“‘Utter hypocrisy’: tobacco firm lobbied against rules in Africa that are law in UK”, 13 November 2025.

British American Tobacco has been accused of “utter hypocrisy” for lobbying against tobacco control measures in Africa that are already in place in the UK...

A letter… sent from the company’s subsidiary in Zambia… asks for plans to ban tobacco advertising and sponsorship to be abandoned or delayed. The tobacco firm seeks changes to a draft bill that include reductions in the proposed size of graphic health warnings on cigarette packaging, the removal of restrictions on flavoured tobacco products, and watered-down penalties for any firms breaking the new laws...

Jorge Alday, director of the tobacco industry watchdog STOP at health organisation Vital Strategies, said: 'We see evidence of industry lobbying everywhere… Tobacco company fingerprints are on delayed tax increases in Indonesia, stalled legislation in Zambia... If a tobacco control measure isn’t passed because of this letter, the price could be paid in lives of people who might otherwise quit smoking.’...

The tobacco control bill going through Zambia’s parliament includes proposals to go further than UK legislation by also applying to e-cigarettes, and mandating that graphic health warnings cover 75% of product packaging...

“In the letter, Mukubesa Maliande, managing director of British American Tobacco (Zambia) plc, says the firm is "committed to good corporate behaviour"… but claims that "some regulations can have unwelcome and unexpected consequences."

Chimbala said BAT’s proposed changes would “weaken this legislation so much that the impact needed for it to cause long-term change in society will not be achieved”....

A BAT Zambia spokesperson said: “BAT Zambia conducts its business in compliance with applicable local law… adding that BAT’s proposals reflect the realities of the Zambian market and tobacco industry, which includes rising levels of illicit trade”...