Public Health on Top

British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) has been accused of a large amount of tax evasion by under-reporting its sales. The concerned government agency says that the issue will be solved through the legal process. This is not the first time BATB is facing tax evasion allegation. The company has previously been accused of such charges and the UK High Commissioner to Bangladesh lobbied on behalf of BATB for an out-of-court settlement. It is a matter of great regret that such a company, with a history of repeated tax evasion allegations, is now going to receive the President’s Award for Industrial Development for the 2nd consecutive times. This is a grave conflict with the Honorable Prime Minister’s vision of a tobacco-free Bangladesh. It should be noted that the position of the President of Bangladesh holds a share in BATB.
On the other hand, to hide its involvement in death trade, BATB is continuing its "Battle of Minds 2021" program. To attract competitors, the company has to declare that this year it would offer seed funds. It has already been able to engage government high officials, vice-chancellor, and other influential high-ups of the society with the program. BATB has been running this campaign for the last 17 years, for image-building and attracting the youth to start smoking. Prerona Foundation is another initiative through which BATB tries to create a positive image. Very recently, the company has spread a promotional video of an interview of two members of parliament (MPs) all over social media. To put an end to tobacco companies’ promotional and CSR activities, we need to amend the tobacco control law soon. At the same time, a strong tobacco tax policy needs to be formulated and implemented to end cases of tax evasion by tobacco companies.