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Home » What We Do » Tobacco Control » Tobacco Control Projects » Alianca de Controle do Tabagisme / HealthBridge Collaboration

Project profile

Contact person:

Sian FitzGerald

Executive Director

Alianca de Controle do Tabagisme / HealthBridge Collaboration

Introduction

Drawing on Canadian experience where appropriate, this project sought to increase public and decision-maker awareness in Brazil on three important issues in tobacco control:

• The use of point-of-sale advertisements and displays to promote tobacco products by the tobacco industry when other forms of advertising have already been banned;
• Workers' right to smoke-free environments under general labour legislation;
• Progress towards implementation of the FCTC in Brazil, particularly with respect to Article 8 (second-hand smoke).

Objectives

The overall goal of this project was to support an enabling environment in Brazil through which FCTC implementation could be improved.

The objectives of this project were:

• To increase public awareness of the prevalence of point-of-sale promotion of tobacco products, as a prelude to a Canadian-style display ban;
• To improve support among decision-makers and the public for workers' rights to clean air and the applicability of existing labour legislation to the issue of second-hand smoke in Brazil.

Results and Impact

The project met its two objectives as planned, although there were some modifications in the activities.

OBJECTIVE 1: TO INCREASE PUBLIC AWARENESS OF THE PREVALENCE OF POINT-OF-SALE PROMOTION OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS, AS A PRELUDE TO A CANADIAN-STYLE DISPLAY BAN.

Planned and Actual Activities

• Public opinion poll addressing POS advertising and displays.This activity was not undertaken as planned. At the time that the proposal was submitted to Health Canada in December 2008, a larger public opinion poll was already planned and the questions on POS were to be added. However, delays in receiving funding approval meant that the survey went ahead as planned without the POS questions added. That said, though, the project team was able to draw upon results of a similar survey undertaken in 2008 and informally assessed public opinion in other ways. The project team was thus able to maintain a high level of interest in the subject in the media (see Appendices), and thereby continued to keep the issue of point-of-sale tobacco promotion in the public's mind.
• Legal research. This was completed as planned by ACT legal advisor Clarissa Menezes Homsi (see Appendices). The research report provides details about the issue of point-of-sale advertising bans from a legal and legislative perspective.
• This research report then led to the production of a formal legal opinion that demonstrated the constitutionality of a total advertising ban on tobacco products. The main arguments presented in the legal opinion include the following: (i) there are no absolute rights, thus any right can be limited or even suppressed if there is a reasonable justification; (ii) such justification should pass through the requirements of the Principle of Proportionality; (iii) the Brazilian Constitution has already determined that limitation can be placed on tobacco products advertising; (iv) Brazil has ratified the FCTC and should approve a bill totally banning tobacco products advertising. ACT sent the legal opinion to a public prosecutor who in turn used the arguments contained in it as part of a class action lawsuit against the tobacco industry for its abuse of existing advertising bans.
• Based on the results of the legal opinion, press releases were issued and fact sheets were produced and widely disseminated. Both were disseminated through ACT's website and network. ACT and HealthBridge will also include the fact sheets in a kit that will be disseminated at a seminar about the POS ban planned for March 2nd in Brasilia at the national Congress. The results of this work has provided a strong basis on which Brazilian tobacco control advocates can contest tobacco industry arguments that a total advertising ban is unconstitutional.
• ACT has mapped the status of existing bills related to advertising bans on tobacco products. ACT has contacted the authors of some of those bills directly and good relationships have been developed. Preparing the research report also made the tobacco industry's strategy on the issue of tobacco control bills clearer to ACT: the industry has sought to have these bills attached to an old bill addressing alcohol restrictions; when that bill was defeated, so would be all of the attached bills on tobacco control. ACT worked with one of the supportive legislators to exclude the tobacco bills from the initial vote so that they could be voted on separately.

Results/Key Impact of Objective 1: ACT has laid the groundwork for the development and passage of a point-of-sale tobacco advertising ban by providing both a legal and legislative perspective on POS advertising and a legal opinion demonstrating the ban's constitutionality. This legal opinion has already been used as part of a class action lawsuit. ACT has identified and begun to mitigate the tobacco industry's interference in the legislative process. Finally, it increased pubic and government awareness of the legality and constitutionality of a POS ad ban, and created an informal alliance with legislators supporting the ban.

OBJECTIVE 2: TO IMPROVE SUPPORT AMONG DECISION-MAKERS AND THE PUBLIC FOR WORKERS' RIGHTS TO CLEAN AIR AND THE APPLICABILITY OF EXISTING LABOUR LEGISLATION TO THE ISSUE OF SECOND-HAND SMOKE IN BRAZIL.

Planned and Actual Activities

• Report on the legal status of second-hand smoke as an occupational hazard. This was undertaken as planned by ACT legal advisor Adriana Pereira de Carvalho. To produce this report, she reviewed Brazilian legislation and jurisprudence, contacted labour prosecutors and trade unions, and discussed the matter with the Ministry of Labour. The report highlights the measured harmful effects of second hand smoke on those working in the hospitality industry and the significant reduction in those harms that was evident following the implementation of local smoke-free laws. In addition, the report demonstrates that in spite of the tobacco and hospitality industries' claims, smoke-free laws implemented at the state and municipal levels have not had negative economic effects.
• Amicus Curiae. In line with the release of the research report on second hand smoke as an occupational hazard, several Amicus Curiae were filed in favour of municipal and state smoke-free laws. [Amicus Curiae refers to someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information on a point of law or some other aspect of the case to assist the court in deciding a matter before it. The information may be a legal opinion in the form of a brief, a testimony that has not been solicited by any of the parties, or a learned treatise on a matter that bears on the case.]
• Seminar. The Seminar "Labor Relationships and Tobacco" took place in Curitiba, capital of the state of Paraná, in the Public Labour Attorney's head office. Participants included judges, public labour attorneys, and medical professionals. Among the speakers were lawyers, judges, tobacco growers, and professionals involved in tobacco control in Brazil; participants discussed the harmful effects of exposure to tobacco smoke, particularly for those working in the hospitality industry, and the exploitation of workers in the tobacco growing sector. The Seminar was a very important step in the process of involving the public labour prosecutors in the issue of second hand smoke, as it brought to light the obligation that employers have with respect to workers' health. Following the Seminar, ACT made contact with other public prosecutors in order to conduct the same seminar in additional states.
• Public opinion poll on second hand smoke. This was not a planned activity. However, given that the public opinion poll on POS could not proceed as planned, the project team decided to implement a smaller poll in São Paulo assessing public support for 100% smoke-free environments. The poll results revealed that more than 90% of those participating approve the new smoke-free law.
• Based on the research report and the public opinion results, severalpress releases were issued and fact sheets produced and disseminated.

Results/Key Impact of Objective 2: ACT has laid the groundwork in addressing smoke-free environments from an occupational health perspective in Brazil. It has provided evidence in legal action filed in relation to several smoke-free laws, and has engaged public labour prosecutors in addressing smoke-free environments as an occupational health issue.

For more details on these and other results, please see the final project report (appendices not included).

Lessons Learned

One of the greatest challenges regularly addressed in a project such as this is the influence of the tobacco industry on legislative debate and decision-making. The most pertinent lesson learned was the need to identify ways to mitigate the industry's influence, by taking a different approach, rather than try to fight the influence directly.

Recommendations

The recommendations generated through this project were largely included within the legal opinion, which provided the legal basis for regulatory action banning point-of-sale advertising, and the Smoke-free Environments and Occupational Health in Brazil report, which formally linked second hand smoke and occupational health rights.

Key Partners: Aliança de Controle do Tabagismo (ACT)

Location: Brazil

Donor: International Tobacco Control Grants, Health Canada

Duration: 2009 - 2010

Reports and Resources

Reports

Publications