Tobacco.org

• Market Watch: Cigarette Trade Changing In Central America 

Now, more than ever, Central America is an ever-changing field of opportunities and obstacles. John Parker profiles the region and goes through the numbers market by market.

The combination of rising income, more influence of free trade policies, multinational business connections, and smokers seeking higher quality brands contributed to greater cigarette imports by countries in Central America in 2008. Estimated cigarette imports for countries in Central America in 2008 rose to about 11 bn pieces. That is an estimate for total imports tabulated by adding data for each of the seven countries. The net regional imports would be about half of that because of large shipments to other countries in Central America by Honduras and Guatemala. BAT and subsidiaries account for most of the cigarette output in Central America.

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• Africa heading for 'smoking epidemic' 

Since the smoking ban in Kenya, people can only smoke in special zones

At Jeevanjee gardens in Nairobi, smokers gather during their lunch hour to read, chat and light up.

It is one of the few zones in the Kenyan capital where people can smoke in public, since the ban on smoking in public came into effect in 2007.

As he takes a puff, one of the young men describes his habit.

"I've been smoking for 40 years but I hate it," he says. . . .

Dr Twalib Ngoma, president of the African Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), says that Africa is on the brink of a smoking epidemic.

"Africa is in the area of the pre-epidemic and so we should prevent the epidemic," he told the BBC World Service.

"We should not wait until there is an epidemic and then work on it. We should prevent the epidemic."

Tobacco-related cancer was one of the key topics discussed at a recent international cancer conference in Tanzania.

One of the reports presented there warns that African nations are set to undergo the highest increase in the rate of tobacco use among developing countries. . . .

"For the first time in history, we have the tools in hand to prevent a pandemic," says Dr Otis W Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

"Smoke-free public places are one example of a low-cost and extremely effective intervention that must be implemented now to protect health."

As well as Kenya, Niger also recently introduced a smoking ban in public places. . . .

"If a consumer is addicted to tobacco, then it is possible to put prices up and they will go without lunch."

But Mr Spielman says that he expects that over time, increasing advertising restrictions and bigger health warnings will come into place in African countries.

But in the meantime, as long as there are smokers who will sacrifice lunch for a packet of cigarettes, there will always be consumers.

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For the first time in history, we have the tools in hand to prevent a pandemic.
Dr Otis W Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.

• Report: Cancer Risk High as Smoking Surges in Africa 

Medical experts say tobacco-related illnesses are becoming a serious health issue in Africa as a new report warns tobacco use may double in some parts of the continent during the next 12 years. The report, from the Global Smokefree Partnership, warns that 90 percent of people in Africa have no protection against second-hand smoke.

Almost 15 percent of the world's population is in Africa, but right now the continent only accounts for four percent of world smokers.

The Global Smokefree Partnership, an initiative aimed at developing smoke-free policies around the world, says the continent needs to introduce strong smoke-free laws and high taxes on cigarettes in order to keep the number of smokers down and to limit the affects of second-hand smoke.

Antonella Cardone, project manager of the Partnership, says in some parts of Africa governments are taking important steps towards protecting their populations from the affects of tobacco.

"There are several countries now in Africa, which have developed smoke free policies," said Antonella Cardone. "We can definitely mention Niger and Kenya, then Mauritius - those are just a few."

But Cardone says in many African countries citizens still have no protection. Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda are highlighted in the report as countries that are failing to implement smoke-free laws.

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• Smokers Worldwide Support Workplace Smoking Bans, Study Finds 

The majority of smokers worldwide support smoking bans in the workplace, according to a new study by RTI International and Harris Interactive.

The study, published in the International Journal of Public Health online edition, surveyed more than 3,500 employees who smoke and more than 1,400 employers (both smokers and nonsmokers) in 14 counties about their attitudes toward workplace smoking and cessation.

The results showed that 74 percent of smoking employees and 87 percent of employers felt that the workplace should be smoke free. . . .

The greatest support for workplace smoking bans was in India (85 percent) and Japan (75 percent). In contrast, only one-third of employees in Germany (33 percent) and Poland (37 percent) agreed with a workplace smoking ban.

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• Asia's pushback to big tobacco 

Assailed by the western world's laws, taxes and anti-smoking mores, the global tobacco industry has little choice but to keep pushing eastward into Asia.

