Its board of directors also include representatives of big tobacco companies. It has, in the past, held conferences to influence policy makers and subvert policies in the interest of tobacco industry. For example, on October 12, 2014, the morning before the sixth conference of the parties of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in Russia, ITIC hosted an exclusive event in Moscow for representatives of the Ministries of Finance in an attempt to derail the adoption of Article 6 tax guidelines. In a rare gesture, the secretariat of the UN treaty sent a note to all parties, including India, highlighting the link between ITIC and the tobacco industry.