Reports that Matter

United States v. Philip Morris USA Inc.: Amended Final Opinion

ICOSI – International Committee on Smoking Issues

Section 35 of 129

ICOSI – International Committee on Smoking Issues

  1. August 2, 2006On December 3, 1976, Hugh Cullman, Executive Vice President of Philip Morris, talked by telephone with R.A. (Tony) Garrett, Chairman of Imperial Tobacco. Cullman's notes from that call indicate that Garrett explained he had been exploring, with a number of major tobacco companies, including Defendants BATCo and RJR, as well as Rothmans International and Reemtsma (Germany), whether company heads might be prepared "to meet discreetly to develop a defensive smoking and health strategy, to avoid our countries and/or companies being picked off one by one, with a resultant domino effect." The initial objective of this group would be
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to develop a smoking and health strategy which would include a voluntary agreement that no concessions beyond a certain point would be voluntarily made by the members [to their governments] and, if further concessions were required by respective governments, that these not be agreed to and that governments be forced to legislate.

The proposed agenda for the meeting included

Consideration of the international dimension to smoking and health. This might include such matters as . . . how do developments in one country affect others.

Defendants' effort was ultimately termed "Operation Berkshire" (discussed further at Section V(G)(6)(a)((2)), infra). 2025025347-5348 (US 75149); 2025025286-5286 (US 20407); 2025025290-5291 (US 22980); 2025025347-5348 (US 20410).

  1. On March 24, 1977, R.A. Garrett of Imperial Tobacco wrote to Alexander Holtzman, Associate General Counsel for Philip Morris, about "Operation Berkshire," an upcoming meeting between the executives of certain tobacco companies. Participants included representatives from Defendants BATCo, Philip Morris, and RJR, as well as Reemstma, Rothmans International, and Imperial Tobacco. The purpose of the meeting was to form a group to develop a common international position on smoking and health issues. The group formed was called the International Committee on Smoking Issues ("ICOSI"). The resulting position paper was reviewed and edited by the law firm of Jacob & Medinger, which represented RJR, B&W, and CTR. 2025025288-5289 (US 20408); 2025025313-5318 (US 23741); 2025025341-5343 (US 20409); 2025025347-5348 (US
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  1. The charter of ICOSI, states that its purposes and objectives are:

the establishment of a forum for exchange of views and information on international smoking issues (to include tobacco and health) by the coordination of data and information in economic, scientific, and technical areas. The general objectives are to broaden the knowledge of its members, of consumers, and of appropriate authorities. In large part accomplishment of these objectives will be sought by providing information to various national and other tobacco trade associations and by serving as a resource of expertise, data analysis and opinion on these subjects of interest to the industry and its public. The dissemination of the generality of this information will be made in the form of bulletins, reports, articles, surveys, pamphlets, and other analogous means.

2025048998-9014 at 8999 (US 20412); see also 503143820-4106 at 3909 (US 75974).

  1. ICOSI's inaugural meeting, held in June 1977, at Shockerwick House in Britain served as the beginning of Operation Berkshire. This meeting, which was called by BAT CEO Tony

Garrett, was attended by representatives of the major United States tobacco manufacturing companies. The meeting participants jointly agreed to "hold the line on admissions concerning what they would admit to their individual governments concerning smoking and health, among other things." Harris TT, 10/14/04, 2576:10-24, 2577:11-18; see also 2025025295-5300 (US 75146).

According to notes in BATCo's files from a March 1978 meeting in Australia, the objective of

ICOSI was "defensive research aimed at throwing up a smoke screen and to throw doubts on smoking research findings which show smoke causes deceases [sic]." 321588692-8692 (US 28544).

  1. Mary Covington, Secretary General of INFOTAB, told attendees at the November

1981 Tobacco Institute College of Tobacco Knowledge in Washington, D.C. that the organization

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(first named ICOSI and later renamed INFOTAB) was founded to perform internationally the functions that the Tobacco Institute performed for the domestic industry in the United States: "From the outset, the members recognized that the social acceptability of smoking, including the public smoking issue was a subject on which attention should be focused [sic]." 2501029891-9901 at 9896 (US 20557); see also TI04962210-2210 (US 67250); Blackie TT, 10/26/04, 3846:18-22.

  1. ICOSI's key officers included the chairmen and other principals of the member companies who attended the Operation Berkshire meeting: Patrick Sheehy, BATCo Chairman; Kit Stuart Lockhart, BATCo Deputy Chairman; William Hobbs, RJR Chairman; William Murray, President of Philip Morris Europe; Alexander Holtzman, Associate General Counsel for Philip Morris; and Andrew Whist, Director Corporate Affairs of Philip Morris (Australia) Ltd. 2025025341-5343 (US 20409); 2025025369-5369 (US 20411).

