A new global watchdog agency has been launched to monitor the tobacco industry with $20m of philanthropic funding amid fears of dirty tactics by cigarette companies hit by declining smoking rates in the west.

The funding for the agency, named Stop (Stopping Tobacco Organisations and Products), comes from Bloomberg Philanthropies, whose founder, Michael Bloomberg, a former mayor of New York, has committed almost $1bn to the global fight against tobacco.

The agency will “aggressively monitor deceptive tobacco industry tactics and practices to undermine public health,” said Bloomberg Philanthropies. Global information and data on the behaviour of the tobacco companies, especially in low- and middle-income countries where they are seeking to grow their markets, will be collated and held on a public website.