TY - JOUR T1 - Worldwide news and comment JF - Tobacco Control JO - Tob Control SP - 363 LP - 365 DO - 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-056836 VL - 30 IS - 4 AU - Marita Hefler AU - John Baker Y1 - 2021/07/01 UR - http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/30/4/363.abstract N2 - All articles written by Marita Hefler and John Baker unless otherwise attributed. Ideas and items for News Analysis should be sent to marita.hefler@menzies.edu.auOn May 20–21, heads of state and dignitaries from Southeast and South Asia gathered virtually to discuss the post-COVID ‘Future of Asia’ at Nikkei’s flagship annual event. The conference was tobacco industry-free, thanks to a concerted effort by health and tobacco control advocates. Philip Morris Japan (PMJ ) had been named as a main sponsor, with Jacek Olzack, the new CEO of Philip Morris International (PMI), scheduled to speak on ‘Sustainable Growth and Transformation in Asia’ alongside officials from Asian Development Bank and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).Tobacco industry watchdog STOP alerted advocates to PMJ and PMI’s involvement, spurring many, including regional agencies and local advocates, to reach out to confirmed speakers, asking them to withdraw from the event. STOP organised an open letter to Nikkei, emphasising the potential violation of TAPS bans in many Asian countries and that Presidents, Prime Ministers and other government ministers were being led into potential violations of their country’s commitments to the WHO FCTC. This outreach bore fruit: dignitaries including a World Bank representative, New Zealand’s Minister for Trade and Export Growth and Pakistan’s Prime Minister informed Nikkei that they were withdrawing from the event.On May 17, a brief statement on the conference website noted that Olczak’s appearance was cancelled. PMJ’s logo was quietly removed from the list of sponsors. Speakers intending to withdraw were reassured that Nikkei had ended PMI’s participation and returned PMJ’s sponsorship funding.A week later, the president of Philip Morris France (PMF) was withdrawn as a speaker at the 10th Edition of the Inclusion and CSR Dialogues, an event organised by French authorities under the patronage … ER -