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9.1 NATIONAL MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION WORKSHOP - WASHINGTON September 1983 INFORMATION RESOURCES AND SERVICES by Antonietta Corti It is my pleasant duty to speak briefly to you about INFOTAB's information resources and services. I put resources ahead of services, because on the screen you see our most valuable resources - our ep ople. This is the Information Services team - men and women with a wide variety of backgrounds, blending their skills and aptitudes for one common purpose. That purpose is to provide you with a range of services supporting your front-line efforts to defend the industry and promote its freedom to market its products. I will introduce these people to you in just a few minutes. But first, let us look at the services we provide. These services fall into five major categories: Firstly, we gather, prepare and supply reports and intelligence on developments related to smoking issues at the global, regional and national levels. Secondly, to increase the sharing of common experience and stimulation of initiatives we report on actions by NMAs and Lead Companies. Your active partici- pation in this process has made this work possible and we are very grateful for your contribution.

Thirdly, we collate, analyse and write up background and reference material and argumentation on smoking issues. This also includes participation in project teams, who in turn produce material for adaptation and use at the national level. Fourthly, we handle individual requests for tailor-made material, analyses, expert opinion, argumentation and statistics. Last, but not least, we are steadily building a library and documentation centre. This includes catalogues of audio-visual material and of issue-oriented, industry-produced materials; and we are developing a computerized information base which will eventually be electronically accessible to members. Having outlined the broad categories of our acti- vities, let us look into them more closely - in terms of what we can provide for you. First, let us look into the category of reports and intelligence on international and national develop- ments. The key word is "intelligence" ("renseigne- ments", "auskunft", "informazioni", "informe"). In a nutshell, intelligence is based on vigilant surveillance and close monitoring of anti-smoking activities, strategies and plans, as well as national governments' and international organizations' dealings on smoking issues and scientific events. With the close collaboration of National Associations, member companies and consultants, we operate what might be called an intelligence network.

Our surveillance activity covers both written material available to the public and what could be termed informed, "inside" information and opinion. In INFODATE we report - on regional and/or issue-oriented meetings such as the World Health Assembly which takes place yearly in May, the WHO Executive Committee meeting every January; as well as other relevant events like WHO's Expert Committee on less-developed countries' which took place last November; and of course, the great number of regional meetings sponsored by the International Union Against Cancer and scientific conferences. We have expert help in the coverage of these events. But, essentially, we depend on each Association or Lead Company in the country where the event takes place. It is this on-the-spot work which is the key element in our intelligence network. This surveillance and monitoring programme provides the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that we can put together to produce a picture of trends and issues affecting our industry - a picture that often provides us with some lead time to develop pre- emptive strategies instead of doing nothing until the fire alarm sounds. Our monitoring takes in events and trends as well as influential personalities. Thus it was interesting for instance to watch bir. Pertschuk, of the United States Federal Trade Commission here in Washington, participate in a Latin American workshop organized by the Intern- ational Union Against Cancer last year, and to observe Dr. Hirayama's participation in three meetings in a row in the U.S. and Hawaii within a time-span of two months.

It was through such monitoring that we observed that an Inspector General of Labour in an African country - and therefore not directly concerned with the smoking issues - turned out to be a consultant to the World Health Organization on anti-smoking activities. Also, as Hans has pointed out, we were warned at Winnipeg that a series of meetings throughout Latin America will be organized by the International Union Against Cancer. The same applies to Africa. This may be due to the limited turnout from these continents at Winnipeg. It certainly indicates the anti-smoking forces' strategy to exert added influence in these regions. Another aspect of our surveillance activities con- cerns legislative and regulatory matters around the world, which make up the Smoking Issues Status Book. Y7ith the active input you provide, and through publications, press articles and a variety of con- tacts we aim to keep you up-dated on new restrictions and - alas, more rarely! - on the lifting of restrictions. Eight up-dates were sent out so far this year, including information on 76 countries. Here are major developments in this field: In Belgium, there was a modification of legislation resulting in lifting the poster ban, but also new severe restrictions on sponsorship, to go into effect at a later date. In Norway, introduction of 12 rotational warnings. In Uruguay, new warning labels.

In Hong Kong, tar and nicotine information and warning labels on packs and in adver- tising, restrictions on advertising and curbs on smoking on public transport. In the United Kingdom, a new voluntary code. In Greece, a proposal for severe restric- tions on media advertising. There was some good news: In Mauritius, a ban on TV and radio adver- tising was lifted. In Denmark, a smoking ban in cinemas was cancelled. Finally, we report as fully as we can on smoking- related literature through our monthly INFOTOPICS. Over the past year, 306 articles were selected for INFOTOPICS out of 1,000 studied. These covered information from 48 countries. An index, published every six months and organized by issues, countries and authors, allows for quick reference and overview of how press coverage of topics develops. Articles on public smoking and scientific research took up most press coverage lately. A major piece of information, and much discussed, are the results of the various intervention trials for the prevention of coronary heart disease on which Dr. Schafer thoroughly briefed us yesterday.

