Afghanistan Tobacco industry profile

AFGHANISTAN Tobacco industry profile COUNTRY PROFILE INDUSTRY Trends • A 2010 study conducted in Kabul City showed that 35.2% of men smoked cigarettes (1). • Among youth aged 13–15 years, 8.7% of males and 8.1% of females use some form of tobacco in 2010 (2). Domestic Aram Group (8) • Prominent seed supplier in Afghanistan. • Importing, exporting, distributing, manufacturing, developing, conducting research on, and trading tobacco seeds along with other non-related crop seeds Other players in the tobacco industry on which there is limited data include Amal Trading, Asia Middle East Co., Nasib Aria Co. Ltd, Sarco Abad, Tamana Ltd. International KT&G KT&G global expansion included Middle East markets (9). Alokozay Group (10) • Alokozay Group is a Dubai-based distributor that provides KT&G products throughout the Region. • Pine is the cheapest brand of cigarettes; Marlboro, Dunhill and Camel are also available in the market. Products Common tobacco products include: • naswar (snuff) (3) • cigarettes • waterpipe (chillam)(4) • cigars $ Finance • Total per capita expenditure on health was US$ 16 in 2014 (5). • Total expenditure on health was 8.2% of gross domestic product in 2014 (5). • In 2012, Afghanistan imposed import duties of 2.78% of the price of the most sold brand (6). Mortality • In 2014, noncommunicable diseases accounted for 37% of total deaths, with tobacco use as a leading risk factor (7). • In 2014, 16% of deaths were attributable to tobacco (5). BY THE NUMBERS 90% Percentage of youth who have tried a cigarette by age 13 years (1) 85.4% Percentage of the entire public who are either smokers or are directly exposed to second-hand smoke (1) 46% Percentage of Afghan population who have smoked at some stage during their lives (1) TRADE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Trade flow (11) Year Trade flow Commodity Trade value (million US$) 2013 Import Cigars, cheroots, cigarillos, and cigarettes 3.781 2014 Import Cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes 3.984 2015 Import Cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes 87.227 Cigarette imports greatly increased from $US 3.8 million in 2013 to $US 87.2 million in 2015 (11). Corporate social responsibility is an inherent contradiction, as the industry’s core functions are in conflict with the goals of public health policies with respect to tobacco control. Corporate social responsibility activities have been reported. However, countries are encouraged to abide by Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, protecting public health policies with respect to tobacco control from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry, through banning corporate social responsibility activities by the tobacco industry, which are often used to circumvent laws regulating the industry. MARKETING INDUSTRY INTERFERENCE • Despite legislation which banned advertisements that promote cigarette use in domestic media, seven in 10 students saw pro-cigarette ads on billboards and three in 10 saw pro cigarette ads in newspapers or magazines in 2012 (2). • There are currently no laws mandating anti-tobacco mass media campaigns (12). • Packaging/health warning labels and messaging are not regulated in the country (13). “The combined revenues of the world’s six largest tobacco companies in 2013 was US$ 342 billion, 94% larger than the gross national income of Afghanistan. The industry is a powerful force that does not fear the actions of nation states because their resources are often much larger.” The tobacco atlas (14). NEXT STEPS As a Party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), Afghanistan should continue to make progress in implementing tobacco regulation. It is recommended that Afghanistan focus on: • fully operationalizing the Guidelines of Article 5 of the WHO FCTC at national level; • introducing a multisectoral approach to the implementation of Article 5.3, within the implementation of the WHO FCTC; • putting in place a mechanism to monitor the tobacco industry activities and report publicly on that if and when possible. • © World Health Organization 2017 WHO-EM/TFI/157/E References 1. Tobacco Free Initiative: Afghanistan 2. Global Youth Tobacco Survey country fact sheet:Afghanistan 3. Availability and use of naswar: an exploratory study 4. Water-pipes, tobacco and snuff in Afghanistan 5. WHO global report: mortality attributable to tobacco 6. WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2015 7. Noncommunicable diseases country profiles: Afghanistan 8. Arm Agricultural & Seeds Co 9. KT&G Global 10. AGC Alokozay Group 11. UN Comtrade Database 12. WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2015: country profile Afghanistan 13. National tobacco control provisions: Afghanistan 14. The tobacco atlas. Country fact sheet: Afghanistan See also: Voice of truth. Multinational tobacco industry activity in the Middle East: a review of internal industry documents for more information.