Tobacco.org

• Arguments begin in 'light' cigarette appeal 

If an attempt at certifying a class-action lawsuit over light tobacco products goes up in smoke at the Supreme Court of Appeal, it will not only hurt smokers and ex-smokers, but could affect all consumers.

An appeal court panel of justices - Margaret Cameron, Gail Welsh and Charles White - began hearing the case Wednesday and it continues today.

Lawyer Ches Crosbie is challenging a decision by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador which said the class action couldn't be certified because consumers didn't buy their "light" and "mild" tobacco products directly from Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.

Crosbie is accusing the company - which has the largest tobacco sales in this province - of violating provincial trade practices legislation.

Rob Cunningham, an Ottawa lawyer for the Canadian Cancer Society who is observing the case, said if the certification doesn't go ahead, it will set a precedent for many consumer products, which are not commonly bought from their manufacturer.

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Are Smokers Now at Higher Risk of Bladder Cancer? Are Changes in Cigarettes To Blame? ($$) 

sed on a comparison of two very large cohorts, suggested just the opposite: Far from making the cigarettes safer, the design changes might have made them even more dangerous.

A debate over the consequences of the cigarette changes has continued . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Cigarette stamps proposal not a done deal - Teves  

The proposal of Swiss firm SICPA Product Security SA to provide security stamps on cigarettes is not a done deal, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said yesterday, assuring lawmakers that there was nothing final yet.

"It must be clarified that the SICPA (proposal) is merely an unsolicited proposal under the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) Law. It's not a done deal yet," Teves said.

He said that even if the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is already in negotiations with SICPA for its stamp-tax technology project, it would still be sent back to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) for its board approval and subsequently, be subjected to a "Swiss Challenge."

"Processes must be observed before a decision on SICPA is made," he told reporters yesterday.

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SICPA not a done deal, Teves tells solons  

Finance secretary Margarito Teves yesterday assured lawmakers that there is nothing final in the ongoing negotiations of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) with Swiss firm SICPA Product Security SA, stressing that a "process" has to be observed.

"It must be clarified that the SICPA (proposal) is merely an unsolicited proposal under the BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) law. It’s not a done deal yet," Teves said.

He said even if the BIR wraps up its negotiations with SICPA for the latter’s stamp-tax technology project, the proposal would still be sent back to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) for board approval and subsequently be subjected to a Swiss Challenge.

"Processes must be observed before a decision on SICPA is made," he said. "It must be first accepted, approved and go through some more processes like getting NEDA board approval."

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Cancer Society supports light cigarette class-action case 

The Canadian Cancer Society is supporting a court appeal this week that will attempt to start a class action over light cigarettes.

In a news release, the society said the Sparkes case proceeding as a class action would provide “necessary access to justice.”

Without class-action certification, thousands of consumers in the province would have no practical remedy “as a result of the ‘light’ and ‘mild’ deception,” the society said.

The case returns to court Wednesday and Thursday, when the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal will begin hearing arguments as to whether a lawsuit against Imperial Tobacco for deception related to so-called “light” cigarettes should be certified to proceed as a class action.

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Are Smokers Now at Higher Risk of Bladder Cancer? Are Changes in Cigarettes To Blame? ($$) 

Researchers were caught off guard in 1989, when the Surgeon General's report showed that the risk of lung cancer among smokers had increased substantially between the 1960s and the 1980s. Tobacco companies had been changing the design of cigarettes since the 1950s, first by adding a filter and then by reducing tar and nicotine, and the assumption had been that the changes would make cigarettes safer. The Surgeon General's report, which was based on a comparison of two very large cohorts, suggested just the opposite: Far from making the cigarettes safer, the design changes might have made them even more dangerous.

A debate over the consequences of the cigarette changes has continued . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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GMA allies buck SICPA plan  

President Arroyo’s allies at the House yesterday opposed the “tamper proof” strip stamps on every pack of cigarette and bottle of liquor proposed by Switzerland-based SICPA Product Security SA, saying it amounts to the imposition of additional taxes.

The congressmen, during a briefing of the House committee on ways and means conducted by SICPA officials, also expressed doubts over the project’s viability considering that it would cost the government close to P18 billion.

Rep. Mauricio Domogan (Lakas-Kampi CMD, Baguio) said BIR would violate the Constitution if it signs the SICPA contract.

“Whether you like it or not, this is a form of taxation. Adding cost to be passed on to consumers, to me, is just another form of taxation which I don’t think can be done by the mere signing of a contract,” he said.

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Solons wary of plan to hike cigarette taxes 

A plan that would effectively hike cigarette prices yet possibly fail to boost government revenues was questioned by members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue plans to add revenue stamps to cigarette packs to improve inventory monitoring and tracking of the tobacco products from factories to retail outlets in order to minimize tax leakages and boost revenues by P13 billion.

The government has endorsed the BIR's plan which would use revenue stamps provided by Swiss-based SICPA Product Security Inc.

During a hearing of the House ways and means committee, former BIR commissioner and incumbent Camarines Sur Rep. Liwayway Vinzons-Chato said that based on research conducted by her staff, the revenue stamps being pushed by SICPA showed "no clear indication as to an increase in tax collection and [minimizing] so-called leakages.''

