The Seimas asked the scientists who proposed cutting excise duties to clarify relations with lobbyists.

Asta Kubilienė, chair of the Seimas Health Affairs Committee (SRK), addresses the VU Central Academic Ethics Commission and requests to investigate the circumstances of the “Study of behavior and habits of alcohol consumption in Lithuania” conducted by the Vilna University Faculty of Economics and Business Administration from the point of view of academic ethics.

“Yesterday, at a press conference organized by business representatives, three VU researchers – Vita Karpuškienė, Aušrytė Rastenienė and Algirdas Bartkus – presented the results of another supposedly independent study. Both during the press conference and in the publicly announced information, the essential circumstances of the investigation, which are the initiators, clients and funders of the investigation, have been largely omitted. There is a lot of indirect evidence that the study was started and carried out precisely because of the participation and support of the Lithuanian alcohol industry. If this is confirmed and the research is actually funded by the directly interested alcohol industry, then carrying out such research and the non-public declaration of this circumstance would be a fundamental violation of academic ethics, and at the same time raise fundamental doubts about the research methodology and the data obtained ”, says A. Kubilienė.

SRK has data that the VU Faculty of Economics and Business Administration has a cooperation agreement with the Lithuanian Business Confederation, on the basis of which this research is carried out. However, the content of this contract, the terms and extent of investigator funding are not disclosed, and the personal interest of investigators and other subcontractors conducting the investigation is not publicly stated. This casts doubt on what really shapes the research questions, prepares the data collection methodology, interprets the results obtained. If business representatives are also involved in these processes, the researchers’ personal financial incentives may be viewed as a material conflict of interest between the research and its findings, which should be disclosed and consequently warned about its impact on the results. This has not been done, according to the Seimas report.

It also notes that cooperation between companies and research institutions should be encouraged. However, this must be done in accordance with the highest standards of academic ethics, duly stating the links available and their potential impact on the content of the research.

For example, in 2019. At a conference on professional relations of doctors with business representatives organized by SRK initiative in Seimas, Dr. Rolandas Žiobakas presented an example of what has influenced the conclusions of scientific publications on the effects of passive smoking in health for a couple of decades. 106 published scientific reviews were analyzed. Of these, more than a third (37%) said that passive smoking was not harmful to health, and the rest (63%) said that it was. Three groups of factors were examined in these publications: the quality of the reviews, the peer review, and the novelty of the publications. The only factor that correlated with these different findings was the “authors’ links to the tobacco industry.”

Members of the international medical academic community recognize that the economic interests of companies can adversely affect the objectivity of science, clinical research data, the reliability of publications and, most importantly, the treatment of patients. Therefore, VU must responsibly investigate and evaluate the circumstances of the ongoing investigation, which may affect the quality of the investigation and at the same time undermine the authority of the entire scientific community. Furthermore, as the VU Code of Academic Ethics clearly states that community members must adhere to academic integrity and properly declare their potential conflicts of interest, according to the report.

It is emphasized that the textual interpretation of the study provided by the study authors only indicates the fact that business representatives (Lithuanian Business Confederation) only funded the population survey. However, it is not specified that the members of this confederation have a direct interest in the conditions for the legal regulation of alcohol restrictions. Nor is it claimed that the business representatives themselves finance the activities of the researchers themselves, pay for the publicity and dissemination of the research (for example, the activities of public relations agencies).

According to Asta Kubilienė, there should be an open and transparent discussion on all health care issues; all interested groups have the right to participate in it. However, attempts to rely on an allegedly independent investigation into such discussion without declaring actual clients and potential conflicts of interest are inconsistent with this. At the same time, there are fundamental doubts about the methodology chosen for this study and the suitability of the researchers. This not only degrades the authority of the scientific community, but also forces us to automatically reject the arguments presented by participants as dishonest in the public debate as incompetent and not resistant to academic criticism, the Seimas report states.

VŽ wrote that it is tentatively recommended to reduce the excise tax on beer by 16%, reduce the excise tax on wine by 54%, reduce the excise tax on strong alcohol by more than 33% and bring it closer to the Polish excise tax, according to a study of alcohol consumption by researchers at the University of Vilnius in Lithuania.

Brewers criticize

According to Saulius Galadauskas, president of the Lithuanian Brewers Guild, some of the researchers’ conclusions are surprising: “We don’t want to question the research itself. We agree that in order to change alcohol consumption habits, it is necessary to generate social trust instead of an insurance policy. However, one of the final conclusions is surprising: excise duties must be reduced, and in what other proportions!

Brewers point out that the same study indicates that in 2019. alcoholic? drinks? Sales in retail and catering (which is almost equal to the amount of alcohol consumed in the country) of pure alcohol by category were as follows: beer represented 45% of total alcohol consumption, wine 8% and liquors up to 41%.

“One of the researchers, associate professor Vita Karpuškienė, said: ‘We are the land of beer drinkers …’. Unfortunately, the figures provided by the researchers themselves show that we are still the land of vodka drinkers and, In this respect, we are still a long way from the Europe we would like to be in. In Scandinavia, beer also accounts for approximately 45% of total alcohol consumption, but spirits, only 15%, in Germany, alcoholic beverages represent approximately 20% of total alcohol consumption, and beer approximately 55% ”, comment the brewers.

According to S. Galadauskas, the proposal to reduce excise duties in such proportions raises the suspicion that the conclusions are too favorable for spirits producers, who are also the main wine importers. According to the STI, wine sales grew 18% in the first half of this year, and last year, compared to 2018, they also grew by the same 18%; This is simply an enviable growth, although at the same time it is proposed to reduce the special tax on wine by more than half.

“It would be difficult to expect the government to cut excise duties on alcohol, because the excise war between Latvian and Estonian neighbors brought nothing more than reducing revenue to the budget.” In terms of budget revenue, the incredible growth in wine sales is a clear indication that the special tax on wine could be higher, “says S. Galadauskas.

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