Level of Tobacco Industry Participation in Policy-Development

In 2015 Members of the Parliament MPs Hennadiy Kryvosheya, Borys Kozyr and Vitalii Stashuk registered a draft law 2430-1 “Amendments to certain Laws of Ukraine regarding the fulfillment of Ukraine’s obligations under the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States (concerning the production, presentation and sale of tobacco products, their advertising and sponsorship)”. This bill is based on the cancelled Directive 2001/37/EU that has very weak tobacco control measures^[6] and has been used as a tactic to block (by being an alternative draft law to draft law 2820 the passage of the more effective draft law on tobacco control 2820, which complies with the new Directive 2014/40/EU. Draft law 2820 “On amendments to some laws of Ukraine on public health protection against harmful effects of tobacco” has been registered in 2015 by 4 MPs who belong to the Parliament Committee on Healthcare – MPs Olha Bohomolets, Oleh Musii, Oksana Korchynska, Iryna Sysoienkoand and 3 MPS who has been supporting tobacco control measures in Ukraine in the past – Hanna Hopko, Pavlo Unhurian, Ihor Lutsenko^[7].

Draft law 2430-1 was assigned to the Parliament Committee on Tax and Customs and the draft law 2820 was assigned to the Committee on Healthcare. This situation created obstacles for the draft law 2820 to be considered in the 1^st reading.

The main tobacco control law 2899 has been always a primer responsibility of the Committee on Healthcare not the Committee on Tax and Customs.

In 2017 MPs Nina Yuzhanina, Hennadiy Kryvosheia, Yuriy Vozniuk,  Oleksandr Kirsh, Olena Masorina, Myhailo Kobtsev, Roman Zastavnyi, Oleh Kryshyn, Roman Matsola, Andriy Shynkovysh, Maksym Kuriachyi, Andriy Antonyshchak, Leonid Kozachenko registered draft law 2430-d “Оn Amendments of Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Improving Regulation in the Sphere of Production, Circulation, Prohibition of Advertising and Sponsorship of Tobacco Products, Electronic Cigarettes and Herbal Products for Smoking” based on the draft laws 2430-1 and 2820. This bill was presented as a “consensus” because it has some of the provisions of the EU Tobacco Product Directive 2014/40/EU except the provision on pictorial health warnings^[8].

Several MPs authors of the draft law 2430-d – Nina Yuzhanina, Yuriy Vozniuk, Oleksandr Kirsh, Mykhailo Kobtsev, Roman Zastavnyi, Oleh Kryshyn, Maksym Kuriachyi, Andriy Antonyshchak are the Members of the Parliament Committee on Tax and Customs^[9] .

Registration of draft law 2430-d created even more obstacles for adoption of the tobacco control bill 2820.

MP Nina Yuzhanina – the Head of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Taxation and Customs Policy. MP Nina Yuzhanina is the first author of the draft law 2430-d that is used to block the 1^st reading of the draft law 2820 that complies with WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Directive 2014/40/EU. She initiated the working group on the development of a new draft law 2430-d based on the draft laws 2820 and 2430-1. The draft law 2430-d was developed without participation of the MPs from the Healthcare Committee and weakened the anti-tobacco norms that were proposed by the draft law 2820. In particular, the regulation regarding packaging and labeling changes for tobacco products.  She also advocated the lower excise tax rates on tobacco products in 2015-2016. Some of the adopted excise rates were lower than those proposed by the government, while the adopted rates were still high (specific rates were increased by 40% in 2016, 40% in 2017, 30% in 2018)^[10].

Another MP – Hennadiy Kryvosheia is the co-author of the draft law 2430-d and is the main author of the draft law 2430-1. He is the initiator of the draft law 3788 that proposes to impose unrealistic regulations that are difficult to implement regarding the prohibition of smoking while closer than 20 meters from public places, so that compliance with the anti-tobacco legislation would be neglected. He is a co-author of the draft law 4507 that is aimed, among other provisions, to allow the smoking of electronic cigarettes in restaurants^[11].    

