Gözde Bayar
14 March 2019•Update: 15 March 2019
ANKARA
The World Health Organization (WHO) urged governments Thursday to enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, including in motor sports.
In a statement, the organization called on all sporting bodies, including Formula One and MotoGP, to adopt strong tobacco-free policies which guarantee that their events are smoke-free and that their activities and participants, including race teams, are not sponsored by tobacco companies.
While some transnational tobacco companies apparently stopped sponsoring Formula One races from 2006, British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International have been promoting their products by sponsoring Formula One and MotoGP.
With the 2019 Formula One season set to officially kick off on March 17 with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is concerned that “brand stretching” and “brand sharing” deals can result in the promotion of tobacco consumption to over a billion viewers, including young people.
The WHO FCTC also reminded parties on Wednesday to implement Article 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in the wake of recent sponsorship deals between tobacco manufacturers and Formula One.
“A comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship should include cross-border advertising, promotion and sponsorship,” said Article 13, adding that effective international cooperation is needed.
The article also highlighted that tobacco advertising leads to increased tobacco use while comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship lead to decreased tobacco use.
“A contract, agreement or arrangement concerning tobacco advertising, promotion or sponsorship should be held invalid if it is agreed in violation of a comprehensive ban,” the article said, emphasizing that applicable penalties could be issued under domestic laws.
