As the future plastics treaty enters its final round of negotiations at the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) in Busan, its success depends on the integrity of its decision-making processes and the influence exerted by those participating in the negotiations and policymakers back home. Hence, at the heart of the issue is the need to avoid conflict of interest – particularly, corporate influence – to ensure that public interest, not profit motives, drives policymaking.
This principle of integrity applies to all sectors, but is particularly critical when addressing industries like tobacco, where the stakes for public health and environmental integrity are uniquely high. While the plastics industry, which can range from petrochemical companies and consumer goods manufacturers, may have opportunities to engage in constructive efforts such as recycling and redesigning products, the tobacco industry is governed by a different set of rules because of its inherent harms.
The unique case of tobacco
Cigarette filters, primarily made of toxic plastic (cellulose acetate), are the most common form of plastic waste globally, with an estimated 4.5 trillion discarded annually. They account for 30 to 40 per cent of debris collected in beach clean ups. These tobacco-containing filters leach harmful chemicals like nicotine and arsenic into ecosystems, poisoning aquatic life and causing extensive environmental damage – estimated to cost US$26 billion annually. Additionally, tobacco’s toll on global health and productivity is staggering: 1.8 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP), or US$1.4 trillion.
The tobacco plastic problem will inevitably have to be addressed in plastic policies. In one of the negotiating texts, cigarette filters are listed as an item to eliminate, while broader discussions on tobacco products are slated for further study.
The tobacco industry is unique in that it actively promotes a product that kills half of its users and provides no societal benefit. Recognising the public health threat posed by tobacco, governments developed a separate set of rules to safeguard against its influence. These rules are enshrined in the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), designed to protect public health policies from tobacco industry interference. The treaty explicitly prohibits the tobacco industry participation in policymaking – a standard that should also apply to the plastics treaty, particularly as most delegations negotiating the future treaty are already Parties bound by FCTC obligations.
The threat to FCTC protections in the plastics treaty
The FCTC’s Article 5.3 obliges parties to protect policies from tobacco industry interests. It prohibits the tobacco industry from engaging in policymaking processes, ensuring evidence-based measures prevail over profit-driven agendas.
The effort to protect against tobacco industry interference helped the treaty foster robust global guidelines and national policies in areas such tobacco marketing bans and product regulation to curb the use of attractive design features.
However, the plastics treaty’s draft provisions on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), stakeholder engagement, and incentives for voluntary product redesign pose significant risks of undermining these guidelines and policies. While these may be practical for many industries, such provisions could undermine public health when applied to the tobacco industry. For instance,
- Tobacco companies could use EPR schemes as a form of corporate social responsibility (CSR), which is already banned in over 70 countries based on FCTC guidelines.
- The tobacco industry could also use provisions for product redesignto modify cigarette filters, creating products that appeal to new customers but that would in no way protect public health.
Unless managed, these risks could lead to the erosion of decades of progress in global tobacco control efforts and contravene existing international law.
Thus, it is apt that the FCTC’s COP10 decision on Article 18 recognised the plastics treaty negotiations and emphasised the need to protect “tobacco-related environmental policies from tobacco industry interference.” Indeed, the future plastics treaty has a unique opportunity to demonstrate respect for the provisions of the FCTC; by making a clear reference to the Convention and ensuring that the tobacco industry is explicitly excluded from key provisions, particularly from stakeholder engagement and incentives.
Upholding FCTC in the plastics treaty
It is crucial to incorporate into the future plastic treaty text the recognition of FCTC, including the efforts made by governments to implement Article 5.3. This involves excluding the tobacco industry in ways that effectively prevent any potential influence on policymaking. Such measures are essential to uphold the rule of law and to avoid conflicts between international treaties.
Beyond the tobacco sector, the examples of negotiations framed in line with the FCTC provide lessons for how the future plastics treaty can establish a mechanism to address the complex challenge of industry engagement in tackling global plastic pollution.
Unlike tobacco, certain industries contributing to plastic pollution may have a legitimate role in public-private partnerships focused on scientific research, product redesign, or innovative alternatives. Nevertheless, strong safeguards are necessary to prevent conflicts of interest from undermining the core objectives of the plastics treaty, to ensure that the protection of public and environmental health remains the priority in tackling plastic pollution.
In addition to ensuring that the future plastics treaty will not contravene duties and obligations under the FCTC, the future plastics treaty should commit to establishing a mechanism to address the complex challenge of industry engagement in tackling global plastic pollution.
Vera da Costa e Silva is the former head of the FCTC Secretariat. She is also the executive secretary of Brazil’s National Commission for the Implementation of the FCTC and Protcols and a senior consultant at the Brazilian public research institute Fundação Oswaldo Cruz.
Deborah Sy is the head of strategy and global public policy at the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control. She is also the senior advisor and founder of HealthJustice Philippines, an observer to the UN Environment Programme and the UN Plastic Treaty Negotiations and the author of “Tobacco Industry Accountability for Marine Pollution: Country and Global Estimates”.