  2. There were two governing groups of ICOSI. The Board of Governors was responsible for establishing policy, included one principal from each member company, and met at least annually. The Executive Committee was responsible for implementing the policies of ICOSI in those areas where decision-making powers had been delegated to the Committee by the Board of Governors. 2501020298-0308 (US 21903).

  3. Representatives of the participating Defendants attended numerous meetings of several different ICOSI working groups and task forces, including the Social Acceptability Working Group, which dealt with ETS issues, the Medical and Behavioral Research Group, the EEC Task Force, the Product Liability Task Force, and the Swiss Referendum Task Force. 2501020298-0308 (US 21903); 321588692-8692 (US 28544); 2025025295-5300 at 5295 (US 75146).

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  1. ICOSI was registered as a non-profit association in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 1, 1978. The seven founding members of ICOSI were Defendants BATCo, Philip Morris, and RJR, as well as Gallahers, Imperial Tobacco, Reemstma, and Rothmans International. TIMN257288-7303 (US 21343); 321588692-8692 (US 28544); 1003717317-7330 at 7318 (US 86518); 301079919-9998 (US 87411*).

  2. ICOSI representatives met six times between June 1977 and February 1979, to agree upon "the fundamentals of ICOSI's policy, form, organization, financing and work-programmes." 1003717317-7330 at 7319 (US 86518).

  3. ICOSI member companies agreed to act together to respond to smoking and health risk challenges worldwide by promoting the "open question" controversy and the myth of independent research. On October 14, 1977, Dennis Durden, Vice President of RJR and then- Chairman of ICOSI's Working Party on the Social Acceptability of Smoking, forwarded a report to the members of ICOSI regarding the research and analysis activities that would be conducted by the working party. Members of the working party listed in the summary included representatives of Defendants RJR (Durden and James Hind, RJR Vice President of Planning), BATCo (Richard Haddon, Public Relations Manager), and Philip Morris (John T. Landry, Senior Vice President). 501472756-2794 at 2758, 2759, 2762 (US 66342).

  4. On April 21, 1978, P. Isenring distributed a letter to Alexander Holtzman, Philip Morris Vice President and General Counsel, and others about the ICOSI EEC Task Force on Consumerism. Isenring urged cooperation and coordination between Philip Morris and RJR concerning the involvement of the law firms of Jacob & Medinger and Shook, Hardy & Bacon, both of which represented several Defendants. Specifically, Isenring discussed the fact that the ICOSI

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EEC Task Force on Consumerism had to prepare an industry response to the EEC Consumer Consultative Committee's anti-smoking paper "Tobacco and the Health of the Consumer" and suggested that ICOSI members and their respective law firms work together on a common approach to the response, given their exposure to the situation in Europe over the years. 2501025098-5099 (US 86515); 2501025100-5100 (US 86516); 2501025108-5108 (US 86517).

  1. In advance of the June 1979 Fourth World Conference on Smoking and Health, ICOSI formed a Task Force to "monitor and combat on the spot the strong propaganda expected to be generated at this Conference" which is "sponsored by the World Health Organisation and the Swedish Health Authorities." In furtherance of this effort, the ICOSI Task Force met in Kansas City, Missouri on November 20-21, 1978, scheduled two task force meetings for early 1979, and another meeting just prior to the conference. Attendees of the Kansas City meeting included: Gwynn Hargrove of BATCo; Murray Senkus of RJR; William Kloepfer of Tobacco Institute; Leonard Zahn, public relations counsel for CTR; Tim Finnegan of CTR's lawyers Jacob & Medinger; Hugh Grice of TAC; and Donald Hoel of Shook, Hardy & Bacon. ICOSI engaged a Stockholm-based public relations agency to "monitor the Conference organizers' activities and to assist with press room activities at the Conference." Additionally, the Task Force was charged with preparing a post- conference report covering several matters, including "contradictions," "Conference recommendations to governments," an evaluation of the possible impact of the Conference, and "industry positions as they relate to the Conference." 2501015475-5480 at 5475-5476 (US 27921); 2501015328-5331 at 5328, 5329, 5331 (US 86519); 1003717317-7330 at 7328 (US 86518); Zahn PD, Richardson, 12/16/98, 309:12-17, 505:6-505:17, 506:6-14, 512:8-10, 517:2-518:10, 525:12- 526:3, 537:1-538:18, 581:10-582:5; see also 680241699-1701 (US 30846).
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  1. In March 1980, the Executive Committee of ICOSI was disbanded. Instead, the Board of Governors consisting of two named representatives of each member company were to meet at least twice a year. Each member company was to have one vote at the meetings of the Board of Governors. Chairmanship was held in rotation by each member company. William D. Hobbs, Chairman of RJR, was Chairman of the Board of Governors between 1979 and March 31, 1980. 2501020298-0308 (US 21903).