Legislation also received quite some coverage, with the Waxman hearings in the U.S., the Dadour bill in Australia and the ordinance on San Francisco governing smoking in offices, as well as attempts to have it repealed. And now let us move on to the important area of industry action. Last year, as part of the long-term communications project, we distributed "the Industry in Action" binder. Because of the obviously sensitive nature of some of the information it contains, the binder was only distributed by hand. It is a kind of a stock exchange of actions. Although circumstances differ from one country or region to another, some elements of how members deal with an issue may suggest action elsewhere. The case histories are sent out as INFOGRAMS. Over the past 12 months, 32 new actions were received. They are now printed for inclusion in the binder. We have up-dated the matrices to help you spot at a glance which countries have been involved in any issue area. This allows you to select the cases most comparable to your own. You will note that seven new countries have shared their experiences with us. At this point, I want to reassure you that we make every effort to ascertain that the information in INFOGRAM is accurate. We do this by formatting and completing the case histories you have supplied and then verifying them with you to make sure that the information - like certain wines - has travelled well.

As I noted a moment ago, we have had 32 new case histories. There are eight instances where you have dealt with public - or "passive" - smoking. There are two case histories on taxation, seven on advertising, five on economic impact - ten on industry communications, one on smoking and health, and one on tar/nicotine yields. Two associations have set up communication networks. If we were to divide last year's reported industry actions into reactive and pre-emptive categories, I am pleased to report that 22 - almost 70 per cent - of the new actions were pre-emptive, and only ten were reactive. Last year, the score was 50/50, so the present rate is encouraging. We are also a production centre and clearing house for background and reference material. We receive a steady flow of requests for easily retrievable argumentation or authoritative statements on various issues. Three major reference tools which we were able to distribute over the past year are part of our continuous concern to address this need. In producing them, we were greatly helped by experts, especially insofar as' heaith-related issues were concerned. Two binders contained quotations from testimonies at the Waxman and Hatch/Packwood hearings in the U.S. Quotations cover thirty issues and can be used for easy reference in public or private discussions. We know of at least one association who has used them as the basis for a publication.

"Be Prepared", the Boy Scout motto, could be the watchword for our entire industry and INFOTAB, as we try to anticipate moves of the anti-smoking forces and government regulators. We did prepare for the Winnipeg conference. Prior to the meeting, one of our analysts, as a member of the monitoring team, worked with a number of consultants to prepare a series of papers on the major issues listed on the Winnipeg agenda. This collection of counter-arguments was sent to you in a binder. The material should not only be of use in direct response to anti-smoking articles growing out of the Winnipeg conference, but it will also provide the basis to deal with the subjects in a variety of other circumstances. Speaking of Winnipeg, I want to mention a special contribution to the industry made by a Latin American Association. They condensed and translated into Spanish the daily telex reports and were thoughtful enough to share these with us so that we could let other Spanish-speaking Associations and Lead Companies benefit from this. And now to the category of specific requests. This is an area in which the skills of our people are especially brought into play. The requests are for material, information, analysis of particular issues, the industry's posture on a difficult subject, and statistical data or argumentation. Each request must be filled on a custom-tailored basis to meet what we understand to be the exact needs of the member. We estimate that 40 per cent of three analysts' and their secretaries' time is devoted to providing this specialized service. We received 265 such requests over.the past year, as against 189 the previous year.

This increase in the number of requests does more than merely indicate INFOTAB's utility to the members. It coincides with a parallel increase in carefully-planned, pre-emptive actions carried out by our industry in the public affairs field and this is encouraging. The bulk of the requests concern three areas - legislation, taxation and statistics on consumption and leaf. Next come requests concerning the public- smoking issue, usually related to a looming legis- lative proposal which requires the industry's reaction, or a flow of one-sided press coverage to which members wish to respond. I have selected three examples of how requests are handled, since they may provide you with some idea o= the services you can expect from us. Case No. 1: In this country, legislation had been proposed to introduce rotational warnings and the Association was involved in the hearings. The legislative committee wanted to examine the per capita cigarette con- sumption in Scandinavian countries, because Norway and Sweden already have rotational warnings and that region is often pointed to by the anti-smoking lobby as an example. The NMA needcd the consumption figures for its testimony. We were able to provide these data. We believe, however, that if this information could possibly have been obtained without our help, another more important role INFOTAB played was to establish direct contact between the Association and a Scandinavian Association, which was then a not yet full member of the network.

Case No. 2: There was sizeable press coverage on the public-smoking issue, with particular reference to smoking in the workplace, in another country. There were also indications pointing to a possible future legislation banning smoking at work. The Association, which had taken part in the debate through letters to the press, asked us for additional background material to support its case. Their representative came to Brussels. We prepared an intensive briefing session and supplied him with documentation and exhibits related to the issue - including films and case histories. Although there will probably be recommendations by the health authorities and the labour unions to ban smoking in the workplace, the threat of an immediate legislative ban has apparently evaporated. Furthermore, the industry representative should now be in a much better position to deal with the issue. Case No. 3: In another country, a local bill had been introduced to ban cigarette advertising. The Association suspected the bill to be similar to one introduced in Singapore in 1972, even though the bill's proponent claimed it had been newly prepared by an expert committee which had worked on it for 18 months. Together with the Singapore bill, we supplied the Association with a series of relevant consumption statistics covering the extended period. The Association presented a dossier to members of parliament and referred to results of independent studies showing that advertising neither affects consumption nor induces people to smoke. It also pointed out the similarities with the Singapore bill