacio Cartes was elected to a 5-year term as president of Paraguay—a country with the dubious distinction as one of the world's top producers of contraband cigarettes. Cartes’ win returns to power the conservative Colorado Party following former President Fernando Lugo’s impeachment in June 2012. While Cartes’ election ends Paraguay's regional isolation caused by Lugo's controversial overthrow, Cartes’ alleged criminal past and history as a tobacco manufacturing baron in Paraguay should raise concerns about the global control of the contraband cigarette supply chain.

Cartes is one of the owners and top shareholders of Paraguay's largest cigarette manufacturing companies Tabacalera del Este (also known as Tabesa). The company was founded in 1994 and is controlled by the conglomerate Grupo Cartes, which owns a range of companies involved in banking, soft drinks, and tobacco. Tabesa markets cigarette brands such as Palermo, San Marino, and Kentucky.

During the election campaign, Cartes faced a number of allegations of links to drug trafficking groups and to the smuggling of cigarettes into neighbouring …