Tobacco bosses learned this week that some Asians are ready to push back.

This week, more than 500 screaming protesters converged outside TabInfo Asia 2009, the region's largest tobacco summit in years. More than an expo, the event is also a strategy session conducted in secrecy.

"As rules, regulations, and perceptions of tobacco change around the globe, Asia Pacific has become one of the world's most important tobacco markets," according to promotional materials.

The event, set up by the Raleigh, N.C.-based Tobacco Reporter magazine, invited major industry players gathered to discuss "operating in a world of bans" and "ingenious ways of operating in an increasingly regulated, plain-pack, dark market environment."

"Asia is the fastest growing tobacco market in the world. They can't afford to ignore this region," said Prakit Vathesatogkit, executive secretary of the Bangkok-based Action on Smoking and Health Foundation.

"We can't really stop them from coming," Prakit said, "but we can try to stop them from circumventing regulation."

On Wednesday, the summit's first day, attendees were beset by a loose coalition of Southeast Asian anti-smoking protesters. Outside the event doors, a 500-plus crowd of mostly college students screamed at men in suits entering Bangkok's largest convention center.

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• Front of store, front of mind – but for WHO? 

Where, in an acutely sensitive regulatory environment, should the tobacco category be positioned in a duty free store?

When The Nuance Group opened its splendid new 650sq m tax & duty free store at Geneva International Airport earlier this month, it opted to place the entire tobacco category at the entrance of the store – displayed in what Nuance called a “breathtaking black and white setting”.

The logic is obvious. As many studies have proven, tobacco is not just a major drawcard in most duty free stores, it is also a tremendous fooftall (and therefore penetration) driver for other categories.

In Geneva that’s especially the case. The airport’s cigar assortment has long been a hallmark of the retail offer (it has been considerably enhanced here) and the cigarettes category is particularly important to the Geneva passenger profile.

But one wonders how that positioning sits with the approach likely to be adopted in English and Scottish duty free stores, where travel retailers have sought an exemption from proposed tobacco display restrictions that are being touted under the Health Bill. . . .

As we reported recently, The Tobacco Advertising and Promotion (Display) (England) Regulations 2010 propose wide-ranging limitations on the display and merchandising of tobacco products.

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• Thai Protests at Global Tobacco Industry Conference 

Thailand may have a reputation for indulging visitors in their various vices, but smoking is no longer one of them. On Tuesday, more than 600 fired-up protesters invaded a convention center in Bangkok in an attempt to smoke out representatives of the global tobacco industry, who were holding a conference in a country with some of the strictest tobacco controls in Asia.

"They've come here because they want to target women and children in Asia with products that kill," says Bangorn Ritthiphakdee, director of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance, a civil-society group, referring to attendees of Tabinfo 2009, a three-day conference organized by Tobacco Reporter, a U.S.-based magazine. "Their presence is a nightmare. We came to tell them they are not welcome here." (Watch a video about France's smoking ban.)

The tobacco industry sees Asia as its most promising market, says Bangorn. Though Thailand has strict controls on smoking in public places and bans advertising of tobacco products, more than 14 million of its 65 million people are smokers. In Southeast Asia, 125 million -- or 31% of adults -- smoke, and China alone has some 350 million smokers. The alliance claims that 2.4 million people in Asia die each year from tobacco-related causes, the equivalent of 6,575 people a day.

Billed as "the biggest tobacco exhibition in Asia," Tabinfo 2009 has been years in the making. Nonetheless, the meeting apparently caught Thailand's government by surprise.

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• Thais protest against tobacco event 

According to news reports, hundreds of Thais on Wednesday protested outside a tobacco industry trade fair and congress in Bangkok.

"We would like the world to see we are opposed to the tobacco industry using Thailand as a base to promote and expand its markets in Asia among youths and women," said Chawala Pawaputanond, a coordinator for the Thai Network Against Tabinfo Asia 2009. The network gathered 86,238 signatures of people opposed to the tobacco industry exhibition and conference held in Bangkok at the Muang Thong Thani Convention Centre.

The reports also said that the Thai Tobacco Monopoly, a main sponsor with the largest stand at the exhibition, was withdrawing its tobacco products from the show. The TTM board decided on Monday to use the gathering of global tobacco producers and distributors to promote tourism rather than tobacco products.

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• Barbados to host meeting on tobacco surveillance and policy development  

Over 50 delegates from across the region are expected to converge in Barbados for the Caribbean Sub-regional Meeting on Tobacco Surveillance and Policy Development, slated for November 16 to 20.

The meeting, a collaborative effort among the Pan-American Health Organisation - Office of Caribbean Program Coordination and the Tobacco Control Team Washington DC; the Office of Smoking and Health - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention USA; and Barbados' Health Ministry, will look at the implementation of Articles 5.3 and 13 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Article 5.3 of the FCTC addresses "Protection of Policies from Commercial and Other Vested Interests of the Tobacco Industry", while Article 13 examines "Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship".

The forum will also assess the use of tobacco surveillance data for the development of effective and evidence-based tobacco control policies.

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• Global Voices Status Report 2009: Rebutting the tobacco industry: winning smokefree air (PDF) 

In mid 2009, more than 400 million people are protected by comprehensive smokefree laws. These are the strongest smokefree laws, which do not allow any designated smoking rooms and include only extremely limited exemptions. A further 500 million people are covered by strong smokefree laws. These laws protect most people, most of the time. Overall, close to a billion people in some 44 countries now have local or national regulations protecting them from secondhand smoke in most enclosed public places and workplaces. We expect to see continuing progress in the year ahead, as more and more countries prepare to take action.

Smokefree air for all

This rapid progress is delivering smokefree air to people in countries around the globe. Policies are being implemented successfully in a variety of places - in low income nations and more affluent ones, in small localities, major cities, and vast countries. Despite the wide variation in countries covered by smokefree laws, their experiences are very similar. In country after country:

• smokefree laws are good for health

• most people support smokefree laws

• with proper planning and resources, enforcement is straightforward

• hospitality sector profits and jobs remain safe

The message is clearer than ever: smokefree air policies work.

Focus on low and middle income countries

However, there is a long way to go. Despite the rapid progress, more than 85% of the world’s people remain without meaningful protection from secondhand smoke, many of them in the low and middle income countries that will bear the brunt of the global tobacco epidemic. Clear tobacco control policies are urgently needed. Without them, tobacco related illness, disability and death will cost low and middle income countries dearly. Smokefree air laws must be a priority for low and middle income countries. . . .

The tobacco industry’s dirty tricks

The biggest barrier to smokefree air is the multinational tobacco companies who stand to lose billions of dollars if smokefree laws are implemented.

From fake “science” to buying influence, and from scare stories to coverups, tobacco companies continue to devote their considerable wealth to stopping smokefree laws in every region of the world.

This report details the tobacco industry’s tactics to hold back legislation, alongside the positive impact of governments, organizations and individuals who are taking on Big Tobacco, and winning.

In late 2008, world governments agreed to a series of FCTC guidelines based on the recognition that tobacco company interests are fundamentally incompatible with health, welfare or “good causes.”2

These guidelines outline governments’ responsibilities under Article 5.3 of the FCTC on tobacco industry interference. They are expressly designed to stop Big Tobacco’s dirty tricks. The guidelines are essential to winning the battle for smokefree air.

Governments must continue to act, if they are to meet the goal of protecting everyone from secondhand smoke by 2012.

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• Global Voices: Rebutting the tobacco industry, winning smokefree air - 2009 Status Report  

On 10 November, 2009, the Global Smokefree Partnership launched its 2009 status report, Rebutting the tobacco industry, winning smokefree air. The theme for the report is tobacco industry interference.

Rebutting the tobacco industry, winning smokefree air is the first report to detail the tobacco industry's tactics to hold back legislation, alongside the positive impact of governments, organizations and individuals who are taking on Big Tobacco, and winning.

The biggest barrier to smokefree air is the multinational tobacco companies who stand to lose billions of dollars if smokefree laws are implemented. From fake "science" to buying influence, and from scare stories to cover-ups, tobacco companies continue to devote their considerable wealth to stopping smokefree laws in every region of the world. . . .

By highlighting the story of those countries that have successfully worked for smokefree air since the adoption of the Article 8 guidelines, Rebutting the tobacco industry, winning smokefree air is a testimony to the surge of the smokefree movement and of the Article 8 guidelines' importance in the development of these measures.

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• Industry dodges ad bans by pushing smokes online 

The tobacco industry is using social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to promote its products and persuade people to become smokers, a study revealed yesterday.

"The ban on advertising does not mean the tobacco industry has stopped advertising its products," said Becky Freeman of Australia's University of Sydney, who conducted the study.

She presented her findings in Bangkok at a threeday regional training workshop held by Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA).

Freeman said most tobacco companies were interested in viral marketing (using preexisting social networks to increase brand recognition) to persuade or influence audiences to pass products on to others.

A million people had visited video clips on YouTube reviewing cigarettes, she said, and thousands more had become fans of the products on Facebook. "The Internet has made it easier to engage consumers by allowing them to contribute directly to marketing campaigns and brand development," she said.

The use of social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, podcasts and RSS would be one of the main topics up for discussion at Tabinfo Asia 2009 . . .

Another marketing device was the use of product and pack designs - such as colourful and glowinthe dark packs - to entice specific groups.

"For example, we found cigarette packs designed like lipsticks or wallets - a new way to lure more and more women to become smokers," she said. . . .

A group of 650 people, including teenagers, led by Action on Smoking and its alliances, will today demonstrate against the Tabinfo Asia 2009 at Impact Arena.

"This is a nightmare for our people," SEATCA's director Bungon Ritthiphakdee said

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• UPDATE: EU Countries Reach Deal On Tobacco Tax  

European Union countries Tuesday agreed to raise taxes on tobacco products sold in the bloc, in a bid to protect public health and boost government revenue.

Under the deal, starting in 2014, the minimum tax will be raised to 90 euros ($134.8) per 1,000 cigarettes, and no lower than 60% of their sales price. The current minimum rate is 64 euros per 1,000 cigarettes and no lower than 57% of the sales price.

EU countries have different tax rates on cigarettes and other tobacco products since many countries impose taxes higher than the bloc's minimum rate. Eastern European countries that joined the bloc in 2004 generally have lower rates than older EU members.

EU countries that don't yet tax tobacco at the minimum rate, or have only recently raised rates to this level, will have until 2018 to comply with the new tax level.

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• Philippine health NGO slams tobacco expo; warns more tobacco-related deaths among Asians  

MANILA -- Members of the Philippine health NGO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP) slammed the ongoing conference of the tobacco industry in Bangkok and warned of increase in tobacco-related deaths in Asia as the industry enhances its hold in the Asia Pacific market.

“The tobacco industry is training its guns and armor not for battle but to entice our young children to smoking addiction and lead them to suffer from tobacco-related deaths. Expect the industry to launch more sophisticated marketing and public relation gimmicks to penetrate the Asia Pacific market where governments are starting to implement stricter bans on smoking and tobacco advertising and promotions,” said Dr. Maricar Limpin, FCAP Executive Director. . . .

In the press briefing conducted by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) in Bangkok, FCAP showed to the media Philip Morris Philippines Managing Director Chris Nelson donating check to the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) after the typhoons that have hit the country recently.

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• National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation Promotes Program with Ads, PSAs and Web Resources  

With the latest research estimating that nearly six million people worldwide will lose their lives to tobacco next year(1), an innovative approach is critical to helping the 43 million Americans who smoke to finally quit. This month, which is observed as Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the national quit smoking program, EX(R) will debut the second phase of advertising and promotions designed to help smokers "re-learn" life without cigarettes.

The campaign will begin airing this month on radio and cable television networks as well as online, in print and through ambient/out-of-home channels. EX is a national quit smoking campaign, sponsored by the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation (NATC), a two-year old collaborative of state and national public health groups spearheaded by Legacy(SM), creators of the award-winning truth(R) youth smoking prevention campaign. . . .

Most smokers in America - 70 percent - want to quit, but in 2000, only about five percent of smokers were successful in quitting long-term. Quitting smoking is ultimately one of the single most important lifestyle changes one can make to improve and extend their lives. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States; smokers therefore need to be armed with all the available information to make the best, most informed choices about the smoking cessation medications and resources available to them.

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