Informes del Comisionado para el Mercado de Tabacos: entre la opacidad y la irrelevancia

The monthly reports from the Tobacco Market Commission in Spain (CMT, by its acronym in Spanish), while data-rich, have critical deficiencies that limit their usefulness for public health. A critical analysis reveals three fundamental problems: institutional ambiguity, methodological opacity, and relevant analytical omissions. The authorship of the reports is uncertain, as they are published under the name of an advisory committee with representation from the tobacco industry, which compromises their independence. Methodologically, they lack clear definitions for key variables and use excessively aggregated data categories, preventing rigorous analysis and the replicability of findings. The reports are based on data self-reported by the industry itself, with no evidence of independent audits, which constitutes a serious conflict of interest. Furthermore, they systematically omit crucial information that the CMT derives from its activities, such as breakdowns of tax revenue by product, price-elasticity analyses, estimates of illicit trade, and the sector's advertising and promotion expenditures. For these reports to become an effective tool for formulating evidence-based policies, a reform is essential to ensure transparency in authorship, methodological rigor, data verification, and the inclusion of relevant economic and fiscal analyses.