J&J spent $2.4 million lobbying in 3rd quarter

NEW YORK (Lobbying Activist) — Johnson & Johnson, the maker of health products from baby shampoo to birth control pills, spent $2.4 million in the third quarter to lobby on legislation affecting its medicines, medical devices and other business interests.

The company's lobbying budget for the period increased over 40 percent from $1.7 million in the third quarter of 2009, and was more than double the $1.15 million it spent in the second quarter of 2010.

The company lobbied on a range of bills that would impact its medical products, including:

— Legislation to tighten regulation of dextromethorphan, a cough-suppressing drug found in several Tylenol formulas

— Legislation that would make it easier for patients who have been injured by medical devices to sue the manufacturer

— Legislation to increase inspections of foreign drug and device manufacturing plants.

The company also lobbied on patent reform legislation, on multiple tax issues and on legislation to tighten regulation of certain complex financial investments, such as ones to protect against unfavorable swings in currency exchange rates. Those can be a big problem for companies like J&J that generate much of their revenue from international sales.

The world's biggest maker of health care products lobbied to eliminate some price discounts it now must give on prescription medicines paid for by Medicare, according to the disclosure form filed Oct. 20 with the House clerk's office. It lobbied on multiple bills related to regulations for lawsuits, including ones concerning sealing of information in civil lawsuits. That's an issue because drugmakers often are sued by patients alleging their products caused harm, and the companies try to keep details of such cases secret.

The New Brunswick, N.J.-based company, which uses solar power and other clean energy in many of its facilities around the world, also lobbied in support of funding for water pollution control programs and creating clean energy jobs.

(source:bloomberg.com)

Greenpeace electronics guide now rates lobbying

Greenpeace is using its latest green-ratings guide to press consumer electronics companies to do more than just clean up their own act.

The 14th quarterly "Guide to Greener Electronics," (PDF) which rates hardware makers on chemical waste, e-waste, and recycling efforts, now assesses each company's public efforts on environmental issues.

The report, issued Thursday, considers whether a company actively lobbies for industrywide laws that would prevent other companies from using environmentally damaging materials, as part of their corporate sustainability obligations.

(Credit: Greepeace)
Specifically, Greenpeace said companies should support a new version of the European Union's RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances in electronics). The update would ban brominated flame retardants (BFRs), chlorinated flame retardants (CFRs), and PVC vinyl plastic from being used in the manufacturing of electronics. (The regulation already restricts how much lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB), and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants can be used.)

As far as who's the greenest, Nokia still ranks at No. 1, but Greenpeace reduced the company's overall score by one point for "failing to do proactive lobbying" for the RoHS revisions.

The strategy brings an interesting idea to the forefront. With the new criteria, Greenpeace is essentially attempting to harness consumer buying-power to press private industry to pressure politicians.

But does this strategy really work? When picking out a new cell phone or computer, does the average consumer's thought process include a rundown of whether a company has stopped using BFRs in their products and has lobbied to prevent other companies from using them too.

Still, if no one can use a cheap-but-polluting manufacturing material, the playing field is leveled. Lobbying for a revised RoHS could be a win-win for companies that would like to eliminate the use of certain substances but fear creating an advantage for their competition.

Greenpeace asserts there's good reason for the change.

"The use of harmful chemicals in electronic products prevents their safe recycling once the products are discarded. Given the increasing evidence of climate change and the urgency of addressing this issue, Greenpeace has added new energy criteria to encourage electronics companies to improve their corporate policies and practices," Greenpeace said in a statement.

In addition to the ranking chart, Greenpeace issued detailed reports for each company on the list. Among the more interesting tidbits:

• LG Electronics moved up from 11th place to 6th place. Still, Greenpeace docked it one point for "backtracking on its commitment" to make all its products free of PVC vinyl plastic and BFRs by the end of 2010. LG is still committed to that for its cell phones, according to Greenpeace.

• Dell, Lenovo, and Samsung also received a penalty point each for failing to eliminate BFRs in products.

• Apple has come a long way in improving its environmental record. Once chastised by Greenpeace for not doing enough, Apple is now in fifth place--up from ninth in the last report and up from last place a few years ago. Except for power cords still awaiting safety approval in some countries, all Apple products are now free of PVC plastics and BFRs, according to Greenpeace. Apple was also given credit for actively lobby EU governments to ban CFRs, BFRs, and PVC vinyl plastic from electronics manufacturing.

• Microsoft dropped from 15th to 17th in part for failing to show support for the revised version of RoHS and for failing to use printed circuit boards free of BFRs. But the company did score points for managing to use renewable resources for 24 percent of its electricity and for committing to remove PVC, BFRs, and phthalates from its own hardware by the end of 2010.

• Nintendo continues to rank in last place for a variety of reasons. While it now has internal wiring that is PVC-free, it has not eliminated PVC vinyl plastic or BFRs from its products completely and offers no time line for doing so, according to Greenpeace. Nintendo has begun to disclose its emissions but has failed to reduce them, Greenpeace added.

The full report cards for each of the following companies is available on the Greenpeace Web site: Acer, Apple, Dell, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Microsoft, Motorola, Nintendo, Nokia, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, and Toshiba.

