About

Philip Morris International (PMI) is the leading international tobacco company, with six of the world’s top 15 brands, including the number one cigarette brand worldwide. Its products are sold in more than 180 markets. The company has a strong presence in Argentina, where it employs approximately 2,500 people in seven locations around the country. Nicolás Cuadros Avila has been with PMI since January 2011, first as senior counsel covering Colombia and Venezuela, later moving to his current position based in Buenos Aires managing Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia. In 2013 he worked for seven months at PMI´s headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Previously, Cuadros spent over five years at Coca-Cola FEMSA’s legal department based in Bogotá, and almost two years in the corporate affairs department based in Mexico City where he managed nine countries for the global drinks company. According to Cuadros, PMI is having its most interesting journey ever, with the objective of achieving a ‘smoke-free-future’ by using new technologies. ‘We want adult smokers to switch from cigarettes to reduced risk products (RRPs) as soon as possible, and from a legal perspective this is a huge challenge. Under our current portfolio we have IQOS, a revolutionary tobacco heating system designed to heat, rather than burn a specially designed tobacco stick called Heet’, Cuadros explains. He and his team have been trying to shape the regulatory understanding of RRPs. The current tobacco regulatory restrictions are inspired by cigarettes, which impose higher negative externalities on health. Cuadros believes RRPs should be regulated in a different fashion as they are better alternatives for smokers. Having successfully launched IQOS, Cuadros is now analysing the regulatory frameworks of RRPs in the five countries that he is in charge of. To lead this journey as senior legal counsel, Cuadros highlights three main aspects. He believes the team leader should be inspired by the vision and spread the energy among team members. The legal department should also be also a source of new ideas: ‘Lawyers are not stamp officers that say “yes” or “no”, but real business advisors with a holistic and creative approach to regulation’, he says. In addition, Cuadros holds the view that hierarchy discourages the generation of fresh ideas within the department: ‘A good debate with a legal trainee can be more fruitful for the business than a two-hour research of jurisprudence’, he claims. In his role as senior counsel, Cuadros believes creativity is key to change the status-quo, and counsels should engage with the outside world by sharing visions with external partners and actively participating in roundtable discussions.