84To advance its commercial interests, the tobacco industry uses a wide range of tactics, one of which is the so-called third party technique.
This method is implemented through front groups. Some of them operate openly—these include lobbying and business associations in which tobacco corporations hold publicly disclosed membership (in particular, business associations). Others disguise themselves as independent civil society organizations, citizen initiatives, or expert communities that ostensibly advocate for the public interest but are in fact affiliated with the tobacco industry. This practice is known as astroturfing—the imitation of grassroots public support to promote commercial interests.
Law of Ukraine No. 2899-IV explicitly prohibits any form of financial or other support from the tobacco industry or related organizations for events, activities, individuals, or groups, including political parties, public and political figures, athletes, artists, as well as educational institutions of all forms of ownership. Nevertheless, to secure their interests, tobacco companies systematically violate the law by providing charitable contributions to non-profit organizations, think tanks, and foundations, which later attempt to influence public opinion, politicians, and government officials.
In a publication on the updated Tobacco Tactics platform, we explain how the tobacco industry uses front groups to promote the legalization of nicotine snus and the return of smoking in restaurants. Such actions contradict Ukraine’s international obligations under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and undermine the state’s efforts in public health.
In response, the state must act consistently and decisively, first and foremost by protecting children and young people from being drawn into nicotine use. It should be recalled that every year in Ukraine, 100,000 people die prematurely from diseases caused by tobacco use.
Tobacco Tactics is a project of the Advocacy Center ‘Life’, an information and thematic resource dedicated to the strategies and tactics used by the tobacco industry to influence public health policymaking in Ukraine, particularly in the field of tobacco control.
Illustration: iStock