MP Myhailo Kobtsev is a co-author of the bill 2430-d and a member of the Committee Tax and Customs. His daughter previously worked in the tobacco company “Philip Morris Sales and Distribution”. In 2016, as the Head of the Sub-committee on excise law and legislative regulation of spirits, alcohol and tobacco market, he lobbied the lower excise tax rates on tobacco. He also lobbied the Cabinet of Ministers to develop “coordinated” vision that would be represented on the Conference of Parties of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control parties. He asked the members of the Committee on Public Health to transfer all the public healthcare draft laws to the Committee on Taxation and Customs Policy^[12]  

Another co-author of the bill 2430-d is MP Leonid Kozachenko a Member of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Agrarian Policy and Land Relations. His assistant, Valentyna Khomenko, is the head of “Ukrtiutiun” Ukrainian Association of Tobacco Manufacturers. She opposes tobacco control regulations. In the beginning of 2014, he sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatseniuk, asking to cancel the increase in an excise tax for alcohol and tobacco products^[13].

In 2015 Members of the Parliament MPs Hennadiy Kryvosheya, Borys Kozyr and Vitalii Stashuk registered a draft law 2430-1 “Amendments to certain Laws of Ukraine regarding the fulfillment of Ukraine’s obligations under the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States (concerning the production, presentation and sale of tobacco products, their advertising and sponsorship)”. This bill is based on the cancelled Directive 2001/37/EU that has very weak tobacco control measures^[14] and has been used as a tactic to block (by being an alternative draft law to draft law 2820 the passage of the more effective draft law on tobacco control 2820, which complies with the new Directive 2014/40/EU. Draft law 2820 “On amendments to some laws of Ukraine on public health protection against harmful effects of tobacco” has been registered in 2015 by 4 MPs who belong to the Parliament Committee on Healthcare – MPs Olha Bohomolets, Oleh Musii, Oksana Korchynska, Iryna Sysoienkoand and 3 MPS who has been supporting tobacco control measures in Ukraine in the past – Hanna Hopko, Pavlo Unhurian, Ihor Lutsenko^[15].

Draft law 2430-1 was assigned to the Parliament Committee on Tax and Customs and the draft law 2820 was assigned to the Committee on Healthcare. This situation created obstacles for the draft law 2820 to be considered in the 1^st reading.

The main tobacco control law 2899 has been always a primer responsibility of the Committee on Healthcare not the Committee on Tax and Customs.

In 2017 MPs Nina Yuzhanina, Hennadiy Kryvosheia, Yuriy Vozniuk,  Oleksandr Kirsh, Olena Masorina, Myhailo Kobtsev, Roman Zastavnyi, Oleh Kryshyn, Roman Matsola, Andriy Shynkovysh, Maksym Kuriachyi, Andriy Antonyshchak, Leonid Kozachenko registered draft law 2430-d “Оn Amendments of Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Improving Regulation in the Sphere of Production, Circulation, Prohibition of Advertising and Sponsorship of Tobacco Products, Electronic Cigarettes and Herbal Products for Smoking” based on the draft laws 2430-1 and 2820. This bill was presented as a “consensus” because it has some of the provisions of the EU Tobacco Product Directive 2014/40/EU except the provision on pictorial health warnings^[16].

Several MPs authors of the draft law 2430-d – Nina Yuzhanina, Yuriy Vozniuk, Oleksandr Kirsh, Mykhailo Kobtsev, Roman Zastavnyi, Oleh Kryshyn, Maksym Kuriachyi, Andriy Antonyshchak are the Members of the Parliament Committee on Tax and Customs^[17].

Registration of draft law 2430-d created even more obstacles for adoption of the tobacco control bill 2820.

MP Nina Yuzhanina – the Head of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Taxation and Customs Policy. MP Nina Yuzhanina is the first author of the draft law 2430-d that is used to block the 1^st reading of the draft law 2820 that complies with WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Directive 2014/40/EU. She initiated the working group on the development of a new draft law 2430-d based on the draft laws 2820 and 2430-1. The draft law 2430-d was developed without participation of the MPs from the Healthcare Committee and weakened the anti-tobacco norms that were proposed by the draft law 2820. In particular, the regulation regarding packaging and labeling changes for tobacco products.  She also advocated the lower excise tax rates on tobacco products in 2015-2016. Some of the adopted excise rates were lower than those proposed by the government, while the adopted rates were still high (specific rates were increased by 40% in 2016, 40% in 2017, 30% in 2018)^[18].

