Ireland: Tobacco Industry Talks with An Taoiseach were ''Not Allowable''

Source from:  Irish Medical Times (ie)  06/28/2013

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny's meeting with senior tobacco industry representatives some weeks ago was "not allowable under any pretext", Prof Luke Clancy has told IMT.

"It was certainly a disastrous thing for him to do, and, in my opinion, was not allowable under any pretext," said the Director of the Tobacco Free Research Institute.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter accompanied the Taoiseach to the meeting with the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers' Advisory Committee (ITMAC). Minister for Health Dr James Reilly was invited but did not wish to attend.

While Prof Clancy admitted there was a "grey area" associated with Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which has been ratified by Ireland, but said it definitely did not allow for someone of the Taoiseach's portfolio being present in the meeting.

Article 5.3 of the convention states that parties must protect public health policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry. WHO recommendations on implementing this article state that parties should interact with the tobacco industry only "when and to the extent strictly necessary to enable them to effectively regulate the tobacco industry and tobacco products" and interactions must be transparent.

Commenting on claims that the meeting concerned smuggling, Prof Clancy said this was a familiar line used by the tobacco industry and he questioned the direct relevance of this issue to the portfolio of Taoiseach. Smuggling was a "law and order" issue and not the Taoiseach's portfolio, he said, so "under no circumstances does 5.3 allow them meet him".

He added that while the industry could argue for a meeting with some ministers under certain restricted circumstances, such meetings needed to be transparent, "whereas this seemed to be a secret meeting".

Prof Clancy said the meeting, coming as it did in the run-up to Minister Reilly's plain packaging announcement, created an awkward sequence of events for the Minister for Health. However, he added: "I think it came out to his advantage because it enabled the plain packaging announcement."

Prof Clancy said it was now imperative that tobacco industry amendments to the Tobacco Products Directive were defeated and that research into plain packaging and illicit trade had no connection with the tobacco industry. Enditem