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Italiano Alemanno "Coglione"?
Italy is in business with the cartel of cigarette manufacturers.
Rome: Minister Gianni Alemanno poses for a souvenir photo in front of the "Altare della Patria"
"Coglione": is a very vulgar term, today commonly used in Italy, recently also in the political field. The expression is not easy to translate into English. Literally it means testicle. “Coglione” generally indicates a rather stupid, easily deceived person.
"This is an important day for Italian agriculture”, enthusiastically declared Minister Gianni Alemanno on May 4th 2005, as he signed an agreement with Philip Morris defined "historical" by Italian information sources.
The “Quality Guidelines” of Italian tobacco had been decided, drawn up together with Philip Morris that undertook to buy 12,800 tons of tobacco per year, increasing its quota by 15% over the preceding years.
But why all this excitement about 12,800 tons, a modest supply for this sector and even more modest for Philip Morris? Had they perhaps left out a zero? – we wondered at the time.
And as for the “quality guidelines”, some disturbing events, which the minister certainly knew and that he should have thought about, had taken place a short time before, right in the homeland of Philip Morris.
The emphasis given to the Agreement by Minister Alemanno could be explained today…
12,800 tons are 640 containers, and the 15% increase would only take up 80 containers.
Furthermore, the Italian tobacco growing industry, whose annual production is about 12 times the quantity purchased by Philip Morris, has never had problems selling its product. Moreover, considering that Big Tobacco is paying the market price, what is changing for Italian finances?
Seeing that the sums still owed to Italy by Philip Morris amount to billions of Euro, we can easily see that by increasing its purchase quota of Italian tobacco by 15%, Philip Morris is spending only €4 million more than the previous years.
But this sum of 4 million is nothing more than payment for tobacco purchased at market prices; it's not a gift, and it is not even a tiny deposit on all the accounts left unpaid.
And besides a generic commitment to fund “research projects" and “annual meetings", and to grant “scholarships", there is nothing concrete for Italian interests in this Agreement, only rhetorical phrases and chitchat. Here is what you can read on the website of the Ministry of Agricultural Policies:
“Quality and competitiveness are the words that most frequently came up in the statements of the illustrious speakers”… “ Both Calantzopoulos and Terribilini spoke of the great importance attributed to dialogue with the institutions to reach the common objectives"… "The minister mentioned the guidelines of quality, drawn up jointly with the multinational producer, based on a restructuring without useless intermediations, and the exchange between quality and quantity that is at the base of this accod" … “The interlocutors of Philip Morris pointed out several times how important it was for the multinational to share a strategy that starts from respect for the environment, observance of good agronomic practices, in full agreement with the operators of the sector.”
…All perfectly clear!
The Agreement Details – on the site of the MIPAF
The Agreement Details
“What are the measures of the programmed Agreement between the Ministry of Agricultural and Forest Policies and Philip Morris International Management S.A. and Philip Morris Italia Spa.”
“The agreement, for the first time on a three-year basis, is made up of two parts: the programmed accord and the three-year agreement program.”
“The principal objective: maximize the quality of tobacco growing in Italy and increase the competitiveness of Italian production at an international level, guaranteeing purchasing stability over the next three-year period. The multinational undertakes to increase its purchase quantities of Virginia Bright and Burley tobaccos if there is a quality improvement.”
“Specifically, the three-year programmed agreement centers on three qualifying elements: the MIPAF together with the producing regions and with the contribution of Philip Morris Italia Spa, will support the re-conversion of the drying ovens of Virginia Bright tobacco from direct fire to indirect fire.”
“Philip Morris Italia Spa also undertakes to finance scholarships and the annual meetings for the development of research in the field of tobacco cultivation and for the spread of information of value for the entire sector. The parties, finally, agree on a constant exchange of know-how with the planning of periodic seminar-meetings.”
(The Full Version, from the site of the Ministry of Agricultural Policies)
But 12,800 tons sounds like a lot, and that's why this agreement was easily shown off to the Italian press as something grandiose; the press fell for it using enthusiastic adjectives like "pilot", "strategic", "historical from all points of view".
"From the courage of militancy to the horizonts of victory" - Gianni Alemanno in 1980, trew a "molotov" against the Soviet Embassy in Rome
At the press conference that introduced the “historic” deal, there were all the “big names” of the multinational company, "… in a flurry of flashes like has never been seen before in the austere Sala Cavour of the Ministry of Agricultural Policies", said the news reports.
And if we look a bit more closely, a number of other elements emerge on the infiltration of Big Tobacco into the institutions and the machinery of the Italian State, and on the consequent furtive assaults on consumer protection.
"Philip Morris quality"
“The Italian tobacco growing industry is a victim of interpretative myopia that sees the development of the sector only in health terms”, declared Minister Alemanno, as he presented the agreement before the satisfied smiles of top Philip Morris officials.
It was not just a coincidence that, just a few months before the "historic” Italian agreement, a law was approved by the United States Congress that abolished the obligation of the American government to inspect tobacco imported from abroad to see if it had been treated with chemical substances and pesticides prohibited in the USA but allowed in other countries.
The Agriculture Department, the Homeland Security Department and the Food and Drug Administration of the United States all have authority to inspect other imported agricultural products. Officials at those agencies said they did not know of any other agricultural product that comes into this country without some kind of inspection.
According to Tom Glynn, director of the Science and Trend Department of the American Cancer Society, about 60 of the 4,000 chemical substances present in cigarettes are linked to cancer: "What we are doing today is adding more substances to these numbers making a product that is already very toxic, even more toxic … this means that the tobacco used today by cigarette makers in the United States can make cigarettes even more harmful to the health”.
Italian tobacco growers have found an ideal partner, a real guarantee of quality! Congratulations, Minister Alemanno!
"Common objectives"
How did Big Tobacco manage to get the Congress of the United States to abolish the controls over tobacco coming from abroad?
Since 1999, tobacco companies have spent more than $129 million on lobbying the U.S. Congress. The tobacco industry spent more than $23 million to lobby Congress in 2004 (the most recent data available). That amounts to more than $173,000 spent on lobbying for every day Congress was in session.
At the press conference that presented the Agreement, both the president of Philip Morris International, Andrè Calantzopoulos, and the CEO of Philip Morris Italia spa, Marco Terribilini, stressed: “the great importance attributed to dialogue with the institutions to reach common objectives".
Minister Alemanno spoke of a sign of trust. Did the minister mean to say that the Italian State has earned the trust of Philip Morris? At this point the question arises: how much has Big Tobacco spent in Italy? It would not be surprising if in this country of coglioni, Philip Morris has gotten everything free, or almost.
Viva l'Italia!
More info
U.S. to Quit Inspecting Tobacco for Banned Chemicals and Pesticides - Associated Press - 10/17/04
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