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Solons warn BIR vs tax stamps on sin products 

LEGISLATORS on Tuesday warned the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) against signing the P18-billion revenue-stamp contract with a leading global provider of security ink and solutions for the authentication of bank notes, value documents and products, saying the proposal could trigger the imposition of additional taxes on the public.

At the hearing of the House ways and means committee on Tuesday, legislators also questioned the contract cost that increased from P13 billion to P18 billion in a matter of three years since the proposal was first submitted to the BIR.

Sicpa Products Security SA Director Hans Schwab blamed inflation for the P5 billion cost adjustment from 2006 to 2009.

Liberal Party Rep. Liwayway Vinzons-Chato of Camarines Sur aired strong misgivings about Sicpa’s claim that the revenue-stamp technology they are offering would address “illicit” cigarette trade that has cost the government several billions of pesos in unrealized revenues.

Chato recalled that during her term as internal-revenue commissioner, she sent a team of experts to the United States to study the fuson stamp system as a means of determining taxes on cigarette products.

“The group did not recommend the attachment of fuson on stamps because there was no clear indication as to increase in collection in taxes and so-called leakages,” Chato said.

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• 'Light' cigarette case going back to court 

The application for certification was filed by Ches Crosbie on behalf of Victor Todd Sparkes - the class action's representative plaintiff - against Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., Imperial Tobacco Company Ltd. and the Attorney General of Canada.

Sparkes' lawyers claimed the tobacco companies descriptions of "light" and "mild" as well as other descriptive terms were part of a deliberate misinformation campaign by the tobacco manufacturer to mislead and deceive the public into thinking the use of such products would have less harmful effects than smoking "regular" cigarettes.

But Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Justice James Adams said in 2008 the plaintiff failed to establish a cause of action under the federal Trade Practices Act. Adams denied the certification on the basis consumer Victor Sparkes did not buy the cigarettes directly from Imperial Tobacco. But the matter is being heard again by the Court of Appeal Wednesday and Thursday.

Crosbie argues people can't buy cigarettes directly from the supplier.

Lewis originally joined the class action because it sounded like his life story.

"We were blindsided. We were misled and taken advantage of. ... At the end of the day, I wanted to quit. I thought the switch to light cigarettes was going to help me take that edge off from smoking regular cigarettes," Lewis said.

"So they had me. I couldn't win."

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Lawmakers close hearings on cigarette tax stamp issue  

The Bureau of Internal Revenue's plan to provide security stamps on cigarette packs faced another setback as lawmakers yesterday shelved discussions on the controversial tax stamp system on cigarette packaging proposed by Switzerland-based Sicpa Product Security SA (SICPA).

Members of the House committee on ways and means led by Rep. Exequiel Javier (Lone District, Antique) said the project would only mean additional costs to consumers.

As such, the panel approved the motion of Rep. Victor Ortega (1st District, La Union) to close the hearings. The committee also asked the Inter-Agency Investment Coordination Committee  (IICC) and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), the ICC's secretariat to provide the panel with a report on their decisions allowing the BIR to pursue negotiations with Sicpa.

NEDA earlier gave the BIR the green light to pursue negotiations with SICPA after it reviewed the Swiss company's proposal. The BIR had submitted the proposal to NEDA for review.

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• Nipped in butt: Tobacco sales up despite ban  

Ramadoss, the former Union minister of health and family welfare, tried to help Indians kick the butt through stringent controls on tobacco sales and advertisements. But strangely, after the ban on public smoking in October last year and the much-touted pictorial warnings on cigarette packs from May 31 this year, Indians seem to be smoking more!

Most of the major tobacco companies posted continuous sales growth during the past two quarters, April-June and July-September 2009. The largest domestic tobacco company, ITC, with cigarette brands such as India Kings, Classic, Gold Flake, Navy Cut, Bristol, Scissors, Capstan and Flake, registered sales growth of over 20% in the tobacco business in both the quarters ending June and September this year.

During the first quarter of FY10, in terms of sales, the tobacco business grew by 23%, whereas, during the second quarter of FY10, the cigarette business went up by 21% to Rs 2199.69 cr compared to a year ago.

One of the major reasons for the continued growth in cigarette consumption is that the pictorial warnings on tobacco products are ineffective, according to a recent study by Mumbai-based health research organisation Healis.

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Adolescents' Perceptions of Cigarette Brand Image: Does Plain Packaging Make a Difference? 

Conclusions

Removing as much brand information from cigarette packs as possible is likely to reduce positive cigarette brand image associations among adolescents. By additionally increasing the size of pictorial health warnings, positive pack perceptions of those who are at greater risk of becoming regular addicted adult smokers are most likely to be reduced.

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Crackdown becomes a drag for clove smokers  

The band of clove smokers is small in South Florida. But as their cloves diminished, stick by stick, worries flared about how this new ban would affect the local culture in a place where partyers can still puff at nightclubs, in a state that has chosen not to levy taxes on tobacco.

``What Hollywood is to actors, Miami is to cigars,'' said William Carroll, manager at Vilar Cigar Shop in South Miami. ``We wonder if its cloves first, then what's next?''

Vilar Cigar smells like roasted coffee and boasts more than 200 types of tobacco. Less than 1 percent of buyers wanted cloves, Carroll said, so it made little difference profit-wise. The shop easily gave them up but remains wary about the future.

Signed in June, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Act gave retailers, manufacturers, and distributors three months to get rid of their flavored cigarettes -- or face warning letters, fines or prosecution.

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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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