Scientists from the University of California at San Francisco inspected documents from 1978 to 1994 that were made public by the 1998 nationwide tobacco settlement with U.S. states. The documents pertained to Philip Morris, R. J. Reynolds, and British American Tobacco.

The researchers found that the tobacco industry plotted to conceal from lawmakers its influence on apparently independent entities, including the German government.

According to the research, the European Community introduced a measure in 1989 that would have banned tobacco advertising. In 1993, the German delegation tabled an alternative proposal that called for minimum restrictions but would have allowed nations to impose stricter rules.

"According to industry documents, this proposal was drafted by the tobacco industry and was intended to be submitted, without acknowledgment of its true origin, through German representatives to the European Community," the study said.

The German proposal was defeated. In 1998, the European Community adopted a ban that would end tobacco advertising and sponsorship of events by 2006. The directive was annulled after Germany challenged it, stating that the European Community did not have the authority to enforce such a ban on member nations.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the study's findings reflect poorly on the German government.

"What the German government was doing was giving priority to protecting industry interests over public health," said Derek Yach, manager of the tobacco-free initiative for the WHO. "That is clearly unethical behavior by the German government."

The study is published in the April 22 edition of the medical journal The Lancet.

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