Philip Morris Eyes Pakistan Smokers
Philip Morris International, the international unit of the US tobacco giant Philip Morris often described as a merchant of death, is building a new massive cigarette plant in Pakistan. Philip Morris is expected to spin off PMI as an independent company to be unconstrained by the U.S. tobacco regulations and out of reach of American litigators. Importantly, its practices would no longer be limited by American public opinion, paving the way for trying out new products. As the smoking rates in developed countries have slowly declined, they have risen dramatically in some developing counties, where PMI is a major player. These include Pakistan (up 42% since 2001), Ukraine (up 36%) and Argentina (up 18%), according to the Wall Street Journal. The World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, an international public-health treaty, has 152 participating countries, including China, Brazil and Pakistan. While it has led to greater regulation in many of the world's...