Another MP – Hennadiy Kryvosheia is the co-author of the draft law 2430-d and is the main author of the draft law 2430-1. He is the initiator of the draft law 3788 that proposes to impose unrealistic regulations that are difficult to implement regarding the prohibition of smoking while closer than 20 meters from public places, so that compliance with the anti-tobacco legislation would be neglected. He is a co-author of the draft law 4507 that is aimed, among other provisions, to allow the smoking of electronic cigarettes in restaurants^[19].    

MP Myhailo Kobtsev is a co-author of the bill 2430-d and a member of the Committee Tax and Customs. His daughter previously worked in the tobacco company “Philip Morris Sales and Distribution”. In 2016, as the Head of the Sub-committee on excise law and legislative regulation of spirits, alcohol and tobacco market, he lobbied the lower excise tax rates on tobacco. He also lobbied the Cabinet of Ministers to develop “coordinated” vision that would be represented on the Conference of Parties of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control parties. He asked the members of the Committee on Public Health to transfer all the public healthcare draft laws to the Committee on Taxation and Customs Policy^[20].  

Another co-author of the bill 2430-d is MP Leonid Kozachenko a Member of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Agrarian Policy and Land Relations. His assistant, Valentyna Khomenko, is the head of “Ukrtiutiun” Ukrainian Association of Tobacco Manufacturers. She opposes tobacco control regulations. In the beginning of 2014, he sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatseniuk, asking to cancel the increase in an excise tax for alcohol and tobacco products^[21].

The industry lobby in the parliament effectively blocks tobacco control legislation (except tobacco taxation). On the other hand, tobacco lobby is not able or is not interested in passing the weaker version of tobacco control laws. The industry-sponsored bill 2430-d is not adopted and most likely will not be passed. However, the passage of effective tobacco control bills 2820 and 4030a is has been blocked since 2015. 

In 2017 MP and Member of Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Taxation and Customs Policy Andriy Antonyshchak and several other MPs from different political fractions Yurynets, Dobrodomov, Sylantiev, Batenko, Dubnevych, Lapin, Kit, Shurma, Ostrikova, Vasiunyk, Petiovka, Liushniak, Osukhovskyi, Horvat registered a draft law №6683-1 “On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine on the Specifics of Taxation of Tobacco Products”. This draft law proposed to increase ad valorem excise rate on tobacco products, while keeping the specific rate rather low. Lviv tobacco factory is interested in higher ad valorem excise because it produces cheap cigarettes. Three big transnational tobacco companies (PMI, JTI, BAT) support only specific excise rate increase. The draft law sponsored by Lviv factory was not eventually adopted^[22]. According to comments that MP Andriy Antonyshchak gave to journalist this bill was drafted by the national tobacco producers, particularly Lviv Tobacco Factory^[23].

A draft law “On Amendments to Article 221 of the Tax Code of Ukraine regarding the Specifics of Taxation of Tobacco Products” (introduction of minimum retail prices) was developed by the working group in which the TI members also participated^[24]. According to representative of the Imperial Tobacco this bill was drafted by the tobacco industry, then MoF accepted this policy proposal and registered a bill^[25]. This draft law was lobbied by 3 companies that produce more expensive brands PMI, BAT, JTI. Imperial Tobacco and Lviv Tobacco Factory opposed this draft law because they produce cheaper brands and this bill would reduce their profit. This draft law was not adopted as of April 12 2019.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved a draft bill on ratification of the Protocol on March 1, 2017.^[26] In 2017 the MoH submitted a draft of the bill to the President Administration because only the President can register a bill on ratification of the International Treaty and sent it to the Parliament for the 1^st reading. However, the President Administration returned the draft bill two times due to “some technical issues”^[27]. This draft bill is not yet registered so far.