IMPERIAL DESTROYED TOBACCO-CANCER REPORTS

But Company Says Originals Still Exist In Britain

MONTREAL - Imperial Tobacco Ltd. has acknowledged it destroyed copies
of scientific studies that looked at possible links between smoking
and cancer.

Imperial spokesperson Michel Descôteaux yesterday confirmed that, in
1992, Imperial destroyed copies of 60 documents, at least 22 of which
were scientific studies commissioned by its parent company on the
possible links between cancer and smoking.

The studies were conducted between '67 and '78 and all traces of them
in Canada were wiped out by Montreal-based Imperial.

"Why did we get rid of them? Simply because we didn't need them any
more," Descôteaux said, adding he did not know what the studies had
concluded.

"All we did was destroy copies of documents (in Canada) where the
original continues to exist elsewhere in the world," he said, noting
the originals are held by its British-based parent, BAT Industries
PLC.

Descôteaux said Imperial never made the studies public because "we
had no legal obligation to make them public."

Groups pushing for tough controls on tobacco charge that the studies
found direct links between smoking and cancer. They contend that means
Imperial had a legal duty to inform Canadians.

MICE RESEARCH

"People who are dying from tobacco-related diseases today were
prevented from having this information" when the studies were
conducted 25 years ago, said Garfield Mahood, executive director of
the Non-Smokers' Rights Association.

Eric LeGresley, association staff counsel, noted: "The documents that
were destroyed suggest that cigarette products were causing various
cancers and tumours in mice."

One study, among those excised in Canada but made public by a U.S.
congressional committee in '94, states "these data definitely suggest
that inhaling tobacco smoke in hamsters enhances the development of
precancerous and cancerous lesions in the larynx..."

Mahood, who called for a royal commission on the issue, questioned
whether Imperial wiped out documents here to prevent their use in
court challenges that may arise in Canada.

In the United States, BAT lawyers have tried to block all attempts to
get documents from Britain, said Tom Sobol, counsel for the state of
Massachusetts in its $2 billion (U.S.) claim against tobacco companies.

While preparing to go to trial, Sobol's legal team got BAT to release
two letter that revealed Imperial's document destruction. The letters
were made public in Montreal yesterday.

The letters, by Imperial lawyer Simon Potter, list all the documents
to be destroyed. They are addressed to BAT's lawyers in England and to
Brown & Williamson, a U.S. tobacco maker controlled by BAT.

LeGresley compared destruction of the documents to a lawyer throwing
away a client's smoking gun.

Potter called that charge "ridiculous," adding his letter to BAT was
to make sure the company kept the originals on hand in case they were
needed.

He noted in an interview companies may have a legal duty to reveal a
study "if it has to do with something novel about a risk that nobody
knows about."

Imperial officials argue that the health risks of smoking have been
public for the past 30 years.

Last spring, Mahood released U.S. court documents showing that
chemicals used to spike cigarettes were discussed at meetings between
'86 and '90 that involved senior officials of Imasco, which controls
Imperial, and executives of Imasco's controlling shareholder, BAT
Industries PLC.

In the United States, allegations of nicotine manipulation and
companies' failure to warn consumers about the risks of smoking have
led to court cases in which tobacco firms are accused of fraud,
perjury, conspiracy and deceptive business practices. The court cases
do not target Imasco.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry