The sheep’s clothing of tobacco giant Philip Morris

The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World claims to strive for a ‘smoke-free world’. In reality, founder and financier Philip Morris uses the foundation to influence the scientific debate on new ‘smokeless’ products to promote these emerging products and to prevent their further regulation. On a flight from New York to Geneva in 2015, Derek Yach …

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Marlboro producer outsmarts its competition (and politicians)

Tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris conducts a sophisticated lobby in the Netherlands, using a meticulous international step-by-step plan. Yet it still manages to make a profit, to escape regulation and to maintain its competitive edge. The Investigative Desk analysed leaked internal documents and obscured government documents to gain insight into the workings of one of the …

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Bergen op Zoom still shady about contacts with Philip Morris

Based on the Dutch Public Access to Government Information Act (Wet openbaarheid van bestuur, WOB), The Investigative Desk unearthed 1362 pages of documents about contacts between the municipal authorities of Bergen op Zoom and tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris, which has a large plant in that town. The documents show that the municipality did not comply …

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