August 20th, 2011:
ADVERTISING, PROMOTION, AND SPONSORSHIP
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) promotes the view
that “firms should strive to make a profit, obey the law,
be ethical, and be a good corporate citizen.”2 Tobacco
companies, however, are not like other companies. Tobacco
is the only consumer product that kills one half of its users
when used as directed.1 The idea that tobacco companies can
be ethical while promoting a disease-producing product is
fundamentally contradictory. The Framework Convention
on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world’s first global public
health treaty, establishes a policy framework aimed to
reduce the devastating health, economic, and social impacts
of tobacco.3 Article 13 of the FCTC requires Parties to
implement and enforce a comprehensive ban on tobacco
advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, including a complete
ban on CSR.4
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) promotes the viewthat “firms should strive to make a profit, obey the law,be ethical, and be a good corporate citizen.”2 Tobaccocompanies, however, are not like other companies. Tobaccois the only consumer product that kills one half of its userswhen used as directed.1 The idea that tobacco companies canbe ethical while promoting a disease-producing product isfundamentally contradictory. The Framework Conventionon Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world’s first global publichealth treaty, establishes a policy framework aimed toreduce the devastating health, economic, and social impactsof tobacco.3 Article 13 of the FCTC requires Parties toimplement and enforce a comprehensive ban on tobaccoadvertising, promotion, and sponsorship, including a completeban on CSR.4
Download PDF : APS_CSR_en
Tobacco firms sue US over graphic cigarette labels
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gw_WYKQ9UEQv1TeZyHpNn9xWr1gg?docId=CNG.3404e18b09e683dd9aaf2d6e60f080df.451
WASHINGTON — Four tobacco companies filed a lawsuit against the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over what they say are unconstitutional requirements for warning labels on US cigarette packaging.
The third largest cigarette manufacturer in the United States, Lorillard, Inc., said they were “challenging nine new cigarette warnings as an unconstitutional way of forcing tobacco manufacturers to disseminate the government’s anti-smoking message,” in a statement Tuesday.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Commonwealth Brands, Inc., and Liggett Group LLC joined Lorillard in the suit, which was filed in a federal court in Washington.
Under recently announced FDA regulations, cigarette packs, cartons and all cigarette advertising must display graphic warnings by September 22, 2012.
“The regulations violate the First Amendment,” said Floyd Abrams, a partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel, the law firm representing Lorillard.
The FDA, which routinely declines discussing pending litigation, could not be reached for comment.
In June the FDA unveiled the graphic images — including a lifeless body, a scarred mouth and a blackened lung — that will occupy the top 50 percent of the front and rear panels of cigarette packs sold in the United States and the top 20 percent of cigarette advertisements.
One of the images, which shows a man with his chest sewn up, bears the caption “Warning: Smoking can kill you.”
According to the FDA, smoking kills 1,200 people a day in the United States alone.
The label changes came about following a June 2009 law, signed by President Barack Obama about five months after he took office, that gave the FDA the power to regulate manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco products.
The nine images were picked from a group of 36 proposals issued several months ago, after health authorities analyzed results on their effectiveness from an 18,000-person study and took into account about 1,700 public comments, the FDA said.
Each warning label also contains a phone number to call for help in quitting.
Anti-smoking groups such as the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said earlier this year that the move was “the most significant change in US cigarette warnings since they were first required in 1965.”
Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
Philip Morris International Charitable Contributions 2010 – area : Hong Kong
Hong Kong Disaster Relief Hong Kong Red Cross Providing disaster relief, rehabilitation and
disaster preparedness work in Haiti.
USD3,110
Hong Kong Education Crossroads Foundation Limited Sponsoring shipment of used computers
donated by PMAL IS Department to reach orphans and vulnerable youth in Kazakhstan & Uganda.
USD 6,452
Hong Kong Hunger & Extreme Poverty Senior Citizen Home Safety Association (SCHSA)
Funding an emergency aid service which provides 92 low-income elderly people with a
free, 24-hour Personal Emergency Phone Link to hospitals. The service also allows for
complementary care services, e.g. short-term counseling, home visits.
USD29,677
Hong Kong Hunger & Extreme Poverty SVHK Foundation Limited
Supporting a Barrier-Free Transportation Promotion Program which aims to make the
Hong Kong public transportation system wheelchair accessible.
USD30,000
Charitable Contributions 2010 : download PDF : 2010_Charitable_Contributions_Total