Source:news.cnet.com/

J&J spent nearly $1.7M lobbying government in 3Q

WASHINGTON — Johnson & Johnson, which makes health products from Band-Aids to biologic drugs, spent nearly $1.7 million in the third quarter lobbying on the health care overhaul and multiple bills that could boost its sales or lower taxes, according to a recent disclosure form.

Johnson and Johnson, which spent $1.5 million on lobbying in the year-ago period, this year lobbied on patent reform provisions, the federal budget and various aspects of the health care overhaul, including providing access to primary health care to all Americans.

Others included bills to require research comparing the effectiveness of medications and other medical treatments and mandate that health products come with effectiveness information in the detailed package insert, as well as giving the Food and Drug Administration more authority to ensure the safety and quality of medical products.

The world's biggest maker of health care products also lobbied to extend the Children's Health Insurance Program to more children and to expand certain public health programs, such as the National Health Service Corps.

It also lobbied to eliminate some price discounts it now must give on prescription medicines Medicare pays for and against bills to lower prices paid for prescription drugs by the Medicare program.

J&J, which makes the HIV medicine Prezista, lobbied on bills involving Medicaid coverage for low-income people infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

J&J lobbied on a bill meant to limit abuse of the cough suppressant dextromethorphan, an ingredient in its Tylenol Cold medicines.

The company also lobbied on a bill to make drug and medical device makers report payments to doctors such as consulting fees, a hot issue as critics claim medical companies have too much influence over the medical profession.

Johnson & Johnson, a top maker of medical devices such as knee and hip implants, lobbied against overturning a 2008 Supreme Court ruling to again allow patients who allege harm by devices approved by the Food and Drug Administration to sue manufacturers in state courts.

It lobbied on two bills concerning sealing of information in civil lawsuits, an issue because drugmakers often are sued by patients alleging their products caused harm; the companies try to keep such information secret.

The company also lobbied on legislation that would establish a route for generic versions of expensive biologic drugs to be approved. J&J is one of the top makers of biologic drugs, with more than $6 billion in annual sales from just two drugs: Procrit for anemia and Remicade for rheumatoid arthritis and other immune disorders.

J&J lobbied in favor of a tax credit to employers who, like J&J, offer employee wellness programs.

The company also lobbied in support of creating clean energy jobs and reducing global warming pollutants. J&J uses solar power and other clean energy in many facilities in the 57 countries where it operates, and it has been reducing carbon dioxide emissions and making environmentally friendlier packaging.

Besides Congress, the company lobbied the Environmental Protection Agency and the departments of Treasury and Health and Human Services in the July-September period, according to the form filed Oct. 20 with the House clerk's office.

(This version CORRECTS final paragraph to read 'July-September')

Source:AFP

Yudhoyono busy lobbying counterparts in climate talks

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is actively lobbying a number of world leaders to support Indonesia’s stance on climate change he promoted in the national statement read at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on Thursday.

Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said the President had met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd soon after reading out the statement.

He is scheduled to meet with chairman of the ASEAN and Thai Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva later in the day as the climate conference is nearing its end.

“The core (of the talks) is to bridge the different interests between developed and developing countries to ensure a new consensus will be produced (at the climate summit),” Dino briefed reporters before the meeting with Abhisit.

On Wednesday night, Yudhoyono met with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg upon arrival in Copenhagen.

Prior to his Copenhagen stop, the President also met with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, during which they agreed to ensure the success of the climate change summit.

Dino added that Yudhoyono had also sent Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa to lobby Sudan, which chairs the G77 economic group.

“There are high mistrust and big different (interests)… Presently countries are intensively lobbying one another to create a new consensus. And this might lead to a prolonged conference,” Dino said.

Yudhoyono unveiled five points in his statements at the high-level segment of the climate change summit, which was attended by some 110 world leaders.

Among the points are that he urges developed countries to cut their emissions by 40 percent by 2020 and to provide bigger amount of funds to mitigate the climate change.

Source:thejakartapost.com/

Japan car lobby fears US market won't reach 11 mln

* U.S. market seen settling around 10.5 mln this year
Stocks Cyclical Consumer Goods
* To give Japan demand outlook after tax policy decided (Adds details, background)
TOKYO, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The head of Japan's auto-making lobby said on Thursday he feared that the U.S. market would remain weak and would not reach total sales of 11 million vehicles next year.
U.S. auto sales edged higher in November, confirming the industry is on the mend after a deep four-year downturn, but analysts cautioned that sales are coming back from historically low levels. Sluggish consumer confidence and rising unemployment could make any recovery slow and uneven. [ID:nN01511318]
"I expect the U.S. market would be slightly better than this year, but there are fears that it won't reach 11 million," Satoshi Aoki, chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), as well as Honda Motor Co (7267.T), told a news conference.
U.S. auto sales are expected to end with an annual sales rate of about 10.5 million units, the lowest level since the early 1980s. Many analysts and industry executives have forecast a modest rebound next year into the 11 million to 12 million unit range.
At his final news conference for this year, Aoki said the industry lobby would announce its outlook for domestic vehicle sales for 2010 once the government had made a decision on whether to maintain or do away with an extra tax levied on car purchases.
The government is aiming to compile its budget for the fiscal year starting in April by the end of this month before submitting if for approval by parliament, which will convene in January.
Aoki said, however, that he expects the six-month extension of incentives to replace old cars with new ones to help support Japan's dwindling vehicle demand. (Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

Source:reuters.com/