Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
and scope, with indicators being self-determined. the exercise was described as
'more about “a philosophy and a process” than the “passing or failing of a test”'.
Hence on an issue such as youth smoking prevention, it would be the initiative that
was assessed rather than any success in reducing the numbers of youths smoking:
the company could lead the way by putting into place youth smoking prevention measures
to ensure that minors are better educated and less able to buy cigarettes. In this way, early
progress would be measured via end-market activities and campaigns rather than by any
reduction in underage smoking. In other words, performance would initially be judged on
'output' rather than 'impact' (Prideaux 2000).
this statement of priorities clearly contradicts those that would be required if a
meaningful impact on public health was to be obtained, highlighting the inadequacy
of reliance on voluntary regulation to realise such objectives. as envisaged in
the summary recommendation that bat should proceed with a social reporting
process on the grounds that it would improve the company's credibility and provide
substantial protection from critics:
overall, it will provide a structured, comprehensive and highly credible framework for
dealing with contentious issues and addressing them in a beneficial and sustainable way,
supported by pressure groups, academics and governments.
In this way, the process will not only help british american tobacco achieve a
position of recognised responsibility but also provides 'air cover' from criticism while
improvements are being made. essentially, it provides a degree of publicly-endorsed
amnesty (Prideaux 2000).
both in terms of explaining its genesis and the presumption of voluntarism it
incorporates, the adoption of social responsibility initiatives poses a potentially
significant challenge to health governance. This is starkly evident with reference to
tobacco, where cSr holds the promise of rehabilitating a pariah industry (collin and
Gilmore 2002), and high-profile initiatives such as the International tobacco Products
Marketing Standards could undermine commitments to effective health legislation.
More broadly, given increasing interest in viewing not just particular disease-
promoting businesses but also the corporate entity as a social structural determinant
of health (wiist 2006), such voluntary initiatives by the commercial sector could
be seen as impeding the development of more interventionist approaches. In this
context the Fctc can be seen as an alternative model by which the global conduct
of multinational corporations may be regulated (christian aid 2004).
The FCTC, Health, and Foreign Policy
the scale of inter-sectoral collaboration involved, the breadth of economic and
social interests affected, and the significance of the WHO's first negotiation of an
