VZCZCXRO5396
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHNY #0034 0221433
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 221433Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY OSLO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8125
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS OSLO 000034 
 
STATE FOR EUR/NB, EEB/ESC 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
TAGS: EINV ENRG EPET ECON NO
SUBJECT:  NORWAY SMOKES OUT TOBACCO PRODUCERS FROM PENSION FUND 
PORTFOLIO 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary. Seventeen tobacco producers, including seven U.S. 
companies, have been excluded from the Norwegian Government Pension 
Fund's (GPF) portfolio, on ethical grounds. End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) On January 19, The Ministry of Finance announced that 17 
tobacco producers had been excluded from the Norwegian Government 
Pension Fund's portfolio, and that the sale of the relevant shares 
had been completed. Among the 17 companies excluded were the 
following seven U.S. producers: Alliance One International Inc., 
Altria Group Inc., Lorillard Inc., Phillip Morris International 
Inc., Reynolds American Inc., Universal Corp VA and Vector Group 
Ltd. 
 
The Tobacco Criterion - A First Comb-Through 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶3. (SBU) GPF investments are regulated by a set of ethical 
guidelines, introduced in 2004, that bar investment in companies 
involved in particularly unethical behavior, including weapons 
production, human rights violations, and environmental degradation. 
Last year, the Ministry of Finance proposed to have tobacco added as 
a screening criterion, and the motion was supported and passed by 
Parliament. The portfolio of approximately 8,000 companies has since 
been filtered, and shares in 17 tobacco giants have been divested. 
However, the GPF's Council on Ethics has signaled that more may 
follow, as the exclusion criterion covers all companies involved in 
tobacco production, not considering the percentage of business 
represented by tobacco production. The production of associated 
products like filters or flavoring is not covered. 
 
Status - U.S. Companies 
----------------------- 
¶4. (SBU) In total, 51 companies have been excluded from the GPF 
portfolio since 2004; three have since been re-included. At present, 
the U.S. tops the list with 21 excluded companies, accounting for 
2/5 of the list. Of these, 11 have been excluded for nuclear weapons 
and cluster bomb production, 2 for human rights violations, 1 for 
environmental degradation, and 7 for tobacco production. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) COMMENT: The tobacco divestment was expected, as a natural 
follow-up to last year's inclusion of tobacco production as an 
additional screening criterion. Unlike some previous divestment 
decisions, the tobacco decisions appear to be uncontroversial, 
consistent and transparent. END COMMENT 
 
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