Will we lose billions of zlotys because of the WHO and the European Commission?

There are many indications that decisions that could have a significant impact on the Polish economy will be taken during the WHO summit in Panama (COP10) on 20-25 November. This concerns the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. It was passed more than twenty years ago and was intended to reduce the number of cigarette smokers in the world. However, the WHO suffered a global failure. The number of smokers is stagnating: more than 1.1 billion people smoke a cigarette every day. Cigarettes kill about 8 million people in the world every year and about 81,000. in Poland.

Now the World Health Organization, together with the European Commission, plans to introduce a number of bans and restrictions. This includes: a progressive ban on tobacco cultivation, a ban on the production and sale of e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, a radical increase in taxes on tobacco products, and finally: the alignment of product and tax rules for innovative products with those for traditional cigarettes. However, these ideas can be stopped. The problem is that although the Ministries of Finance and Agriculture are against such a solution, the WHO’s ideas are supported by the Ministry of Health.

The most scandalous thing is that the WHO also calls for the introduction of censorship, and more precisely: a ban on publishing journalistic texts about tobacco and nicotine, a ban on publishing cigarettes in films, audiobooks, social media (fines for users) , or an absurd ban on publishing scientific research on smoking. In other words, this means that instead of focusing on the fight against smoking, the WHO is calling for the introduction of global censorship and an attack on freedom of expression, as well as drastic restrictions on the freedom of business, trade unionism , scientific and artistic activities.

This is not surprising, as the WHO has been led since 2017 by Ethiopian neo-Marxist Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the first person without medical training to hold this position. We have written many times in “Do Rzeczy” about the activities of the WHO and the mechanisms that govern it.

Huge losses and violent resistance

The decisions to be taken at COP10 could have a real impact on EU law, including Polish law. To the surprise of many, the European Commission unexpectedly supported the changes proposed by the WHO. Moreover, she wanted to change the way she decided on her mandate in this matter from the previous unanimity of Member States to qualified majority voting. Moreover, the changes adopted at the Panama summit would automatically be binding on the EU countries. So far they have taken the form of non-binding recommendations.

It is no wonder that the ideas of the WHO and the actions of the European Commission led to violent opposition within the EU. Today, tobacco is grown in 12 of the 27 EU countries, and Poland is one of the leaders. Our country is currently the largest exporter of tobacco products in the EU. Nearly 10 percent of our agricultural and food exports consist of tobacco products, of which 80 percent goes to the EU market. More than 600,000 people work in this sector. people in our country, and this sector generates approximately PLN 28 billion in budget revenues annually.

The Member States decided to take action. The Italians, together with the Greeks, Czechs and Slovaks, built a coalition of seven countries for which tobacco is an important part of agriculture. The Polish Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance had a similar opinion on this issue, but officials from the Ministry of Health ignored these guidelines.

The plans of the WHO and the European Commission are also opposed by participants in the nicotine market: growers, tobacco companies, business organizations, trade unionists and even some medical circles. – We are simply afraid that the Polish tobacco industry will be executed in Panama. The specter of unemployment hangs over us. We do not understand why employees of legitimate companies should be victims of international interference in Polish affairs. We have also turned to international trade union structures for help, explains Marcin Klimczyk, Chairman of the National Section of Tobacco Industry Workers of NSZZ Solidarność.

Polish entrepreneurs are appealing to the government for support. Industry and business organizations agree that the WHO and EC proposals will lead to the liquidation of a strategic branch of the Polish economy. Letters to the government demanding intervention and opposing the actions of the EC and WHO have already been sent by, among others, the National Chamber of Commerce, the Institute of Agricultural Economics, the Polish Economic Association, the Federation of Polish Entrepreneurs, the Lewiatan Confederation, the Association for the Defense of Entrepreneurs’ Rights, the Krakow Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Polish Association of Tobacco Growers, or the National Department of Tobacco Industry Workers of NSZZ “Solidarność”.

It seems that, after the embarrassment of the coronavirus pandemic, the WHO is in dire need of success. This time, having failed in the battle against cigarettes, he begins to take on an easier opponent: alternative nicotine products. Interestingly, the WHO completely ignores the fact that the problem of cigarette smoking affects the so-called developing countries, i.e. the ‘global south’, and aims to ban nicotine products in highly developed countries. Meanwhile, these countries, led by the US, Britain, New Zealand and Sweden, are using alternatives to cigarettes to reduce smoking rates and consider them less harmful.

It is not yet known whether the proposed changes will come into effect. In the near future they will be discussed in Brussels in the context of the Public Health Working Group. The problem is that the WHO’s censorship tendencies are supported by the European Commission. However, the decisions to be taken in Brussels and Panama in November could have disastrous consequences. The question is: for what?